William Whitaker (theologian)
Encyclopedia
William Whitaker was a prominent Anglican
theologian. He was Master
of St. John's College, Cambridge, and a leading divine in the university in the latter half of the sixteenth century.
near Burnley
), Lancashire
, in 1548, being the third son of Thomas Whitaker of that place, by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of John Nowell, esq., of Read, and sister of Alexander Nowell, dean of St. Paul's
." After receiving the rudiments of learning at his native parish school, he was sent by his uncle, Alexander Nowell
, to St Paul's School in London, and thence proceeded to Cambridge
, where he matriculated as a pensioner of Trinity College
on 4 Oct. 1564. He was subsequently elected a scholar on the same foundation, proceeded B.A. in March 1568, and on 6 Sept. 1569 was elected to a minor fellowship, and on 25 March 1571 to a major fellowship, at his college. In 1571 he commenced M.A. Throughout his earlier career at the university he was assisted
by his uncle, who granted him leases, 'freely and without fine,'towards defraying his expenses. Whitaker evinced his gratitude by dedicating to Nowell a translation of the Book of Common Prayer
into Greek, and a like version of Nowell's own larger catechism from the Latin into Greek.
himself when presiding as "father of
the philosophy act" at an academic commencement
appears to have first brought
him prominently into notice. He also became
known as an indefatigable student of
the scriptures, the commentators, and the
schoolmen, and was very early in his career
singled out by John Whitgift
, at that time master
of Trinity, for marks of special favour. On 3 Feb. 1578 he
was installed canon of Norwich Cathedral
,
and in the same year was admitted to the
degree of B.D., and incorporated on 14 July
at Oxford
.
In 1580 he was appointed by the
crown to the regius professorship of divinity,
to which Elizabeth
shortly after added the
chancellorship of St. Paul's, London, and
from this time his position as the champion of
the teaching of the church of England, interpreted
in its most Calvinistic
sense, appears
to have been definitely taken up. In 1582,
on taking part in a disputation at commencement,
he took for his thesis, Pontifex Romanus est ille Antichristus, quern futurum Scriptura prædixit. His lectures,
as professor, afterwards published from shorthand
notes taken by John Allenson, a fellow
of St. John's, were mainly directed towards
refuting Roman Catholic theologians, especially
Robert Bellarmine
and Thomas Stapleton
He also severely criticised the
just-published Douay version of the New Testament, thereby
becoming involved in a controversy with
William Rainolds.
On 28 Feb. 1586 Whitaker, on the recommendation
of Whitgift and Burghley
, was
appointed by the crown to the mastership of
St. John's College
. The appointment was,
however, opposed by a majority of the
fellows on the ground of his supposed leanings
towards puritan
ism. His rule as an
administrator justified in almost equal measure
the appointment and its objectors. The
college increased greatly in numbers and
reputation, but the puritan party gained
ground considerably in the society. Whitaker
was a no less resolute opponent of
Lutheranism
than of Roman doctrine and
ritual, and under his teaching the doctrine
of Calvin and Beza came to be regarded as
of far higher authority than that of the
fathers and the schoolmen.
In the discharge of his ordinary duties as
master his assiduity and strict impartiality
in distributing the rewards at his disposal
conciliated even those who demurred to his
theological teaching, and Baker declares
that the members of the college were "all
at last united in their affection to their
master," and that eventually "he had no
enemies to overcome."
