 Burley was born in 1275, probably in or close to the village of Burley-in-Wharfedale, Yorkshire. He studied at Oxford University, where he was a fellow of Merton College, though he may have studied first at Balliol. His regency as Master of Arts at Merton College was long, from 1300 to 1310. Burley’s clerical career began in 1309, when he was admitted as rector of Welbury, Yorkshire. Along with the income from his first rectory, he received permission to study and take holy orders at Paris, where he became associated with Thomas Wylton, whom he refers to as his socius and reverend master in his De comparatione specierum (On the Comparison of Species). He held a quodlibetal disputation at Toulose in 1322, became Master of Theology at Paris in 1324, and entered the service of Edward III in 1327. Around 1333, he joined the circle of Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham. In 1341, he held a quodlibetal disputation in Bologna. He died in 1344 or shortly thereafter.