Thomas Bilson
Encyclopedia
Thomas Bilson was an Anglican Bishop of Worcester
and Bishop of Winchester
. He, along with Miles Smith
, oversaw the final edit and printing of the King James Bible. He is buried in Westminster Abbey in plot 232 between the tombs of Richard the Second and Edward the Third. On top of his gravestone there is a small rectangular blank brass plate — the original plate was removed in order to preserve it and is presently on display on the floor against the wall between the tombs of Richard ll and Edward lll and says the following:—
MEORIAE SACRVM / HIC IACET THOMAS BILSON WINTONIENSIS NVPER EPISCOPVS / ET SERENISSIMO PRINCIPI IACOBO MAGNAE BRITTANIAE REGI /POTENTISSIMO A SANCTIORIBVS CONSILIJS QVI QVVM DEO ET / ECCLESIAE AD ANNOS VNDE VIGINTI FIDELITER IN EPISCO / PATV DESERVISSET MORTALITATE SUB CERTA SPE RESVRRECTI: /ONIS EXVIT DECIMO OCTAVO DIE MENSIS IVNIJ ANO DOMINI /M.DC XVI. AETATIS SVAE LXIX.
Translation:— Here lies Thomas Bilson formerly bishop of Winchester and counsellor in sacred matters of his serene highness King James of Great Britain who when he had served God and the church for nineteen years in the bishopric laid aside mortality in certain hope of resurrection 18th June 1616 aged 69.
was a nephew. Bilson was educated at the twin foundations of William de Wykeham, Winchester College
and New College, Oxford
. He began to distinguish himself as a poet until, on receiving ordination, he gave himself wholly to theological studies. He was soon made Prebendary of Winchester, and headmaster of the College there until 1579 and Warden from 1581 to 1596. His pupils there included John Owen
, and Thomas James
, whom he influenced in the direction of patristics
. In 1596, he was made Bishop of Worcester
, where he found Warwick
uncomfortably full of recusant
Roman Catholics. For appointment in 1597 to the wealthy see of Winchester
, he paid a £400 annuity to Elizabeth I
.
As the Bishop of Winchester, Thomas Bilson would have resided at Winchester Palace, where today in Clink Street, Southwark, London SE1 — there is only one remaining wall of the palace — with a magnificent rose window measuring thirteen feet across. However, back in the sixteenth century, Winchester Palace was a splendorous site and would have looked very similar to the waterfront house of ‘Sir Robert De Lesseps’ depicted in the film ‘Shakespeare in Love’. The 700 acre Bishoprick ‘see’ and jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester included an area known as — ‘The Liberty of Clink’ Southwark, Bankside — which in addition to having a prison (‘The Clink’) also provided the site of many of the major theatres of the day, namely:
— ‘The Rose’ built in 1587 in Rose Lane where Philip Henslowe was the lessee;
— ‘The Swan’ built in 1596 by Francis Langley in Paris Garden;
— ‘The Globe’ re-built in 1598 by James Burbage and William Shakespeare; (a year after Thomas Bilson became the Bishop of Winchester) and — ‘The Hope’ built in 1613 by Philip Henslowe in Bear Garden.
