He was educated at Cambridge University,[1] and went on to serve under Cardinal Wolsey in a variety of capacities.
When the question of King Henry VIII's annulment of his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was raised Clerk was appointed as one of the Queen's counsellors.
Wolsey persuaded him to agree on her behalf that she should withdraw from the proceedings at Rome.
Afterwards he joined in pronouncing the annulment, and is believed to have assisted Thomas Cranmer in work on the Act of Supremacy.
On his return he was taken ill at Dunkirk, possibly having been poisoned, but he managed to reach England, though only to die a short time later.