John Prideaux D.D. (7 September 1578 – 29 July 1650) was an English

England

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...

 academic and Bishop of Worcester

Bishop of Worcester

The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...

.

Early life

The fourth son of John and Agnes Prideaux, he was born at Stowford House

Stowford house

Stowford House is the former manor of Harford in the hundred of Ermington and deanery of Plympton. Part of East Harford manor is located in Ivybridge. The Ivybridge housing estate closest to the manor includes many street names reflecting the past occupants of the property and their families...

 in the parish of Harford

Harford, Devon

Harford is a hamlet and civil parish located approximately north of the town of Ivybridge in the county of Devon, England. The parish lies in the local government district of the South Hams, which is a localised, second-tier governmental division of the non-metropolitan county of Devon,...

, near Ivybridge

Ivybridge

Ivybridge is a small town and civil parish in the South Hams, in Devon, England. It lies about east of Plymouth. It is at the southern extremity of Dartmoor, a National Park of England and Wales and lies along the A38 "Devon Expressway" road...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England

England

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...

, on 17 September 1578. His parents had to provide for a family of twelve; John, however, attracted the attention of a wealthy friend, Lady Fowell, of the same parish, and was sent to Oxford at eighteen. He matriculated

Matriculation

Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...

 from Exeter College

Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...

 on 14 October 1596, received a B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree on 31 January 1600, was elected Fellow of Exeter College on 30 June 1601, and received a M.A. degree on 30 June 1603. The College was then under Thomas Holland

Thomas Holland (translator)

Thomas Holland was an English Calvinist scholar and theologian, and one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible.He was a 1570 graduate of Exeter College, Oxford and Fellow of Baliol...

 as Rector and William Helme as tutor.

Prideaux took holy orders soon after 1603, and was appointed chaplain

Chaplain

Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

 to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne...

. Matthew Sutcliffe

Matthew Sutcliffe

Matthew Sutcliffe was an English clergyman, academic and lawyer. He became Dean of Exeter, and wrote extensively on religious matters as a controversialist. He served as chaplain to His Majesty King James I of England. He was the founder of Chelsea College, a royal centre for the writing of...

 named him in 1609 one of the fellows of his Chelsea College

Chelsea College (17th century)

Chelsea College was a polemical college founded in London in 1609. This establishment was intended to centralize controversial writing against Catholicism, and was the idea of Matthew Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter, who was the first Provost...

.

Rector and Regius Professor

Prideaux was admitted B.D.

Bachelor of Divinity

In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....

 on 6 May 1611, and on 4 April 1612 he was elected Rector of Exeter College, and was permitted to take the degree of D.D.

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....

 30 May 1612, before the statutable period. Exeter was then fifth college numerically in the university, and attracted not only west-countrymen, but also foreign students. Prideaux built on its reputation for scholarship. Philip Cluverius and D. Orville the geographers, James Casaubon and Sixtinus Amama were among the Northern Europeans and others who studied under him. Robert Spottiswoode

Robert Spottiswoode

Sir Robert Spottiswoode was Lord President of the Court of Session and member of the Privy Council to James I of England, and Lord President of the College of Justice and Secretary for Scotland, appointed by Charles I of England-Life:Sir Robert was the son of John Spottiswoode and his wife Rachel...

 and James, Duke of Hamilton, were among his Scottish pupils. Prideaux added to the buildings of the college: a new chapel was built in 1624, and consecrated (5 October) with a sermon by him. Anthony Ashley Cooper, his pupil from 1636 to 1638, records that he could be just and kindly to excitable undergraduates.

After the death of Prince Henry in 1612, Prideaux was appointed chaplain to the King

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

. On 17 July 1614, he was collated to the vicarage of Bampton, Oxfordshire

Bampton, Oxfordshire

Bampton, also called Bampton-in-the-Bush, is a village and civil parish in the Thames Valley about southwest of Witney in Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Weald....

, and 8 December 1615 was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity

Regius Professor of Divinity

The Regius Professorship of Divinity is one of the oldest and most prestigious of the professorships at the University of Oxford and at the University of Cambridge.Both chairs were founded by Henry VIII...

 at Oxford Universuty in succession to Robert Abbot; to this office a canonry of Christ Church

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also, uniquely, the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford.-History:...

 was annexed. He received subsequently the vicarage of Chalgrove

Chalgrove

Chalgrove is a village and civil parish of some . It is in South Oxfordshire about southeast of Oxford. The parish includes the hamlet of Rofford and the former parish of Warpsgrove with which it merged in 1932....

, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, in 1620, a canonry in Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....

 17 June 1620, the rectory of Bladon

Bladon

Bladon is a village and civil parish on the River Glyme about northwest of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.-Churches:The Parish Church of Saint Martin was originally 11th or 12th century, but was rebuilt twice in the 19th century: firstly in 1804, and then by the architect A.W...

 in 1625, and the rectory of Ewelme

Ewelme

Ewelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, northeast of the market town of Wallingford.To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.The solid geology is chalk...