Southwark on the south bank of the river Thames in London was very much a cash generator in those days. (Back in the sixteenth century, Southwark was in many ways like a prototype Las Vegas.) In addition to the theatres, Southwark, Bankside was also a ‘red light’ district renowned for its brothels and contained an unconsecrated graveyard for the corpses of women who had worked in them. Far from condemning the brothels, the respective bishops of Winchester, Thomas Bilson included, drew up a set of rules for their regulation and opening hours. In addition to prostitution and pick pockets, the area was also renowned for its gambling dens, skittle alleys and bear/bull baiting, most of which were run by Philip Henslowe (1550-1616) who married a wealthy widow by the name of Agnes Woodward in 1579 and it is thought that with her money Henslowe had managed to acquire interests in numerous brothels, inns, lodging houses and was also involved in dyeing, starch making and wood selling as well as pawnbroking, money lending and theatrical enterprises. With regard to his relationship with actors and playwrights Henslowe wrote in his diary:—“Should these fellowes come out of my debt I should have no rule over them.” Although Philip Henslowe was undoubtedly the main operational manager and entrepreneur behind many of Southwark’s and the ‘see of Winchester’s’ cash generating entertainment enterprises — all taxes from these activities had to be paid to Thomas Bilson the Bishop of Winchester. Indeed in the London Public Record Office is an entry relating to William Shakespeare’s unpaid tax, and carrying the annotation ‘Ep(iscop)o Winton(ensi)’ (to the Bishop of Winchester) — (*The Public Record Office, Exchequer, Lord Treasurers Remembrancer, Pipe Rolls, E.372/444, m. Dated 6 October 1600.) — which has led historians such as Ian Wilson in his 1993 book ‘Shakespeare the Evidence’ to surmise that perhaps William Shakespeare was living within the bishopric ‘see’ of Thomas Bilson the Bishop of Winchester at this time. However somewhat curiously, William Shakespeare’s name does not appear in the church wardens’ annual lists of those residents registered as having attended compulsory Easter Communion. The church wardens annual lists of residents and the compulsory attendance of Easter Communion — in effect the commencement of the new year within the Julian Calendar — provided the paranoid bureaucratic authorities — fearful of Jesuit and Catholic uprisings with a detailed census as to the political status of its citizens and as a means to assess their military and tax obligations. William Shakespeare’s omission from this list and the reference to Thomas Bilson the Bishop of Winchester implies ‘a relationship’ between these two men which has hitherto been unexplained. — Indeed, the commonality of both men being to a large extent historical enigmas is curious in itself.
Thomas engaged in most of the polemical contests of his day, as a stiff partisan of the Church of England
. In 1585, he published his The True Difference Betweene Christian Subjection and Unchristian Rebellion. This work took aim at the Jesuits and replied to Cardinal William Allen's Defence of the English Catholics (Ingoldstadt, 1584). It was also a theoretical work on the "Christian commonwealth" and it enjoyed publishing success. Some historians have stated that the immediate purpose of True Difference was as much to justify Dutch Protestants resisting Philip II of Spain
, as to counter the Jesuits' attacks on Elizabeth I. Glenn Burgess considers that in True Difference Bilson shows a sense of the diversity of "legitimate" political systems. He conceded nothing to popular sovereignty, but said that there were occasions when a king might forfeit his powers. According to James Shapiro, he "does his best to walk a fine line", in discussing 'political icons', i.e. pictures of the monarch.
led to several attacks on Bilson personally in what is now called the "Descensus controversy". Bilson's literal views on the descent of Christ into Hell were orthodox for "conformist" Anglicans of the time, while the Puritan wing of the church preferred a metaphorical or spiritual reading. He maintained that Christ went to hell, not to suffer, but to wrest the keys of hell out of the Devil’s hands. For this doctrine he was severely handled by Henry Jacob
and also by other Puritan
s. Hugh Broughton
, a noted Hebraist, was excluded from the translators of the King James Bible, and became a vehement early critic. The origin of Broughton's published attack on Bilson as a scholar and theologian, from 1604, is thought to lie in a sermon Bilson gave in 1597, which Broughton, at first and wrongly, thought supported his own view that hell and paradise coincided in place. From another direction the Roman Catholic controversialist Richard Broughton
also attacked Anglican conformists through Bilson's views, writing in 1607. Much feeling was excited by the controversy, and Queen Elizabeth, in her ire, commanded Bilson, "neither to desert the doctrine, nor let the calling which he bore in the Church of God, be trampled under foot, by such unquiet refusers of truth and authority."
Bilson's most famous work was entitled The Perpetual Government of Christ's Church and was published in 1593. It was a systematic attack on Presbyterian polity
and an able defence of Episcopal polity
. Following on from John Bridges
, the work is still regarded as one of the strongest books ever written in behalf of episcopacy.
Bilson gave the sermon at the coronation on 25 July 1603 of James VI of Scotland as James I of England
. While the wording conceded something to the divine right of kings
, it also included a caveat about lawful resistance to a monarch. This theme was from Bilson's 1585 book, and already sounded somewhat obsolescent.
At the Hampton Court Conference
of 1604, he and Richard Bancroft
implored King James to change nothing in the Church of England
. He had in fact advised James in 1603 not to hold the Conference, and to leave religious matters to the professionals. The advice might have prevailed, had it not been for Patrick Galloway
, Moderator of the Scottish Assembly. Later, in charge of the Authorized Version, he composed the front matter with Miles Smith, his share being the dedication.
