Life

He was born in Grimsby

Grimsby

Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...

, and studied at the University of 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...

, where he became a Fellow of Trinity College

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

.

He was rector of St Mary-le-Bow

St Mary-le-Bow

St Mary-le-Bow is an historic church in the City of London, off Cheapside. According to tradition, a true Cockney must be born within earshot of the sound of the church's bells.-Bells:...

, and then in 1596 a prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....

. He became Bishop of Salisbury in 1618 and died in London on 11 March 1620 and was buried two days later in All Hallows, Lombard Street.
His brother Charles Fotherby

Charles Fotherby

Charles Fotherby was a Church of England clergyman who became Dean of Canterbury Cathedral .-Life:Fotherby's date of birth is not recorded but he is stated to have been 70 when he died....

 was Archdeacon of Canterbury (1595–1615) and Dean of Canterbury

Dean of Canterbury

The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The office of dean originated after the English Reformation, and its precursor office was the prior of the cathedral-monastery...

 (1615–1619).

Works

His Atheomastix; clearing foure truthes, against atheists and infidels was published posthumously in 1622, a work written against atheism

Atheism

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

. According to the Cambridge History of English and American Literature, (1907–21), Volume VII, Fotherby "relied chiefly on St. Thomas Aquinas in his demonstration of the being of God, and maintained that there is a “natural prenotion” that there is a God." This work was the source of many of the poetic quotations occurring in The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles

The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles

The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles is a book written by Captain John Smith, first published in 1624. The book is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, histories of the territory administered by the Virginia Company....

(1624), by John Smith of Jamestown

John Smith of Jamestown

Captain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...

.

Further reading

• Philip L. Barbour, Captain John Smith and the Bishop of Sarum. Huntington Library Quarterly, 26 (1962), 11-29. ISSN 00187895.