, Oxfordshire, in 1629.

Prideaux was in post as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (a one year position at the time) five times: from July 1619 to July 1621, July 1624 to 1626, and from 7 October 1641 to 7 February 1643, although in absentia at the end of his office. In his first year of office, he had to intervene in the dispute raging in Jesus College

Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...

 as to the election of a Principal. In defiance of the fellows, he installed Francis Mansell

Francis Mansell

Francis Mansell was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford on three occasions: from 1620 to 1621; from 1630 to 1648, when he was ejected during the English Civil War; and from 1660 to 1661. He had previously studied at the college.-References:...

, the nominee of Lord Pembroke, then chancellor, and expelled most of the dissentients.

It was as Regius Professor of Divinity that Prideaux came most into contact with actual politics. For 26 years, he had to preside at theological disputations, in which the unorthodox found supporters. He maintained throughout a conservative position, without altogether alienating the extremists. To young Gilbert Sheldon

Gilbert Sheldon

Gilbert Sheldon was an English Archbishop of Canterbury.-Early life:He was born in Stanton, Staffordshire in the parish of Ellastone, on 19 July 1598, the youngest son of Roger Sheldon; his father worked for Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford; he...

, who first at Oxford denied that the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 was Antichrist

Antichrist

The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...

, he replied with a joke; and his quarrel with Peter Heylyn, whom in 1627 he denounced as a 'Bellarminian,' for maintaining the supremacy of the church in matters of faith, was amicably settled in 1633 by the mediation of William Laud

William Laud

William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...

. In 1617, a similar difficulty with Daniel Featley

Daniel Featley

Daniel Featley, also called Fairclough and sometimes called Richard Fairclough/Featley , was an English theologian and controversialist...

 had been composed by the help of George Abbot. His attitude towards Arminian views was unfriendly. On the other hand, Laud respected him, and asked him in 1636 to revise William Chillingworth

William Chillingworth

William Chillingworth was a controversial English churchman.-Early life:He was born in Oxford, where his father served as mayor; William Laud was his godfather. In June 1618 he became a scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, of which he was made a fellow in June 1628...

's Religion of Protestants, and he always remained one of the royal chaplains.

Later life

Prideaux was one of the miscellaneous theologians summoned by the lords' committee 1 March 1641, to meet in the Jerusalem Chamber and discuss plans of church reform under the lead of John Williams

John Williams (archbishop)

John Williams was a British clergyman and political advisor to King James I. He served as Bishop of Lincoln 1621–1641, Keeper of the Great Seal also known as Lord Keeper or Lord Chancellor 1621–1625, and Archbishop of York 1641–1650...

. In the autumn Charles, in filling the five vacant sees, promoted four bishops and appointed Prideaux to the fifth, that of Worcester. Prideaux was consecrated on 19 December 1641, and installed a few weeks later; he was thus engaged at Worcester when Williams and his eleven colleagues assembled to make their protest, 29 December, and so escaped impeachment

Impeachment

Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....

. He was one of the three peers, all bishops, who dissented when the bill for excluding the spiritual peers from parliament was read a third time, 5 February 1642. That the commons were not hostile to Prideaux was shown by his nomination as one of the Westminster Assembly

Westminster Assembly

The Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. It also included representatives of religious leaders from Scotland...

 in April 1642. He never attended any of its meetings, and, returning to Worcester, gradually identified himself with the royalists; so that in the list of the Assembly in the ordinance of June 1643 his name no longer appears.

He maintained himself in his diocese until the end of the war, and was in Worcester when the city capitulated to Thomas Rainsborough

Thomas Rainsborough

Thomas Rainsborough , or Rainborough or Raineborough or Rainborowe or Rainbow or Rainborow, was a prominent figure in the English Civil War, and was the leading spokesman of the Levellers in the Putney Debates.-Life:He was the son of William Rainsborough, a captain and Vice-Admiral in the Royal...

. Deprived of what remained to him of the episcopal estates, he sought a refuge with his son-in-law, Dr. Henry Sutton, rector of Bredon, Worcestershire. His last years were spent in comparative poverty, and he had to sell his library to provide for his family. He died of fever at Bredon on 29 July 1650 and was buried in the chancel of the church there 15 August.

Views

Described as one of the most influential Calvinists inside the Church, he was censured in 1631 for his tolerance of preachers in Oxford attacking William Laud

William Laud

William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...

.

Works

Matthias Prideaux, a Royalist soldier, was his son, and predeceased him in 1646. John Prideaux edited his work on history.

He wrote a substantial academic treatise, Hypomnemata, as well as theological works.

Sources