He bought the manor of West Mapledurham, Oxfordshire, in 1605. Later, in 1613, he acquired the site of Durford Abbey, Rogate
, Sussex.
He was ex officio Visitor of St John's College, Oxford
, and so was called to intervene when in 1611 the election as President of William Laud
was disputed, with a background tension of Calvinist versus Arminian. The other candidate was John Rawlinson
. Bilson, taken to be on the Calvinist side, found that the election of the high-church Laud had failed to follow the college statutes. He in the end ruled in favour of Laud, but only after some intrigue: Bilson had difficulty in having his jurisdiction recognised by the group of Laud's activists, led unscrupulously by William Juxon
. Laud's party had complained, to the King, who eventually decided the matter himself, leaving the status quo, and instructed Bilson.
He was appointed a judge in the 1613 annulment
case of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
and his wife Frances
née Howard; with John Buckridge, bishop of Rochester
, he was one of two extra judges added by the King to the original 10, who were deadlocked. This caused bitterness on the part of George Abbot
, the archbishop of Canterbury
, who was presiding over the nullity commission. Abbot felt that neither man was impartial, and that Bilson bore him an old grudge. Bilson played a key role in the outcome, turning away the Earl of Essex's appeal to appear a second time before the commission, and sending away Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
who was asking on behalf of Essex with a half-truth about the position (which was that the King had intervened against Essex). The outcome of the case was a divorce, and Bilson was then in favour with Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
, a favourite in the court who proceeded to marry Frances. Bilson's son, the lawyer Sir Thomas Bilson (1579–1630), was nicknamed "Sir Nullity Bilson", because his knighthood followed on the outcome of the Essex annulment case.
In August 1615 Bilson was made a member of the Privy Council
. In fact, though this was the high point of Bilson's career as courtier, and secured by Somerset's influence, he had been led to expect more earlier that summer. Somerset had been importunate to the point of pushiness on behalf of Bilson, hoping to secure him a higher office, and had left Bilson in a false position and James very annoyed. This misjudgement was a major step in Somerset's replacement in favour by George Villiers
, said to have happened in physical terms under Bilson's roof at Farnham Castle
that same August. Bilson died in 1616 and was buried in Westminster Abbey
.
proclaimed him so "complete in divinity, so well skilled in languages, so read in the Fathers and Schoolmen, so judicious is making use of his readings, that at length he was found to be no longer a soldier, but a commander in chief in the spiritual warfare, especially when he became a bishop!" Bilson is also remembered for being hawkish against recusant Roman Catholics. Henry Parker drew on both Bilson and Richard Hooker
in his pamphlet writing around the time of English Civil War
.
Bilson had argued for resistance to a Roman Catholic prince. A century later, Richard Baxter
drew on Bilson in proposing and justifying the deposition of James II
. What Bilson had envisaged in 1585 was a "wild" scenario or counterfactual
, a Roman Catholic monarch of England: its relevance to practical politics came much later.
, while requiring passive obedience to authority depending on the context. His efforts to avoid condemning Huguenot and Dutch Protestant resisters have been described as "contortions". His works included:
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...
and Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
. He, along with Miles Smith
Miles Smith
Miles Smith was a scholar, theologian, and bibliophile.-Life:He attended Corpus Christi College, Oxford, but graduated from Brasenose, in the same University, where he "proved at length an incomparable theologist." In time, he became resident canon of Hereford Cathedral and earned his Doctor of...
, oversaw the final edit and printing of the King James Bible. He is buried in Westminster Abbey in plot 232 between the tombs of Richard the Second and Edward the Third. On top of his gravestone there is a small rectangular blank brass plate — the original plate was removed in order to preserve it and is presently on display on the floor against the wall between the tombs of Richard ll and Edward lll and says the following:—
MEORIAE SACRVM / HIC IACET THOMAS BILSON WINTONIENSIS NVPER EPISCOPVS / ET SERENISSIMO PRINCIPI IACOBO MAGNAE BRITTANIAE REGI /POTENTISSIMO A SANCTIORIBVS CONSILIJS QVI QVVM DEO ET / ECCLESIAE AD ANNOS VNDE VIGINTI FIDELITER IN EPISCO / PATV DESERVISSET MORTALITATE SUB CERTA SPE RESVRRECTI: /ONIS EXVIT DECIMO OCTAVO DIE MENSIS IVNIJ ANO DOMINI /M.DC XVI. AETATIS SVAE LXIX.
