John Bramhall
Encyclopedia
John Bramhall was an Archbishop of Armagh
, and an Anglican theologian and apologist. He was a noted controversialist who doggedly defended the English Church from both Puritan
and Roman Catholic accusations, as well as the materialism
of Thomas Hobbes
.
, Yorkshire
, the son of Peter Bramhall (died 1635) of Carleton. He matriculated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
in 1609, and graduated B.A. 1612, M.A. 1616, B.D. 1623, D.D. 1630 . He was ordained around 1616, and was presented with a Yorkshire living, South Kilvington
, by Christopher Wandesford
. In 1623 he took part in a public discussion at Northallerton
with Hungate, a Jesuit, and Houghton, a Catholic priest. Tobias Matthew
, archbishop of York, made him his chaplain; he was also sub-dean of Ripon
.
in 1633 with Thomas Wentworth
and was archdeacon of Meath. As a royal commissioner he worked to obtain the surrender of fee-farms on episcopal and clerical revenues, recovering church income. He was consecrated bishop of Derry
in the chapel of Dublin Castle
on 16 May 1634, succeeding the Puritan George Downham. In the Irish parliament which met 14 July 1634, Bramhall had passed of acts for the preservation of church property.
By the Irish convocation which met in November 1634 the thirty-nine articles
were approved, in addition to, the Irish articles of 1615. What Bramhall attempted to get the English canons of 1604 adopted in Ireland; there was conflict over this matter between him and James Ussher
, ending with the passing of distinct canons, in the compiling of which Bramhall had a share. The ninety-fourth canon, endorsing a policy of William Bedell
, bishop of Kilmore
, provided for the use of the bible and prayer-book in the vernacular in an Irish-speaking district; this was opposed by Bramhall. In August 1636 Bramhall at Belfast
assisted Bishop Henry Leslie
against the five ministers who would not subscribe the new canons (see Edward Brice
).
He employed the proceeds of his English property in purchasing and improving an estate at Omagh
, County Tyrone
, in a Catholic area. In the same year he was made receiver-general for the crown of all revenues from the estates of the city of London in his diocese, forfeited through non-fulfilment of conditions of the holding. In 1639 he protected and recommended to Wentworth John Corbet
, minister at Bonhill
, who had been deposed by the Dumbarton presbytery for refusing to subscribe the assembly's declaration against prelacy. Wentworth used Corbet as a sarcastic writer against the Scottish covenanters, and nominated him to the vicarage of Templemore
, in the diocese of Achonry
. Archibald Adair, bishop of Killala and Achonry
, a Puritan, was tried as a favourer of the Scottish covenant over his views on Corbet. Adair was deposed on 18 May 1640; these proceedings alienated the Scottish settlers. The Irish commons in October 1640 drew up a remonstrance, in the course of which they speak of the Derry plantation as 'almost destroyed' through the policy of which Bramhall was the administrator.
After the English House of Commons had impeached Wentworth (now earl of Strafford) of high treason on 11 November 1640, the Ulster presbyterians drew up a petition to the English parliament (presented by Sir John Clotworthy about the end of April 1641), containing thirty-one charges against the Irish Anglican prelates, and asking that their exiled pastors might be reinstated. Of the Ulster bishops, Bramhall was most in the firing line. The Irish Commons, on the motion of Audley Mervyn
and others, 4 March 1641, impeached him, with the lord chancellor, the chief justice of the common pleas, and Sir George Radcliffe, as participants in the alleged treason of Strafford. Bramhall left Derry for Dublin, and took his place in the Irish House of Lords. He was imprisoned and accused of unconstitutional acts ; his defence was that he had equitably sought the good of the church, and that his hands were clean. He wrote, on 26 April, to Ussher in London, and through the king Bramhall was liberated without acquittal: he returned to Derry.
, and was in Yorkshire until the battle of Marston Moor
(2 July 1644); he supported the royalist cause by preaching and writing, and sent his plate to the king. With the Marquess of Newcastle
, and others, he hurried abroad, landing at Hamburg
on 8 July 1644. The treaty of Uxbridge
, in January 1645, excepted him, with Laud, from the proposed general pardon.