In 1587 he was created D.D.; and in
1593, on the mastership of Trinity College
falling vacant by the preferment of Dr. John Still
to the bishopric of Bath and Wells
, he was an unsuccessful candidate for
the post. In the following year he published
his De Authoritate Scripturæ,
written in reply to Stapleton, prefixing to it
a dedication to Whitgift (18 April 1594),
the latter affording a noteworthy illustration
of his personal relations with the primate,
and also of the Roman controversialist learning
of that time. In May 1595 he was installed
canon of Canterbury
; but his professorship,
mastership, and canonry appear
to have left him still poor, and in a letter
to Burghley, written about a fortnight before
his death, he complains pathetically at being
so frequently passed over amid "the great
preferments of soe many." He may possibly
have been suffering from dejection at this
time, owing to the disagreement with Whitgift
in which, in common with others of the
Cambridge heads, he found himself involved
in connection with the prosecution of William Barrett
. In November 1595 he
was deputed, along with Humphrey Gower, president of Queens' College, to confer
with the primate on the drawing up of
the Lambeth Articles
. On this occasion he
appears to have pressed his Calvinistic views
warmly, but without success, and he returned
to Cambridge fatigued and disappointed. He fell ill and died on December 4, 1595.
As of 1900, there were two portraits of Whitaker in the master's lodge at St. John's College (one
in the drawing-room, the other in the hall), both bearing the words, "Dr. Whitaker, Mr.
1587," and one at the Chetham Hospital and Library at Manchester. His portrait was engraved by William Marshall
in Thomas Fuller
's Holy State, 1642, and by John Payne. His epitaph, in Latin hexameters on a marble tablet, has been placed on the north wall of the interior of the transept of the college chapel.
His hopes of preferment were disappointed,
probably because he was
twice married, and thus forfeited in some
measure the favour of Elizabeth. The
maiden name of his first wife, who was
sister-in-law to Laurence Chaderton
,
was Culverwell; his second wife, who survived
him, was the widow of Dudley Fenner
.
He had eight children: one of the
sons, Alexander Whitaker
, who was educated at
Trinity College, afterwards became known
as the "Apostle of Virginia;" a second, Richard,
was a learned bookseller and printer
in London.
No English divine of the sixteenth century
surpassed Whitaker in the estimation
of his contemporaries. Ralph Churton
justly styles
him "the pride and ornament of Cambridge."
Bellarmine
so much admired his genius and
attainments that he had his portrait suspended
in his study. Joseph Scaliger,
Bishop Hall, and Isaac Casaubon
alike
speak of him in terms of almost unbounded
admiration.
Other works by Whitaker are extant in manuscript; the Bodleian Library has
Commentarii in Cantica, and Prælectiones in priorem Epistolam ad Corinthios by
him; Caius College, Theses: de fide Davidis; de Prædestinatione; and St. John's
College, Cambridge, a treatise on ecclesiastical polity, which Baker thinks was
probably from his pen, although it leans somewhat to Erastianism.
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
theologian. He was Master
Master (college)
A Master is the title of the head of some colleges and other educational institutions. This applies especially at some colleges and institutions at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge .- See also :* Master A Master (or in female form Mistress) is the title of the head of some...
of St. John's College, Cambridge, and a leading divine in the university in the latter half of the sixteenth century.
Early life and education
He was born "at Holme in the parish of Bromley (Holme Chapel, ClivigerCliviger
Cliviger is a civil parish within the Borough of Burnley, in Lancashire, England. It is situated to the southeast of Burnley, and northwest of Todmorden and has a population of 2,350...
near Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
), Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, in 1548, being the third son of Thomas Whitaker of that place, by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of John Nowell, esq., of Read, and sister of Alexander Nowell, dean of St. Paul's
St. Paul's
St. Paul's is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1935. It is also the name of the two municipal wards and the local Toronto District School Board ward St. Paul's is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that...
." After receiving the rudiments of learning at his native parish school, he was sent by his uncle, Alexander Nowell
Alexander Nowell
Alexander Nowell was an English Puritan theologian and clergyman, who served as dean of St Paul's during much of Elizabeth I's reign.-Biography:...
, to St Paul's School in London, and thence proceeded to Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, where he matriculated as a pensioner 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...
on 4 Oct. 1564. He was subsequently elected a scholar on the same foundation, proceeded B.A. in March 1568, and on 6 Sept. 1569 was elected to a minor fellowship, and on 25 March 1571 to a major fellowship, at his college. In 1571 he commenced M.A. Throughout his earlier career at the university he was assisted
by his uncle, who granted him leases, 'freely and without fine,'towards defraying his expenses. Whitaker evinced his gratitude by dedicating to Nowell a translation of the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
into Greek, and a like version of Nowell's own larger catechism from the Latin into Greek.