Translation:— Here lies Thomas Bilson formerly bishop of Winchester and counsellor in sacred matters of his serene highness King James of Great Britain who when he had served God and the church for nineteen years in the bishopric laid aside mortality in certain hope of resurrection 18th June 1616 aged 69.
Years under the Tudors (1547–1603)
According to the original 'Dictionary of the National Biography' (founded in 1882 by George Smith and edited by both Sir Leslie Stephen who was Virginia Woolf’s father, and Sir Sidney Lee) Thomas Bilson was the eldest son of Herman Bilson, grandson of Arnold Bilson, whose wife is said to have been a daughter of the Duke of Bavaria. Later editions highlight that William TwisseWilliam Twisse
William Twisse was a prominent English clergyman and theologian. He became Prolocutor of the Westminster Assembly, putting him at the head of the churchmen of the Commonwealth. He was described by a Scottish member, Robert Baillie, as “very good, beloved of all, and highlie esteemed; but merelie...
was a nephew. Bilson was educated at the twin foundations of William de Wykeham, Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
. He began to distinguish himself as a poet until, on receiving ordination, he gave himself wholly to theological studies. He was soon made Prebendary of Winchester, and headmaster of the College there until 1579 and Warden from 1581 to 1596. His pupils there included John Owen
John Owen (epigrammatist)
John Owen was a Welsh epigrammatist, most known for his Latin epigrams, collected in his Epigrammata.He is also cited by various Latinizations including Ioannes Owen, Joannes Oweni, Ovenus and Audoenus....
, and Thomas James
Thomas James
Thomas James was an English librarian, first librarian of the Bodleian Library, Oxford.James became a fellow of New College, Oxford in 1593...
, whom he influenced in the direction of patristics
Patristics
Patristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian writers, known as the Church Fathers. The names derive from the Latin pater . The period is generally considered to run from the end of New Testament times or end of the Apostolic Age Patristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian...
. In 1596, he was made 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...
, where he found Warwick
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
uncomfortably full of recusant
Recusancy
In the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...
Roman Catholics. For appointment in 1597 to the wealthy see of Winchester
Diocese of Winchester
The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England.Founded in 676, it is one of the oldest and largest of the dioceses in England.The area of the diocese incorporates:...
, he paid a £400 annuity to Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
.
As the Bishop of Winchester, Thomas Bilson would have resided at Winchester Palace, where today in Clink Street, Southwark, London SE1 — there is only one remaining wall of the palace — with a magnificent rose window measuring thirteen feet across. However, back in the sixteenth century, Winchester Palace was a splendorous site and would have looked very similar to the waterfront house of ‘Sir Robert De Lesseps’ depicted in the film ‘Shakespeare in Love’. The 700 acre Bishoprick ‘see’ and jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester included an area known as — ‘The Liberty of Clink’ Southwark, Bankside — which in addition to having a prison (‘The Clink’) also provided the site of many of the major theatres of the day, namely:
— ‘The Rose’ built in 1587 in Rose Lane where Philip Henslowe was the lessee;
— ‘The Swan’ built in 1596 by Francis Langley in Paris Garden;
— ‘The Globe’ re-built in 1598 by James Burbage and William Shakespeare; (a year after Thomas Bilson became the Bishop of Winchester) and — ‘The Hope’ built in 1613 by Philip Henslowe in Bear Garden.