In Paris he met Hobbes (prior to 1646), and argued with him on liberty and necessity. This led to controversies with Hobbes in after years. Up to 1648 he was mainly at Brussels
, preaching at the English embassy, and to the English merchants of Antwerp monthly. He then went back to Ireland, but not to Ulster, in 1648; at Limerick
he received in 1649 the profession of the dying James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon
. While he was in Cork
, the city declared for the parliament (October 1649); he had a narrow escape, and returned to foreign parts. He corresponded with Montrose, and disputed and wrote in defence of the Church of England
. He went to Spain around 1650. He was excluded from the Act of Indemnity of 1652; subsequently he occasionally adopted in correspondence the pseudonym 'John Pierson.'
, in October 1660, he returned to England. He then went to Ireland, and on 18 January 1661 he became Archbishop of Armagh. As archbishop, Bramhall was responsible for ensuring that the Acts of religious conformity were prosecuted with moderation in Ireland. On 27 January 1661 he presided at the consecration in St Patrick's Cathedral of two archbishops and ten bishops for Ireland. Bramhall was ex officio president of convocation, and on 8 May 1661 he was chosen speaker of the Irish House of Lords. Both houses erased from their records the old charges against Bramhall.
Although Parliament passed declarations requiring conformity to episcopacy and the liturgy, and ordering the burning of the Covenant, Bramhall could not carry his bills for a uniform tithe
system, and for extending episcopal leases. Until 1667 there was no Irish act of uniformity, just the old statute of 1560 on the use of Edward VI's second prayer-book. The ejection of Irish nonconformists was carried out by episcopal activity, some time before the passing of the English Act of Uniformity of 1662. Armagh was not a specially presbyterian diocese, and Bramhall used moderation.
Bramhall was defending his rights in a court of law at Omagh against Sir Audley Mervyn when a third paralytic stroke deprived him of consciousness. He died on 25 June 1663.
model and democracy. He followed this with 1649's Fair Warning against the Scottish Discipline, which was an attack on the weaknesses of the presbyterian model and an excoriation of the Puritan religious claims. He also attacked and defended against Hobbes's Leviathan. In 1655, Bramhall wrote Vindication of True Liberty. Hobbes replied to Bramhall with Animadversions, and Bramhall replied to this with Castigation of Hobbes' Animadversions (with an afterpiece called "The Catching of Leviathan, the Great Whale") in 1658.
Additionally, Bramhall attempted to defend the English Church from attacks from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1653, he countered Théophile Brachet de la Milletière's restatement of the doctrine of transubstantiation
with a reply that restated the justifications of the Anglican doctrine of Real Presence
. He also attacked the Ultramontanists
of France
. Bramhall's A Just Vindication of the Church of England from the Unjust Aspersion of Criminal Schism (1654) was answered by the titular Bishop of Chalcedon, and Bramhall replied to this with Replication in 1656, where he prays that he might live to see the day when all Christian
churches united again.
His works were collected by John Vesey, Dublin, 1677. They break down as
The works were reprinted in the Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology
, Oxford, 1842-5, 5 vols.
John Milton
thought, mistakenly, that Bramhall wrote the Apologia pro Rege et Populo Anglicano, 1650; the real author was John Rowland. The posthumous publication of Bramhall's Vindication of himself and the Episcopal Clergy from the Presbyterian Charge of Popery, as it is managed by Mr. Baxter, &c., 1672, with a preface by Samuel Parker, produced Andrew Marvell
's 'The Rehearsal Transpros'd,' 1672.
He is remembered also for the phrase It is the last feather that breaks the horse's back (Works, 1655), an early version of The last straw that breaks the camel's back
.
Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland)
The Anglican Archbishop of Armagh is the ecclesiastical head of the Church of Ireland, the metropolitan of the Province of Armagh and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Armagh....
, and an Anglican theologian and apologist. He was a noted controversialist who doggedly defended the English Church from both Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
and Roman Catholic accusations, as well as the materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
of Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
.
Early life
Bramhall was born in PontefractPontefract
Pontefract is an historic market town in West Yorkshire, England. Traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 , the M62 motorway and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of 28,250...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, the son of Peter Bramhall (died 1635) of Carleton. He matriculated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in 1609, and graduated B.A. 1612, M.A. 1616, B.D. 1623, D.D. 1630 . He was ordained around 1616, and was presented with a Yorkshire living, South Kilvington
South Kilvington
South Kilvington is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated just off the A19, about one mile north of Thirsk. The original route of the A19 used to run through the village, it is now the A61...