Academic career
The marked ability with which he acquittedhimself when presiding as "father of
the philosophy act" at an academic commencement
appears to have first brought
him prominently into notice. He also became
known as an indefatigable student of
the scriptures, the commentators, and the
schoolmen, and was very early in his career
singled out by John Whitgift
John Whitgift
John Whitgift was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to his death. Noted for his hospitality, he was somewhat ostentatious in his habits, sometimes visiting Canterbury and other towns attended by a retinue of 800 horsemen...
, at that time master
of Trinity, for marks of special favour. On 3 Feb. 1578 he
was installed canon of Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral is a cathedral located in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Formerly a Catholic church, it has belonged to the Church of England since the English Reformation....
,
and in the same year was admitted to the
degree of B.D., and incorporated on 14 July
at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
In 1580 he was appointed by the
crown to the regius professorship of divinity,
to which Elizabeth
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...
shortly after added the
chancellorship of St. Paul's, London, and
from this time his position as the champion of
the teaching of the church of England, interpreted
in its most Calvinistic
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
sense, appears
to have been definitely taken up. In 1582,
on taking part in a disputation at commencement,
he took for his thesis, Pontifex Romanus est ille Antichristus, quern futurum Scriptura prædixit. His lectures,
as professor, afterwards published from shorthand
notes taken by John Allenson, a fellow
of St. John's, were mainly directed towards
refuting Roman Catholic theologians, especially
Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...
and Thomas Stapleton
Thomas Stapleton
Thomas Stapleton was an English Catholic controversialist.-Life:He was the son of William Stapleton, one of the Stapletons of Carlton, Yorkshire. He was educated at the Free School, Canterbury, at Winchester College, and at New College, Oxford, where he became a Fellow, 18 January 1553...
He also severely criticised the
just-published Douay version of the New Testament, thereby
becoming involved in a controversy with
William Rainolds.
On 28 Feb. 1586 Whitaker, on the recommendation
of Whitgift and Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...
, was
appointed by the crown to the mastership of
St. John's College
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
. The appointment was,
however, opposed by a majority of the
fellows on the ground of his supposed leanings
towards 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...
ism. His rule as an
administrator justified in almost equal measure
the appointment and its objectors. The
college increased greatly in numbers and
reputation, but the puritan party gained
ground considerably in the society. Whitaker
was a no less resolute opponent of
Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
than of Roman doctrine and
ritual, and under his teaching the doctrine
of Calvin and Beza came to be regarded as
of far higher authority than that of the
fathers and the schoolmen.
In the discharge of his ordinary duties as
master his assiduity and strict impartiality
in distributing the rewards at his disposal
conciliated even those who demurred to his
theological teaching, and Baker declares
that the members of the college were "all
at last united in their affection to their
master," and that eventually "he had no
enemies to overcome."
In 1587 he was created D.D.; and in
1593, on the mastership 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...
falling vacant by the preferment of Dr. John Still
John Still
John Still , bishop of Bath and Wells enjoyed considerable fame as a preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of the early English comedy drama Gammer Gurton's Needle .-Career:...
to the bishopric of Bath and Wells
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in...
, he was an unsuccessful candidate for
the post. In the following year he published
his De Authoritate Scripturæ,
written in reply to Stapleton, prefixing to it
a dedication to Whitgift (18 April 1594),
the latter affording a noteworthy illustration
of his personal relations with the primate,
and also of the Roman controversialist learning
of that time. In May 1595 he was installed
canon of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
; but his professorship,
mastership, and canonry appear
to have left him still poor, and in a letter
to Burghley, written about a fortnight before
his death, he complains pathetically at being
so frequently passed over amid "the great
preferments of soe many." He may possibly
have been suffering from dejection at this
time, owing to the disagreement with Whitgift
in which, in common with others of the
Cambridge heads, he found himself involved
in connection with the prosecution of William Barrett
William Barrett
William Barrett may refer to:*William Barrett *William Barrett *William Barrett , American philosopher and critic*William A. Barrett , American politician and a member of the Democratic Party...