Southwark on the south bank of the river Thames in London was very much a cash generator in those days. (Back in the sixteenth century, Southwark was in many ways like a prototype Las Vegas.) In addition to the theatres, Southwark, Bankside was also a ‘red light’ district renowned for its brothels and contained an unconsecrated graveyard for the corpses of women who had worked in them. Far from condemning the brothels, the respective bishops of Winchester, Thomas Bilson included, drew up a set of rules for their regulation and opening hours. In addition to prostitution and pick pockets, the area was also renowned for its gambling dens, skittle alleys and bear/bull baiting, most of which were run by Philip Henslowe (1550-1616) who married a wealthy widow by the name of Agnes Woodward in 1579 and it is thought that with her money Henslowe had managed to acquire interests in numerous brothels, inns, lodging houses and was also involved in dyeing, starch making and wood selling as well as pawnbroking, money lending and theatrical enterprises. With regard to his relationship with actors and playwrights Henslowe wrote in his diary:—“Should these fellowes come out of my debt I should have no rule over them.” Although Philip Henslowe was undoubtedly the main operational manager and entrepreneur behind many of Southwark’s and the ‘see of Winchester’s’ cash generating entertainment enterprises — all taxes from these activities had to be paid to Thomas Bilson the Bishop of Winchester. Indeed in the London Public Record Office is an entry relating to William Shakespeare’s unpaid tax, and carrying the annotation ‘Ep(iscop)o Winton(ensi)’ (to the Bishop of Winchester) — (*The Public Record Office, Exchequer, Lord Treasurers Remembrancer, Pipe Rolls, E.372/444, m. Dated 6 October 1600.) — which has led historians such as Ian Wilson in his 1993 book ‘Shakespeare the Evidence’ to surmise that perhaps William Shakespeare was living within the bishopric ‘see’ of Thomas Bilson the Bishop of Winchester at this time. However somewhat curiously, William Shakespeare’s name does not appear in the church wardens’ annual lists of those residents registered as having attended compulsory Easter Communion. The church wardens annual lists of residents and the compulsory attendance of Easter Communion — in effect the commencement of the new year within the Julian Calendar — provided the paranoid bureaucratic authorities — fearful of Jesuit and Catholic uprisings with a detailed census as to the political status of its citizens and as a means to assess their military and tax obligations. William Shakespeare’s omission from this list and the reference to Thomas Bilson the Bishop of Winchester implies ‘a relationship’ between these two men which has hitherto been unexplained. — Indeed, the commonality of both men being to a large extent historical enigmas is curious in itself.
Thomas engaged in most of the polemical contests of his day, as a stiff partisan 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...
. In 1585, he published his The True Difference Betweene Christian Subjection and Unchristian Rebellion. This work took aim at the Jesuits and replied to Cardinal William Allen's Defence of the English Catholics (Ingoldstadt, 1584). It was also a theoretical work on the "Christian commonwealth" and it enjoyed publishing success. Some historians have stated that the immediate purpose of True Difference was as much to justify Dutch Protestants resisting Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, as to counter the Jesuits' attacks on Elizabeth I. Glenn Burgess considers that in True Difference Bilson shows a sense of the diversity of "legitimate" political systems. He conceded nothing to popular sovereignty, but said that there were occasions when a king might forfeit his powers. According to James Shapiro, he "does his best to walk a fine line", in discussing 'political icons', i.e. pictures of the monarch.
Theological controversy
A theological argument over the Harrowing of HellHarrowing of Hell
The Harrowing of Hell is a doctrine in Christian theology referenced in the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed that states that Jesus Christ "descended into Hell"...
led to several attacks on Bilson personally in what is now called the "Descensus controversy". Bilson's literal views on the descent of Christ into Hell were orthodox for "conformist" Anglicans of the time, while the Puritan wing of the church preferred a metaphorical or spiritual reading. He maintained that Christ went to hell, not to suffer, but to wrest the keys of hell out of the Devil’s hands. For this doctrine he was severely handled by Henry Jacob
Henry Jacob
Henry Jacob was an English clergyman of Calvinist views, who founded a separatist congregation associated with the Brownists.-Life:...
and also by other 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...
s. Hugh Broughton
Hugh Broughton
Hugh Broughton was an English scholar and theologian.-Early life:He was born at Owlbury, Bishop's Castle, Shropshire. He calls himself a Cambrian, implying Welsh blood in his veins. He was educated by Bernard Gilpin at Houghton-le-Spring and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he matriculated...
, a noted Hebraist, was excluded from the translators of the King James Bible, and became a vehement early critic. The origin of Broughton's published attack on Bilson as a scholar and theologian, from 1604, is thought to lie in a sermon Bilson gave in 1597, which Broughton, at first and wrongly, thought supported his own view that hell and paradise coincided in place. From another direction the Roman Catholic controversialist Richard Broughton
Richard Broughton
Richard Broughton, alias Rouse, was a Catholic priest and antiquarian.-Life:...
also attacked Anglican conformists through Bilson's views, writing in 1607. Much feeling was excited by the controversy, and Queen Elizabeth, in her ire, commanded Bilson, "neither to desert the doctrine, nor let the calling which he bore in the Church of God, be trampled under foot, by such unquiet refusers of truth and authority."
