James Bass Mullinger

“ It was mainly through his influence that Erasmus was induced to visit Cambridge, and the latter expressly attributes it to his powerful protection that the study of Greek was allowed to go on in the university without active molestation of the kind which it had to encounter at Oxford (Epist. vi. 2) . Notwithstanding his advanced years, Fisher himself aspired to become a Greek scholar, and appears to have made some attainments in the language. On the other hand, his attachment to the papal cause remained unshaken, while his hostility to Luther and the Reformation was beyond question. ”

“ John's College. The college was conspicuous for its attachment to the new doctrines of the reformation, and on the accession of Queen Mary, Cartwright, in common with most of those who refused to revert to catholicism, was compelled to quit the university. He obtained employment as a clerk to a counsellor-at-law, an experience which he is said to have subsequently turned to account, owing to the skill in dialectical fence which he acquired from his study of the common law. On the death of Queen Mary, the reformers returned to Cambridge in triumph. ”

“ He, however, became wearied by their pertinacity and prolonged stay, which was protracted to April, Fox, in that month, even going so far as to follow the doctors of the university to the diet at Frankfort. At length he and his colleagues were dismissed, taking back to England as the reply of the protestant divines of Germany, that, although the king had doubtless been moved by very weighty reasons, and it was impossible to deny that his marriage was against natural and moral law, they could not persuade themselves that he had acted rightly in the matter of the divorce. ”

“ But it was his last triumph, and in the following year his own fall and execution left his rival in almost undisputed possession of the royal favour and of supreme political influence. In the university of Cambridge Gardiner was also elected as his former opponent's successor in the chancellorship. Apart from his power to aid and protect the academic community, his election was recommended by his high attainments as a scholar and the discernment which he had already evinced as a judicious patron of rising merit among men of letters. ”

“ At a council of the clergy held at Westminster in 1517, Fisher gave satisfactory proof that he was actuated by no spirit of adulation ; and in a remarkable speech, wherein he severely censured the greed for gain and the love of display and of court life which characterised many of the higher ecclesiastics of the realm, he was generally supposed to have glanced at the cardinal himself. In 1523 he opposed with no less courage, by a speech in convocation, Wolsey's great scheme for a subsidy in aid of the war with Flanders (Hall, p. 72) . ”

“ It was at this juncture that the great revolution was effected in the constitution of the university which resulted from the introduction of the Elizabethan statutes. The powers thus given to the caput were more extensive, and less liable to be controlled by the general body; and by virtue of this increase in their authority, the heads, led by Whitgift (who had succeeded May as vice-chancellor) , deprived Cartwright of his professorship (December 1570) . ”

“ In the months of July and August 1527 he was with Wolsey in France, and the latter in a letter dated from Amiens proposes to King Henry to send Gardiner to him to receive his secret instructions, ‘he being,’ says the writer, ‘the only instrument I have for the purpose.’ Either in this year, or at some earlier time, he was in Paris, and there made the acquaintance of Erasmus, whom we find writing to him on 3 Sept. 1527, and recalling their pleasant meeting and also expressing his gratification at learning that Gardiner stands so high in the favour of their common patron, Wolsey. ”

“ The cause of the republic was ably maintained by the eminent scholar and philosopher, Friar Sarpi, better known as Father Paul, who carried on a notable controversy with the defenders of the Ultramontane policy, Baronius and Bellarmine. Bedell did not arrive in Venice until some time after the interdict had been revoked (21 April 1607) , but he found the popular mind still deeply agitated by the whole question of papal allegiance, and in conjunction with Sir Henry Wotton he cherished the belief that circumstances augured hopefully for bringing about a Reformation in Italy. ”

“ For college life, involving as it did frequent and close intercourse with men of diverse views and temper, Harvey was by nature ill adapted. He was a man of arrogant and censorious spirit, far too conscious of his own considerable abilities, while but little disposed to recognise the merits and claims of others. ”

