ACTON, JOHN. — English canonist, canon of Lincoln from about 1320, d. in 1350. A pupil of Giovanni Stratford, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury, he was considered by Maitland one of the three great English canonists who flourished at the beginning of the 14th century.
He is known as a glossator of the constitutions of the cardinal legates Otto and Ottobono in the 13th century in England; however, his fame derives more from his biting wit against the environment in which he lived than from the depth of his learning.
BIBL.: F. W. Maitland, *Roman Canon Law in the Church of England*, London 1898; Thomas J. Shahan, s. V. in *Cath. En.*, I, pp. 114-15.