Bilson's most famous work was entitled The Perpetual Government of Christ's Church and was published in 1593. It was a systematic attack on Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply...
and an able defence of Episcopal polity
Episcopal polity
Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...
. Following on from John Bridges
John Bridges (bishop)
-Life:He graduated M.A. at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge in 1560, having been a Fellow there since 1556. He became Dean of Salisbury in 1577.He was appointed Bishop of Oxford on the accession of James I of England, and took part in the Hampton Court Conference, in 1604....
, the work is still regarded as one of the strongest books ever written in behalf of episcopacy.
Courtier to James I (1603–1616)
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...
. While the wording conceded something to the divine right of kings
Divine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...
, it also included a caveat about lawful resistance to a monarch. This theme was from Bilson's 1585 book, and already sounded somewhat obsolescent.
At the Hampton Court Conference
Hampton Court Conference
The Hampton Court Conference was a meeting in January 1604, convened at Hampton Court Palace, for discussion between King James I of England and representatives of the Church of England, including leading English Puritans.-Attendance:...
of 1604, he and Richard Bancroft
Richard Bancroft
Archbishop Richard Bancroft, DD, BD, MA, BA was an English churchman, who became Archbishop of Canterbury and the "chief overseer" of the production of the authorized version of the Bible.-Life:...
implored King James to change nothing in 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 had in fact advised James in 1603 not to hold the Conference, and to leave religious matters to the professionals. The advice might have prevailed, had it not been for Patrick Galloway
Patrick Galloway
Patrick Galloway was a Scottish minister, a Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.-Life:He was born about 1551. In 1576 he was appointed minister of the parishes of Foulis Easter and Longforgan, Perthshire...
, Moderator of the Scottish Assembly. Later, in charge of the Authorized Version, he composed the front matter with Miles Smith, his share being the dedication.
He bought the manor of West Mapledurham, Oxfordshire, in 1605. Later, in 1613, he acquired the site of Durford Abbey, Rogate
Rogate
Rogate is a village and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England situated in the Western Rother valley. The village is on the A272 road seven miles west of Midhurst. The parish comprises the villages of Rogate and Rake and the hamlets of Haben, Fyning, Hill Brow, Langley,...
, Sussex.
He was ex officio Visitor of St John's College, Oxford
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
, and so was called to intervene when in 1611 the election as President 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...
was disputed, with a background tension of Calvinist versus Arminian. The other candidate was John Rawlinson
John Rawlinson (clergyman)
John Rawlinson was an English churchman and academic who was Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford from 1610.-Life:He was son of Robert Rawlinson, merchant tailor of London, and was admitted to Merchant Taylors' School in 1585. He was elected scholar of St John's College, Oxford, in 1591, and...
. Bilson, taken to be on the Calvinist side, found that the election of the high-church Laud had failed to follow the college statutes. He in the end ruled in favour of Laud, but only after some intrigue: Bilson had difficulty in having his jurisdiction recognised by the group of Laud's activists, led unscrupulously by William Juxon
William Juxon
William Juxon was an English churchman, Bishop of London from 1633 to 1649 and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1660 until his death.-Life:...
. Laud's party had complained, to the King, who eventually decided the matter himself, leaving the status quo, and instructed Bilson.
Final years
Annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...
case of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the seventeenth century. With the start of the English Civil War in 1642 he became the first Captain-General and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army, also known as the Roundheads...
and his wife Frances
Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset
Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset was an English noblewoman who was the central figure in a famous scandal and murder during the reign of King James I...
née Howard; with John Buckridge, bishop of Rochester
Bishop of Rochester
The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the west of the county of Kent and is centred in the city of Rochester where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin...
, he was one of two extra judges added by the King to the original 10, who were deadlocked. This caused bitterness on the part of George Abbot
George Abbot (Archbishop of Canterbury)
George Abbot was an English divine and Archbishop of Canterbury. He also served as the fourth Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, between 1612 and 1633....