. In November 1595 he
was deputed, along with Humphrey Gower, president of Queens' College, to confer
with the primate on the drawing up of
the Lambeth Articles
Lambeth Articles
The Lambeth Articles were a series of nine doctrinal statements drawn up by Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift in 1595, in order to define Calvinist doctrine with regard to predestination and justification....
. On this occasion he
appears to have pressed his Calvinistic views
warmly, but without success, and he returned
to Cambridge fatigued and disappointed. He fell ill and died on December 4, 1595.
As of 1900, there were two portraits of Whitaker in the master's lodge at St. John's College (one
in the drawing-room, the other in the hall), both bearing the words, "Dr. Whitaker, Mr.
1587," and one at the Chetham Hospital and Library at Manchester. His portrait was engraved by William Marshall
William Marshall (illustrator)
William Marshall was a seventeenth century British engraver and illustrator, best known for his print depicting "Charles the Martyr", a symbolic portrayal of King Charles I of England as a Christian martyr.-Early career:...
in Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...
's Holy State, 1642, and by John Payne. His epitaph, in Latin hexameters on a marble tablet, has been placed on the north wall of the interior of the transept of the college chapel.
His hopes of preferment were disappointed,
probably because he was
twice married, and thus forfeited in some
measure the favour of Elizabeth. The
maiden name of his first wife, who was
sister-in-law to Laurence Chaderton
Laurence Chaderton
Laurence Chaderton was an English Puritan divine, and one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible.-Life:...
,
was Culverwell; his second wife, who survived
him, was the widow of Dudley Fenner
Dudley Fenner
Dudley Fenner was an English puritan divine. He helped popularize Ramist logic in the English language. Fenner was also one of the first theologians to use the term "covenant of works" to describe God's relationship with Adam in the Book of Genesis.-Life:He was born in Kent and educated at...
.
He had eight children: one of the
sons, Alexander Whitaker
Alexander Whitaker
Alexander Whitaker was a Christian theologian who settled in North America in Virginia Colony in 1611 and established two churches near the Jamestown colony, and was known as "The Apostle of Virginia" by contemporaries....
, who was educated at
Trinity College, afterwards became known
as the "Apostle of Virginia;" a second, Richard,
was a learned bookseller and printer
in London.
No English divine of the sixteenth century
surpassed Whitaker in the estimation
of his contemporaries. Ralph Churton
Ralph Churton
Ralph Churton was an English churchman and academic, archdeacon of St David's and a biographer.-Life:He was born on an estate called the Snabb, in the township of Bickley and parish of Malpas, Cheshire, on 8 December 1754, being the younger of two sons of Thomas Churton and Sarah Clemson...
justly styles
him "the pride and ornament of Cambridge."
Bellarmine
Bellarmine
Bellarmine can refer to:*Robert Bellarmine , a Cardinal and saint of the Catholic Church*The schools named after him:**Bellarmine University, in Louisville, Kentucky**Bellarmine College Preparatory, in San Jose, California...
so much admired his genius and
attainments that he had his portrait suspended
in his study. Joseph Scaliger,
Bishop Hall, and Isaac Casaubon
Isaac Casaubon
Isaac Casaubon was a classical scholar and philologist, first in France and then later in England, regarded by many of his time as the most learned in Europe.-Early life:...
alike
speak of him in terms of almost unbounded
admiration.
Works
The following is a list of Whitaker's published works, those included in the edition of his theological treatises reprinted by Samuel Crispin at Geneva in two volumes, folio, in 1610, being distinguished by an asterisk:- Liber Precum Publicarum Ecclesiae Anglicanæ . . . Latine Græceque æditus, London, 1569.
- Greek verses appended to Carr's 'Demosthenes,' 1571.