, by Christopher Wandesford
Christopher Wandesford
Christopher Wandesford , was an English politician administrator, Lord Deputy of Ireland at the end of his life.-Life:He was the son of Sir George Wandesford of Kirklington, Yorkshire, and was born on 24 September 1592....
. In 1623 he took part in a public discussion at Northallerton
Northallerton
Northallerton is an affluent market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It has a population of 15,741 according to the 2001 census...
with Hungate, a Jesuit, and Houghton, a Catholic priest. Tobias Matthew
Tobias Matthew
Tobias Matthew was Archbishop of York.-Life:He was the son of Sir John Matthew of Ross in Herefordshire, England, and of his wife Eleanor Crofton of Ludlow. He was born at Bristol and was educated at Wells, Somerset, and then in succession at University College and Christ Church, Oxford...
, archbishop of York, made him his chaplain; he was also sub-dean of Ripon
Ripon
Ripon is a cathedral city, market town and successor parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located at the confluence of two streams of the River Ure in the form of the Laver and Skell. The city is noted for its main feature the Ripon Cathedral which is architecturally...
.
In Ireland
He went to IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1633 with Thomas Wentworth
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...
and was archdeacon of Meath. As a royal commissioner he worked to obtain the surrender of fee-farms on episcopal and clerical revenues, recovering church income. He was consecrated bishop of Derry
Bishop of Derry
The Bishop of Derry is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.-History:...
in the chapel of Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
on 16 May 1634, succeeding the Puritan George Downham. In the Irish parliament which met 14 July 1634, Bramhall had passed of acts for the preservation of church property.
By the Irish convocation which met in November 1634 the thirty-nine articles
Thirty-Nine Articles
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historically defining statements of doctrines of the Anglican church with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. First established in 1563, the articles served to define the doctrine of the nascent Church of England as it related to...
were approved, in addition to, the Irish articles of 1615. What Bramhall attempted to get the English canons of 1604 adopted in Ireland; there was conflict over this matter between him and James Ussher
James Ussher
James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...
, ending with the passing of distinct canons, in the compiling of which Bramhall had a share. The ninety-fourth canon, endorsing a policy of William Bedell
William Bedell
William Bedell was an Anglican churchman.-Early life:He was born at Black Notley in Essex, and educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was a pupil of William Perkins. He became a fellow of Emmanuel in 1593, and took orders...
, bishop of Kilmore
Bishop of Kilmore
The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore in County Cavan, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.-History:...
, provided for the use of the bible and prayer-book in the vernacular in an Irish-speaking district; this was opposed by Bramhall. In August 1636 Bramhall at Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
assisted Bishop Henry Leslie
Henry Leslie (bishop)
Henry Leslie was a Scottishman who became the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Connor from 1635 to 1661 and briefly Bishop of Meath from January to April 1661.-Life:...
against the five ministers who would not subscribe the new canons (see Edward Brice
Edward Brice
Edward Brice or Bryce was a Scottish Presbyterian minister, the first Presbyterian with a living in Ireland.-Life:He was born at Airth, Stirlingshire, about 1569, and is named Bryce in the Scottish records, but Brice in the Irish records. He entered Edinburgh University about 1589, and studied...
).
He employed the proceeds of his English property in purchasing and improving an estate at Omagh
Omagh
Omagh is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, had a population of 19,910 at the 2001 Census. Omagh also contains the headquarters of Omagh District Council and...
, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
, in a Catholic area. In the same year he was made receiver-general for the crown of all revenues from the estates of the city of London in his diocese, forfeited through non-fulfilment of conditions of the holding. In 1639 he protected and recommended to Wentworth John Corbet
John Corbet (theologian)
-Life:He was son of William Corbet, a 'portioner' of Glasgow, born about 1603. He graduated at the University of Glasgow in 1623, and after acting for some time as schoolmaster at Renfrew was ordained minister of Bonhill in 1637...
, minister at Bonhill
Bonhill
Bonhill is a town in the Vale of Leven area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It is sited on the Eastern bank of the River Leven, on the opposite bank from the larger town of Alexandria.-History:...
, who had been deposed by the Dumbarton presbytery for refusing to subscribe the assembly's declaration against prelacy. Wentworth used Corbet as a sarcastic writer against the Scottish covenanters, and nominated him to the vicarage of Templemore
Templemore
Templemore is a town in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the Roman Catholic parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea....