“ In September 1535 the king's ‘experience of his wisdom and moderation’ induced him again to appoint him ambassador to the French court, with instructions ‘to negotiate such articles in the treaty as shall be for the interest of the two crowns.’ Gardiner arrived in Paris on 3 Nov., and his general conduct of the business gave Henry so much satisfaction that he directed Cromwell to intimate to him that, whatever might be the result of the negotiations he might be assured that the royal favour towards him would remain unaffected. ”

“ Caius's Latin writing is terse and lucid. It is evidently modelled on the style of Celsus, from whom he borrows many words, and sometimes whole phrases. His English is vigorous. He was a good naturalist, as well as an excellent physician and scholar. In every department of learning he seems to have been proficient. ”

“ When the Earl of Essex attempted to induce the citizens of London to rise in his favour, Bancroft collected a body of pikemen, who repulsed the earl's followers at Ludgate. He was present at the death-bed of Elizabeth, and joined in proclaiming King James; and when the new monarch set out on his progress from Scotland to London, he was met near Royston by the bishop, attended by an imposing retinue. On 22 July following, James and his consort honoured the bishop with a visit at his palace at Fulham. ”

“ Although his disposition was arbitrary and his temper irritable, he could at times, like his predecessor Whitgift, show much conciliatory prudence and tact in winning over opponents. Hallam compares him with Becket, and in one respect there was undoubtedly a strong resemblance, viz. in the leniency with which both were disposed to regard the general misdemeanours and offences of the orthodox clergy. In dealing with such cases in the Court of High Commission, Bancroft was as merciful as he was inflexible in the suppression of schism. ”

“ At Pembroke he formed the acquaintance of Spenser, the poet, who was admitted as a sizar the year before Harvey obtained his fellowship, and their acquaintance ripened into an intimacy which was terminated only by Spenser's death. Harvey, by virtue of his seniority, superior position, and real scholarship, exercised over his friend's youthful genius an influence from which the latter with difficulty shook himself free. ”

“ Although a man of some ability and attainments, he appears to have led a somewhat profligate life, and in July 1611 the Countess of Oxford caused articles to be drawn up against him on account of the evil influence that he exercised over her son, Henry de Vere, eighteenth earl, a youth of eighteen, the companion of Prince Henry. ”

“ According to Lloyd, he was ‘wild’ in his youth, but his brilliant talents afterwards made him the ‘wonder of the university.’ The same writer implies that Fox was partly indebted for his advancement as a scholar to his relationship to Richard Foxe [q. v.] , bishop of Winchester; but these are statements with respect to which we have no confirmatory evidence. His whole career gives us the impression that he possessed not only great abilities, but also a readiness, tact, and indomitable energy which rendered him especially adapted for difficult negotiations. ”

“ To Burnet, Baker rendered similar service by forwarding a series of corrections and criticisms of the 'History of the Reformation.' It is not surprising that Burnet should have felt himself unable to accept them all without some reservations; but the following entry by Baker in the third volume of his copy of the 'History' preserved in the university library is creditable to both: 'Ex dono doctissimi auctoris, ac celeberrimi præsulis Gilberti episcopi Sarisburiensis. I shall always have an honour for the author's memory, who entered all the corrections I had made at the end of this volume. ”

“ The feature which invests Baro's career with its chief importance is the fact that he was almost the first divine in England, holding an authoritative position, who ventured to combat the endeavour to impart to the creed of the church of England a definitely ultra-Calvinistic character, and he thus takes rank as the leader in the counter movement which, under Bancroft, Andrewes, Laud, and other divines, gained such ascendency in the church of England in the first half of the following century. ”

“ Mary's was thronged with excited listeners, and the party which sympathised with his views was probably at this time numerically the strongest in the university. The authorities foreboded, not without reason, the development of a controversy and fresh dissensions which would prove fatal to the peace of the academic community. Among those who severely censured Cartwright's conduct were men of known moderation and learning, such as William Chaderton, his predecessor in the professorial chair, and Grindal, archbishop of York. ”

“ BANCROFT, RICHARD, D.D. (1544–1610) , archbishop of Canterbury, son of John Bancroft, gentleman, and Mary, his wife, was born at Farnworth, Lancashire, in September 1544. His mother, whose maiden name was Curwen, was niece of Hugh Curwen, bishop of Oxford [q. v.] , and young Bancroft, after being well grounded in 'grammar' (i.e. the Latin language) at the excellent school in his native town, was sent at his great-uncle's expense, and at a somewhat more advanced age than ordinary, to Christ's College, Cambridge. ”

