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This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Wilkins, Vernon Title: A Field the Lord hath Blessed the Person, Works, Life and Polemical Ecclesiology of Richard Field, DD, 15611616 General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. “A Field the Lord hath Blessed” The Person, Works, Life and Polemical Ecclesiology of Richard Field, DD, 1561‐1616 Vernon Gregory Wilkins A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts Department of Theology and Religious Studies December 2017 Abstract Richard Field, DD, 1561‐1616, has been described in modern times as ‘one of the most stupendously learned’ amongst theologians of his age; in his own time he was hugely admired too, by King James, by protestant (and some Roman Catholic) academic theologians and by neighbours and family. He wrote one published work, Of the Church, Five Bookes, a substantial systematic ecclesiology of 700,000 words. He preached many sermons, but only one was ever printed. He was overlooked for preferment until too late. But attention to him in the scholarly world has been comparatively minimal. Until recently no major study has been made of him, although numerous scholars have mined his work piecemeal for quotations on various doctrines, or, occasionally, aspects of his ecclesiology. Only in this century has there appeared a substantial study prior to this one, and it also is devoted substantially to certain aspects of Field’s doctrinal understanding rather than to his ecclesiology as a whole. This study attempts to redress further this lack of attention to the ecclesiology of this largely forgotten divine. Field the scholar‐churchman is introduced with a brief biography and assessment of his erudition, and then an examination of his worth in relation to two of his predecessors. Then the second section of the study analyses his one published sermon, and then his systematic ecclesiology. Particular attention is given to Field’s protestant ‘notes’ of the church, defended in contrast to the notes of Cardinal Bellarmine, and to his conception of ministerial orders and bishops. Following this, in the third section of the study, Field is set in the context of his own time, analysing a sample of how Field was received in his own day, and latterly. The conclusion of the study is that Field is of substantial importance, and warrants continued study today. Dedication and Acknowledgements I dedicate this study to the memory of my late parents, Eric and Evelyn Wilkins I owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their constant self‐sacrifice, care and encouragement throughout my life, without which I would never have achieved this goal. I acknowledge with many thanks the following people, knowing that this project would not have reached its conclusion without their friendship, practical support, patience, advice and encouragement: My supervisor, Dr Jon Balserak, my brothers, Dr Adrian Wilkins and Dr Barry Wilkins, MD, Andy and Mary Avery, Peter and Juliette Wood, Peter and Bridget Tizzard, Ian and Tess Garrett, the Graduate School and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Bristol Author’s Declaration I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the University’s Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and that it has not been submitted for any other academic award. Except where indicated by specific reference in the text, the work is the candidate’s own work. Work done in collaboration with, or with the assistance of, others, is indicated as such. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. DATE: 30 December 2017 ‘A Field the Lord hath Blessed’1 The Person, Works, Life and Polemical Ecclesiology of Richard Field, DD, 1561‐1616 Contents Section1. Who is Field?: Page 1 Chapter 1 – Field the Scholar‐Churchman 2 Chapter 2 – Field’s Biographies 17 Chapter 3 – Field’s Erudition 43 Chapter 4 – Field’s Predecessors – Jewell and Hooker 65 Section2. Field’s Writings – an Analysis: 76 Chapter 5 – Field’s Learned Sermon 77 Chapter 6 – Field’s Ecclesiology 104 Chapter 7 – Field’s Notes of the Church 129 Chapter 8 – Ministerial Orders and Bishops 164 Section3. Field’s Contemporary and Later Reception: 189 Chapter 9 – King James: for or against Field? 190 Chapter 10 – Theophilus Higgons against Field 207 Chapter 11 – Field’s Later Reception 229 Conclusion: Chapter 12 – Conclusion 248 Abbreviations 251 Note on terminology 252 Bibliography 253 Appendix: The Text of Field’s Learned Sermon 267 1 The seventeenth century historian Thomas Fuller described Field thus, punning the title of this thesis – see 3.1 for reference. ‘A Field the Lord hath Blessed’ Section 1. Chapters 1‐4: Who is Field? Section 1 of this study introduces Field, in preparation for an assessment of his writings in section 2. First, in Chapter 1, I introduce Field for the benefit of the reader who has not encountered him before. Brief biographical details are accompanied by something of the esteem in which Field was held, a statement of some of his distinctives, and a summary of his written output and a brief literature review. We meet Field the eirenical polemicist, stridently opposing the programme of Rome, whilst seeking to build bridges with the churches of the East and the other protestant churches of Europe. Chapter 2 assesses the various biographies of Field, showing that only two are substantially original, but I analyse one unique copy which has manuscript annotations. Chapter 3 continues to examine Field the scholar, demonstrating the evidence for his notable erudition and esteem, arguing that he is consequently worthy of renewed consideration. Chapter 4 concludes Section 1, preparing the ground for consideration of Field’s writings, but taking a sample of two of Field’s predecessors, namely Jewel and Hooker, arguing that notwithstanding the eminence of these scholars, Field, both complementing and supplementing their output, cannot be discarded in their favour. Page 1 Chapter 1 – Field the Scholar‐Churchman – 1.1 Introduction to this study He was born October 15. A. Dom. 1561, in the Parish of Hemsted in the Countie of Hartford, about 6 Miles from St. Albans, of a Familie Ancient, and of good Repute and Esteem in the Countrie [. .]. His Father finding him to be of more than ordinarie Parts, bred him up a Schollar.1 Richard Field was ‘one of the most stupendously learned of Anglican theologians in an age when Anglican clerical scholarship was [becoming] the wonder of the world’ – so writes Paul Avis in his Anglicanism and the Christian Church,2 alluding to an aphorism of Joseph Hall,3 of Richard Field, DD, 1561‐1616, divinity lecturer at Lincoln’s Inn (1594‐96), rector of Burghclere (from 1594), chaplain to their majesties Elizabeth I (from 1598) and James I, and latterly also prebend of Windsor (from 1604), fellow of the intended (but never flourishing) Chelsea College (from 1609), and dean of Gloucester (from 1610). He died suddenly in 1616 with a ‘promise of the Byshopricke of Oxford’ unfulfilled.4 Hall’s favourable acclamation is by no means unique. In the seventeenth century the historian Thomas Fuller punned the title of this thesis.5 In the twentieth century Patrick Collinson described Field as ‘ineffably learned’.6 James I’s accolade and many others will be noted in due course. The ‘Familie Ancient [. .] of good Repute and Esteem’ (of present‐day Leverstock Green in the parish of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire) in the quotation above was of relatively humble stock.7 Nonetheless, Field was educated well at Berkhamsted School, then at Oxford University, entering Magdalen Hall c.1577,8 where he excelled as a scholar, graduating BA through to BD at Magdalen 1 Field’s son Nathaniel Field writing in his Some Short Memorials Concerning the Life of the Reverend Divine Doctor Richard Field, ed. by John Le Nève (London: 1717), hereafter Memorials, 1‐2. ‘Hemsted’ is today’s Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK. 2 Paul Avis, Anglicanism and the Christian Church, 1st edn (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1989), 68. The word ‘becoming’ is added by Avis in the 2nd edition of this work (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2002), 51. 3 Avis here alludes to an aphorism (‘the wonder of the world’) from a sermon on 1 Corinthians 12:4 preached by Joseph Hall, DD, at St Paul’s Church in London on February 20th 1623. This will be noted later. 4 Memorials, 16.