, in the diocese of Achonry
Diocese of Achonry
The Bishop of Achonry is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Achonry in County Sligo, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics....
. Archibald Adair, bishop of Killala and Achonry
Bishop of Killala and Achonry
The Bishop of Killala and Achonry was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Killala and Achonry in the Ecclesiastical Province of Tuam. The diocese comprised part of Counties Mayo and Sligo in Ireland....
, a Puritan, was tried as a favourer of the Scottish covenant over his views on Corbet. Adair was deposed on 18 May 1640; these proceedings alienated the Scottish settlers. The Irish commons in October 1640 drew up a remonstrance, in the course of which they speak of the Derry plantation as 'almost destroyed' through the policy of which Bramhall was the administrator.
After the English House of Commons had impeached Wentworth (now earl of Strafford) of high treason on 11 November 1640, the Ulster presbyterians drew up a petition to the English parliament (presented by Sir John Clotworthy about the end of April 1641), containing thirty-one charges against the Irish Anglican prelates, and asking that their exiled pastors might be reinstated. Of the Ulster bishops, Bramhall was most in the firing line. The Irish Commons, on the motion of Audley Mervyn
Audley Mervyn
Sir Audley Mervyn of Trillick was a lawyer and politician in Ireland. M.P. for County Tyrone and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons 1661-1666....
and others, 4 March 1641, impeached him, with the lord chancellor, the chief justice of the common pleas, and Sir George Radcliffe, as participants in the alleged treason of Strafford. Bramhall left Derry for Dublin, and took his place in the Irish House of Lords. He was imprisoned and accused of unconstitutional acts ; his defence was that he had equitably sought the good of the church, and that his hands were clean. He wrote, on 26 April, to Ussher in London, and through the king Bramhall was liberated without acquittal: he returned to Derry.
Exile
In 1642, he returned to EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and was in Yorkshire until the battle of Marston Moor
Battle of Marston Moor
The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the First English Civil War of 1642–1646. The combined forces of the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven and the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince...
(2 July 1644); he supported the royalist cause by preaching and writing, and sent his plate to the king. With the Marquess of Newcastle
William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle
William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne KG KB PC was an English polymath and aristocrat, having been a poet, equestrian, playwright, swordsman, politician, architect, diplomat and soldier...
, and others, he hurried abroad, landing at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
on 8 July 1644. The treaty of Uxbridge
Treaty of Uxbridge
The Treaty of Uxbridge of early 1645 was a significant but abortive negotiation to try to end the First English Civil War.-Background:Parliament drew up 27 articles in November 1644 and presented them to Charles I of England at Oxford. Much input into these Propositions of Uxbridge was from...
, in January 1645, excepted him, with Laud, from the proposed general pardon.
In Paris he met Hobbes (prior to 1646), and argued with him on liberty and necessity. This led to controversies with Hobbes in after years. Up to 1648 he was mainly at Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, preaching at the English embassy, and to the English merchants of Antwerp monthly. He then went back to Ireland, but not to Ulster, in 1648; at Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
he received in 1649 the profession of the dying James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon
James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon
James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon was one of the ten named in Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 as leaders of the Royalist forces in Ireland. He was a Protestant nobleman, married to Elizabeth Wentworth, one of the sisters of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford. Wentworth Dillon was...
. While he was in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, the city declared for the parliament (October 1649); he had a narrow escape, and returned to foreign parts. He corresponded with Montrose, and disputed and wrote in defence of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. He went to Spain around 1650. He was excluded from the Act of Indemnity of 1652; subsequently he occasionally adopted in correspondence the pseudonym 'John Pierson.'
Archbishop of Armagh
After the RestorationEnglish Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, in October 1660, he returned to England. He then went to Ireland, and on 18 January 1661 he became Archbishop of Armagh. As archbishop, Bramhall was responsible for ensuring that the Acts of religious conformity were prosecuted with moderation in Ireland. On 27 January 1661 he presided at the consecration in St Patrick's Cathedral of two archbishops and ten bishops for Ireland. Bramhall was ex officio president of convocation, and on 8 May 1661 he was chosen speaker of the Irish House of Lords. Both houses erased from their records the old charges against Bramhall.
