Edmund Calamy (February 160029 October 1666) was an English

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church leader and

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

. Known as "the elder", he was the first of four generations of nonconformist ministers bearing the same name.

Early life

The Calamy family claimed to be of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

descent. Edmund Calamy was born in the parish of

St Thomas the Apostle, London St Thomas the Apostle was a parish church in St Thomas Apostle Street in the City of London. In existence by the late twelfth century, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt. History The patronage of the church bel ...

, and educated at Merchant Taylors' School and then

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, where his opposition to Arminianism excluded him from a fellowship. Nicholas Felton, Bishop of Ely, nevertheless made him his chaplain, and gave him the living of St Mary, Swaffham Prior, which he held till 1626. He then moved to

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

, where he lectured for ten years; the later Congregationalist Jeremiah Burroughs was another preacher in the town. He retired when his bishop

Matthew Wren Matthew Wren (3 December 1585 – 24 April 1667) was an influential English clergyman, bishop and scholar. Life He was the eldest son of Francis Wren (born 18 January 1552 at Newbold Revell), citizen and mercer of London, only son of Cuth ...

insisted on the observance of certain ceremonial articles: Calamy refused to read out the ''

Book of Sports The ''Declaration of Sports'' (also known as the ''Book of Sports'') was a declaration of James I of England issued just for Lancashire in 1617, nationally in 1618, and reissued by Charles I in 1633. It listed the sports and recreations that were p ...

'' in his church. In 1636 he was appointed rector (or perhaps only lecturer) of Rochford in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, but had to leave for the sake of his health. In 1639 he was elected to the perpetual curacy of St Mary Aldermanbury in London, where he had a large following.

Presbyterian activist

At the opening of the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

he distinguished himself in defence of the

Presbyterian polity Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") 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 ...

, in contributing to the joint conciliatory work known as ''

Smectymnuus Smectymnuus was the ''nom de plume'' of a group of Puritan clergymen active in England in 1641. It comprised four leading English churchmen, and one Scottish minister ( Thomas Young). They went on to provide leadership for the anti-episcopal forces ...

''. It argued against Bishop Joseph Hall's presentation of

episcopacy A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, while articulating the Presbyterian positions. The initials of the names of the contributors formed the name under which it was published, viz., Stephen Marshall (SM), Edmund Calamy (EC), Thomas Young (TY),

Matthew Newcomen Matthew Newcomen (c. 1610 – 1 September 1669) was an English nonconformist churchman. His exact date of birth is unknown. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge (M.A. 1633). In 1636 he became lecturer at Dedham in Essex, and led the ...

(MN), and

William Spurstow William Spurstowe (Spurstow) (c. 1605–1666) was an English clergyman, theologian, and member of the Westminster Assembly. He was one of the Smectymnuus group of Presbyterian clergy, supplying the final WS (read as UUS) of the acronym. Life Hi ...

(WS, then often written VVS equivalent to UUS). These were clerical leaders of the Presbyterian movement within the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. At the same period Calamy was an influential evangelical preacher, calling in December 1641 for a preaching ministry throughout England. Calamy was an active member in the

Westminster Assembly The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of Divinity (academic discipline), divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and ...

of divines, set up in 1643. In that year he edited the ''Souldier's Pocket Bible'', a popular Biblical anthology designed for the Parliamentarian military forces. The Smectymnuans were against

religious tolerance Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...

and Calamy strongly advocated checking independent religious thinkers in 1644, attracting allies such as

Lazarus Seaman Lazarus Seaman (died 1675), was an English clergyman, supporter in the Westminster Assembly of the Presbyterian party, intruded Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and nonconformist minister. Life He was a native of Leicester, where he was born of ...

. Refusing to advance to

Congregationalism Congregationalist polity, or congregational polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous". Its first articulat ...

, he found within Presbyterianism a middle course which best suited his views of theology and church government. Calamy belonged to the hypothetical universalist group in the Assembly, those influenced by

John Davenant John Davenant (20 May 1572, in London – 20 April 1641, in Salisbury) was an English academic and bishop of Salisbury from 1621. He also served as one of the English delegates to the Synod of Dort. Life He was educated at Queens' College, Ca ...

or his reading of the

Synod of Dort The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was an international Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. The fi ...

Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...

reported that Calamy, Lazarus, Richard Vines and John Arrowsmith were not hostile to

universal redemption Unlimited atonement (sometimes called general atonement or universal atonement) is a doctrine in Protestant Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the ...

. In 1647 he worked on the Assembly's Catechism. In 1648 he was preaching at St Benet Fink, to find an adversarial atmosphere in which the Baptist Edward Barber had been invited to contradict him. He opposed the execution of King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, and lived quietly under the Commonwealth. Asked for advice by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

on the dissolution of the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "Rump" n ...

and the establishment of a Protectorate, he replied that nine out of ten would oppose it.

After the Restoration

He was assiduous in promoting the return of

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

, travelling to the Netherlands as one of the negotiators. After the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

in 1660 he was offered the

bishopric of Coventry and Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of se ...

, but declined it. Presbyterians had warned him that his reputation and honour would suffer if he accepted, and he tried to co-ordinate a refusal with Richard Baxter, in the same position. He was made one of Charles's chaplains, and vainly tried to secure the legal ratification of Charles's declaration of 25 October 1660. He was ejected for Nonconformity in the

Great Ejection The Great Ejection followed the Act of Uniformity 1662 in England. Several thousand Puritan ministers were forced out of their positions in the Church of England, following The Restoration of Charles II. It was a consequence (not necessarily ...

of 1662, and was so affected by the sight of the devastation caused by the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

that he died shortly afterwards. He was buried in the ruins of his church, near the place where the pulpit had stood.

Works

His publications are almost entirely sermons.
''The Art of Divine Meditation''
(London: for Tho. Parkhurst, 1634) – not sermons.
''An Answer to a Book entitled, An Humble Remonstrance''
(1641) as a member of ''

''
''Gods Free Mercy to England''
(1642)
''Englands Looking-glasse''
(1642) *''Souldier's Pocket Bible'' (1643), editor
1895 reprint

''Jus Divinum Ministerii Evangelici''
(1654)
''The Godly Man's Ark''
(1658)

Calamy the Younger

His eldest son was also called Edmund Calamy, known as "the Younger". Calamy the Younger followed a religious path similar to his father's, and lost the rectory of

Moreton, Essex Moreton is a village in the Epping Forest district of the County of Essex, England. It is located 7.2 miles (11.6 km) east of Harlow and 3.2 miles (5.14 km) north-west of Chipping Ongar. Two thousand years ago, it was the point at whi ...

in the

of 1662. He was of a retiring disposition and moderate views, and died in 1685. He was the father of the historian Edmund Calamy.

Notes

External links

The Life of John Milton Volume3 1643–1649
by David Masson
''Profiles in Puritanism''