- Κατηχισμός, ... τἢτε 'Ελλήνων καὶ τἢ 'Ρωμαίων διαλέκτῳ ὲκδοθεἷσα, London, 1573, 1574, 1578, 1673 (the Greek version is by Whitaker, the Latin by Alexander Nowell).
- Ioannis Iuelli Sarisbur ... adversus Thomam Hardingum volumen alterum ex Anglico sermone conversum in Latinum a Gulielmo Whitakero, London, 1578.
- Ad decem rationes Edmundi Campiani ... Christiana responsio, London, 1581; a translation of this by Richard StockRichard StockRichard Stock was an English clergyman and one of the Puritan founders of the Feoffees for Impropriations. He was minister at All Hallows, Bread Street in London, from 1611 to 1626.-Life:...
was printed in London in 1606.* - Thesis proposita ... in Academia Cantabrigiensi die Comitiorum anno Domini 1582; cujus summa hæc,Pontifex Romanus est ille Antichristus, London, 1582.*
- Responsionis ... defensio contra confutationem Ioannis Duraei Scoti, presbyteri Iesuitse,' London, 1583.* *Nicolai Sanderi quadraginta demonstrationes, Quod Papa non est Antichristus ille insignis ... et earundem demonstrationum solida refutatio, London, 1583.*
- Fragmenta veterum haereseon ad constituendam Ecclesiæ Pontificiae ἀποστασίαν collecta, London, 1583.* *An aunswere to a certaine Booke, written by M. William Rainoldes ... entituled A Refutation, London, 1585; Cambridge, 1590.*
- Disputatio de Sacra Scriptura contra hujus temporis papistas, inprimis Robertum Bellarminum ... et Thomam Stapletonum ... sex quæstionibus proposita et tractata, Cambridge, 1588.*
- Adversus Tho. Stapletoni Anglopapistæ ... defensionem ecclesiasticæ authoritatis ... duplicatio pro authoritate atque αύτοπιστίᾳ S. Scripturæ, Cambridge, 1594.*
- Praelectiones in quibus tractatur controversia de ecclesia contra pontificios, inprimis Robertum Bellarminum Iesuitam, in septem qusestiones distributa, Cambridge, 1599.* Edited by John AllensonJohn AllensonJohn Allenson was an English puritan divine.-Biography:Allenson, a native of Durham, matriculated as a sizar of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1576; but in November of the same year he migrated to St. John's College, where he obtained a scholarship on Mr. Ashton's foundation, and became a pupil of...
. - Cygnea cantio ... hoc est, ultima illius concio ad clerum, habita Cantabrigiæ anno 1595, ix Oct. Cambridge, 1599.
- Controversia de Conciliis, contra pontificios, inprimis Robertum Bellarminum Iesuitam, in sex quaestiones distributa, Cambridge, 1600.*
- Tractatus de peccato originali ... contra Stapletonum, Cambridge, 1600.*
- Prælectiones in controversiam de Romano Pontifice ... adversus pontificios, inprimis Robertum Bellarminum, Hanau, 1608.*
- Praelectiones aliquot contra Bellarminum habitæ (in Conr. Decker De Proprietatibus Iesuitarum, Oppenheim, 1611).*
- Adversus universalis gratiæ assertores prælectio in 1 Tim. ii. 4 (in Pet. Baro's Summa Triurn de Prædestinatione Sententiarum, Harderwyk, 1613).
- Prælectiones de Sacramentis in Genere et in Specie de. SS. Baptismo et Eucharistia, Frankfort, 1624.
- Articuli de prædestinatione ... Lambethæ propositi, et L. Andrews de iisdem Iudicium, London, 1651.
Other works by Whitaker are extant in manuscript; the Bodleian Library has
Commentarii in Cantica, and Prælectiones in priorem Epistolam ad Corinthios by
him; Caius College, Theses: de fide Davidis; de Prædestinatione; and St. John's
College, Cambridge, a treatise on ecclesiastical polity, which Baker thinks was
probably from his pen, although it leans somewhat to Erastianism.