Thomas Vavasour
Encyclopedia
Thomas Vavasour was an English Roman Catholic physician, and pensioner of St. John's College, Cambridge.
and the Sacrifice of the Mass
. He subsequently went to Venice
, where he took the degree of M.D.
, and on 20 November 1556, he received a licence from the College of Physicians of London to practise for two years.
His house was "by the common school house" in the city of York
; there Mass was said in 1570. In 1572 he was accused of having entertained Edmund Campion
. In Nov., 1574, after he had been confined to his own house in the city of York for nearly nine months, he was sent into solitary confinement in Hull Castle
.
Grindal describes him as "sophistical, disdainful, and illuding arguments with irrision, when he was not able to solute the same by learning", and adds that "his great anchor-hold was in urging the literal sense of hoc est corpus meum, thereby to prove transubstantiation". By June, 1579, he was back again in his house, where Mass was again said.
Later on he was in the Gatehouse, Westminster, from which he was released on submitting to acknowledge the royal supremacy in religious matters; but he was again imprisoned as a recusant in Hull Castle, York where he died. His wife, Dorothy, died in the New Counter, Ousebridge, York, 26 October 1587.
Life
On 25 June 1549, at the disputations held before the king's commissioners at Cambridge, Vavasour was one of the disputants in favour of TransubstantiationTransubstantiation
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...
and the Sacrifice of the Mass
Sacrifice of the Mass
The Sacrifice of the Mass is a Roman Catholic term that describes the sacrificial nature of Catholic Eucharistic theology....
. He subsequently went to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, where he took the degree of M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
, and on 20 November 1556, he received a licence from the College of Physicians of London to practise for two years.
His house was "by the common school house" in the city of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
; there Mass was said in 1570. In 1572 he was accused of having entertained Edmund Campion
Edmund Campion
Saint Edmund Campion, S.J. was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Protestant England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason by a kangaroo court, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn...
. In Nov., 1574, after he had been confined to his own house in the city of York for nearly nine months, he was sent into solitary confinement in Hull Castle
Hull Castle
Hull Castle was built in the 16th century on the east bank of the river Hull next to Kingston upon Hull.This was a coastal fortress built by Henry VIII between 1538 and 1544. It was the most northerly of these fortresses and the last to be built during his reign. It was sited between two...
.
Grindal describes him as "sophistical, disdainful, and illuding arguments with irrision, when he was not able to solute the same by learning", and adds that "his great anchor-hold was in urging the literal sense of hoc est corpus meum, thereby to prove transubstantiation". By June, 1579, he was back again in his house, where Mass was again said.
Later on he was in the Gatehouse, Westminster, from which he was released on submitting to acknowledge the royal supremacy in religious matters; but he was again imprisoned as a recusant in Hull Castle, York where he died. His wife, Dorothy, died in the New Counter, Ousebridge, York, 26 October 1587.