, the archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, who was presiding over the nullity commission. Abbot felt that neither man was impartial, and that Bilson bore him an old grudge. Bilson played a key role in the outcome, turning away the Earl of Essex's appeal to appear a second time before the commission, and sending away Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
Henry Wriothesley , 3rd Earl of Southampton , was the second son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and his wife Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton, daughter of the 1st Viscount Montagu...
who was asking on behalf of Essex with a half-truth about the position (which was that the King had intervened against Essex). The outcome of the case was a divorce, and Bilson was then in favour with Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, , was a politician, and favourite of King James I of England.-Background:Robert Kerr was born in Wrington, Somerset, England the younger son of Sir Thomas Kerr of Ferniehurst, Scotland by his second wife, Janet, sister of Walter Scott of Buccleuch...
, a favourite in the court who proceeded to marry Frances. Bilson's son, the lawyer Sir Thomas Bilson (1579–1630), was nicknamed "Sir Nullity Bilson", because his knighthood followed on the outcome of the Essex annulment case.
In August 1615 Bilson was made a member of the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
. In fact, though this was the high point of Bilson's career as courtier, and secured by Somerset's influence, he had been led to expect more earlier that summer. Somerset had been importunate to the point of pushiness on behalf of Bilson, hoping to secure him a higher office, and had left Bilson in a false position and James very annoyed. This misjudgement was a major step in Somerset's replacement in favour by George Villiers
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
, said to have happened in physical terms under Bilson's roof at Farnham Castle
Farnham Castle
Farnham Castle is a castle in Farnham, Surrey, England .First built in 1138 by Henri de Blois, grandson of William the Conqueror, Bishop of Winchester, the castle was to become the home of the Bishops of Winchester for over 800 years. The original building was demolished by Henry II in 1155 after...
that same August. Bilson died in 1616 and was buried in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
.
Legacy
It was said of him, that he "carried prelature in his very aspect." Anthony WoodAnthony Wood
Anthony Wood or Anthony à Wood was an English antiquary.-Early life:Anthony Wood was the fourth son of Thomas Wood , BCL of Oxford, where Anthony was born...
proclaimed him so "complete in divinity, so well skilled in languages, so read in the Fathers and Schoolmen, so judicious is making use of his readings, that at length he was found to be no longer a soldier, but a commander in chief in the spiritual warfare, especially when he became a bishop!" Bilson is also remembered for being hawkish against recusant Roman Catholics. Henry Parker drew on both Bilson and Richard Hooker
Richard Hooker
Richard Hooker was an Anglican priest and an influential theologian. Hooker's emphases on reason, tolerance and the value of tradition came to exert a lasting influence on the development of the Church of England...
in his pamphlet writing around the time of English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
.
Bilson had argued for resistance to a Roman Catholic prince. A century later, Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn-writer, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long...
drew on Bilson in proposing and justifying the deposition of James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
. What Bilson had envisaged in 1585 was a "wild" scenario or counterfactual
Counterfactual
Counterfactual may refer to:* Counterfactual conditional, a grammatical form * Counterfactual subjunctive, grammatical forms which in English are known as the past and pluperfect forms of the subjunctive mood* Counterfactual thinking* Counterfactual history* Alternate history, a literary genre*...
, a Roman Catholic monarch of England: its relevance to practical politics came much later.
Writings
His writings took a nuanced and middle way in ecclesiastical polity, and avoided Erastian views and divine rightDivine Right
Divine Right may refer to:* The Divine right of kings, the doctrine that a monarch derives his or her power directly from God* Episcopal polity, the doctrine that is required in the church jure divino, i.e...
, while requiring passive obedience to authority depending on the context. His efforts to avoid condemning Huguenot and Dutch Protestant resisters have been described as "contortions". His works included:
- The True Difference Betweene Christian Subjection and Unchristian Rebellion (1585)
- The Perpetual Government Of Christ's Church (1593)
- Survey of Christ's Sufferings for Man's Redemption and of His Descent to Hades Or Hell for Our Deliverance (1604) against the BrownistBrownistThe Brownists were English Dissenters and followers of Robert Browne who was born at Tolethorpe Hall in Rutland, England in about 1550.-Origins:...
Henry JacobHenry JacobHenry Jacob was an English clergyman of Calvinist views, who founded a separatist congregation associated with the Brownists.-Life:...
Further reading
- William M. Lamont, The Rise and Fall of Bishop Bilson, The Journal of British Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2 (May, 1966), pp. 22–32