“ In 1590 the fellows of Corpus Christi College received royal letters recommending Jegon to the mastership, then vacant by the death of Dr. Copcot (Cal. State Papers, 1581–90, p. 682) . The fellows, who were desirous of electing one of their own number (Mr. Dix) , complied reluctantly, and in a letter to the chancellor of the university, Lord Burghley, stated that they did so, ‘for that our statute so in part requireth, and your last letters seem to command.’ Jegon, however, who brought with him several of his pupils at Queens' College, soon justified the royal choice. ”

“ Professor John E. B. Mayor observes : 'If bonus textuarius is indeed bonus theologus, Bishop Fisher may rank high among divines. He is at home in every part of scripture, no less than among the fathers. ”

“ On 24 March, 1576–7, Aylmer was consecrated bishop of London in succession to Sandys, and from this time his arbitrary and unconciliatory disposition comes frequently into unpleasing prominence. He quarrelled with his predecessor (a man like himself of hot temper) respecting their relative claims to the revenues of the bishopric, and again on the question of dilapidations. His rule of his diocese was characterised by exceptional severity, fines and sentences of imprisonment being frequently imposed on those who differed from him on doctrinal questions, whether puritans or catholics. ”

“ He had eight children: one of the sons, Alexander, 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 (Churton, Nowell, pp. 331-3) .
No English divine of the sixteenth century surpassed Whitaker in the estimation of his contemporaries. 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. ”

“ In April 1562 he returned to Trinity College as a major fellow, and not long after was elected a member of the seniority, or governing body. These successive changes may be interpreted as evidence of his reputation for ability and learning, both colleges apparently having been desirous of securing his services. He was already known in the university as an eloquent preacher, a rising theological scholar, and an able disputant ”

“ Various writers, misled chiefly by Burnet, have represented the failure of the undertaking as arising partly from Gardiner's jealousy of Cranmer and partly from his real dislike to the project. ‘His design,’ says Burnet, ‘was that if a translation must be made it should be so daubed all through with Latin words that the people should not understand it much the better for its being in English’ (Burnet, ed. Pocock, i. 455, 498) . ”

“ Gardiner took up, as he generally did throughout his career, very high ground in defence of the privileges of his order, and maintained the right claimed by the bishops to make such laws as they might deem fit for ‘the weal of men's souls.’ Even Henry appears to have shown his displeasure at the tone of the document. Gardiner was present at Greenwich when, on 5 June, Henry transferred the great seal from Sir Thomas More to Sir Thomas Audley. ”

“ The unpopularity which he evoked by these and similar measures is indicated by an information which was laid against him about this time for having felled all the elms at Fulham, a charge which Strype denounces as a 'shameful untruth.' Aylmer appears, however, to have become conscious that his opportunities for usefulness in his diocese were to a great degree lost, and made more than one unsuccessful attempt to obtain his removal to a less laborious see, to Ely or Winchester. ”

“ It was shortly after this acquaintance had been formed that the attempt to assassinate Father Paul was made. Bedell, writing a few days after the event to his friend, Dr. Samuel Ward, subsequently master of Sidney College, Cambridge, says: ‘I hope this accident will awake him a little more and put some more spirit into him, which is his only want’ (Life, p. 104) . After a stay in Italy extending over some three years and a half, during which time he had added considerably to his knowledge of Hebrew by his intercourse with some learned Jews, Bedell returned to England and to Bury. ”

“ As Queen Catherine's confessor he naturally became her chief confidant. Brewer goes so far as to say that he was 'the only adviser on whose sincerity and honesty she could rely.' From the evidence of the State Papers it would seem, however, that Wolsey, in his desire to further Henry's wishes, did succeed for a time in alienating Fisher from the queen, by skilfully instilling into the bishop's mind a complete misapprehension as to the king's real design in inquiring into the validity of his marriage. ”