Although Parliament passed declarations requiring conformity to episcopacy and the liturgy, and ordering the burning of the Covenant, Bramhall could not carry his bills for a uniform tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
system, and for extending episcopal leases. Until 1667 there was no Irish act of uniformity, just the old statute of 1560 on the use of Edward VI's second prayer-book. The ejection of Irish nonconformists was carried out by episcopal activity, some time before the passing of the English Act of Uniformity of 1662. Armagh was not a specially presbyterian diocese, and Bramhall used moderation.
Bramhall was defending his rights in a court of law at Omagh against Sir Audley Mervyn when a third paralytic stroke deprived him of consciousness. He died on 25 June 1663.
Writings
Bramhall's historical importance lies in his writing while in exile. Without office, he turned his hand to writing replies to all attacks on the Anglican church. In 1643, he wrote Serpent Salve, a defence of episcopacy and monarchy against the attacks of the Puritan presbyterianPresbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
model and democracy. He followed this with 1649's Fair Warning against the Scottish Discipline, which was an attack on the weaknesses of the presbyterian model and an excoriation of the Puritan religious claims. He also attacked and defended against Hobbes's Leviathan. In 1655, Bramhall wrote Vindication of True Liberty. Hobbes replied to Bramhall with Animadversions, and Bramhall replied to this with Castigation of Hobbes' Animadversions (with an afterpiece called "The Catching of Leviathan, the Great Whale") in 1658.
Additionally, Bramhall attempted to defend the English Church from attacks from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1653, he countered Théophile Brachet de la Milletière's restatement of the doctrine of transubstantiation
Transubstantiation
In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...
with a reply that restated the justifications of the Anglican doctrine of Real Presence
Real Presence
Real Presence is a term used in various Christian traditions to express belief that in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, a figure of speech , or by his power .Not all Christian traditions accept this dogma...
. He also attacked the Ultramontanists
Ultramontanism
Ultramontanism is a religious philosophy within the Roman Catholic community that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Bramhall's A Just Vindication of the Church of England from the Unjust Aspersion of Criminal Schism (1654) was answered by the titular Bishop of Chalcedon, and Bramhall replied to this with Replication in 1656, where he prays that he might live to see the day when all Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
churches united again.
His works were collected by John Vesey, Dublin, 1677. They break down as
- five treatises against Catholics (including a confutation of the Nag's Head fableNag's Head FableThe Nag's Head Fable was a fiction which purported that Matthew Parker, an Archbishop of Canterbury, was not consecrated solemnly, but instead was consecrated with a Bible pressed to his neck while inside the Nag's Head tavern...
); - three against sectaries;
- three against Hobbes; and
- seven unclassified defences of royalist and Anglican views.
The works were reprinted in the Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology
Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology
The Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology was a series of 19th-century editions of theological works by Church of England writers, devoted as the title suggests to significant Anglo-Catholic figures...
, Oxford, 1842-5, 5 vols.
John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
thought, mistakenly, that Bramhall wrote the Apologia pro Rege et Populo Anglicano, 1650; the real author was John Rowland. The posthumous publication of Bramhall's Vindication of himself and the Episcopal Clergy from the Presbyterian Charge of Popery, as it is managed by Mr. Baxter, &c., 1672, with a preface by Samuel Parker, produced Andrew Marvell
Andrew Marvell
Andrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, Parliamentarian, and the son of a Church of England clergyman . As a metaphysical poet, he is associated with John Donne and George Herbert...
's 'The Rehearsal Transpros'd,' 1672.
He is remembered also for the phrase It is the last feather that breaks the horse's back (Works, 1655), an early version of The last straw that breaks the camel's back
Straw that broke the camel's back
The idiom the straw that broke the camel's back is from an Arabic proverb about how a camel wearing shoes is loaded beyond its capacity to move or stand. This is a reference to any process by which cataclysmic failure is achieved by a seemingly inconsequential addition...
.
Family
His marriage to a clergyman's widow, Ellinor Halley, gave him a fortune and a library. Their children included:- Sir Thomas Bramhall, bart., who married the daughter of Sir Paul Davys, and died without issue.
- Isabella, married Sir James Graham, son of William, earl of Monteith; her daughter Ellinor, or Helen, married Sir Arthur Rawdon, of Moira, lineal ancestor of the Marquis of Hastings.
- Jane, married Alderman Toxteith of Drogheda.
- Anne, married Standish HartstongeStandish HartstongeSir Standish Hartstonge , 1st Baronet was an English lawyer who had a distinguished career as a judge in Ireland , but was twice removed from office.- Background and early career :...
, one of the barons of exchequer.