Edward Meetkerke (1590 – August 1657) was an English clergyman and academic,

Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford The Regius Professorship of Hebrew in the University of Oxford is a professorship at the University of Oxford, founded by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII in 1546. In 1630, through the influence of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, a can ...

from 1620.

Life

He was born in the parish of

St Botolph, Aldersgate St Botolph without Aldersgate (also known as St Botolph's, Aldersgate) is a Church of England church in London dedicated to St Botolph. It was built just outside Aldersgate; one of the gates on London's wall in the City of London. The church ...

, London, and baptized in the Dutch Church, Austin Friars, on 29 September 1590. He was the only son of Sir Adolphus van Meetkerke, ambassador to England from the States-General of the Netherlands, by his second wife, Margaret (1549–1594), daughter of John Lichtervelde of

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, was elected to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, in 1606, and matriculated on 16 January 1607. He graduated B.A. in 1610, was chosen student, and became a tutor in his college. In 1613 he proceeded M.A., was incorporated M.A. at Cambridge in 1617, and received the B.D. degree at Oxford with a license to preach on 19 June 1620. He became D.D. on 26 May 1625. Meetkerke was elected to the regius professorship of Hebrew at Oxford on 8 November 1620. He resigned it in 1626 on being presented to the rectory of

Easton, Hampshire Easton is a village in Hampshire, England, situated on the River Itchen, 2¾ miles north east of Winchester. It is in the civil parish of Itchen Valley. In 1870–72, John Goring's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Easton lik ...

. On 9 January 1631, he installed the prebendary of Winchester Cathedral. Under the Commonwealth, he was deprived of his prebend and retired to his rectory, where he died in August 1657, and was buried in the middle of the chancel of the church. Having inherited his father's estate and bought a property in Hampshire, he died comparatively rich.

Works

There are some poems by Meetkerke in the Oxford collections of 1619 on the death of

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

, and of 1625 on the death of

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...

on the marriage of Charles I. The first of these poems is in Latin; the two latter are in Hebrew.

Family

By his wife Barbara, daughter of the Rev. Dr. More, who survived him, he had a son, Adolf (1628–1664), M.A. of Christ Church, Oxford, and a daughter, Frances, married to Nathaniel Naper or Napier.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Meetkerke, Edward 1590 births 1657 deaths 17th-century English Anglican priests Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Christian Hebraists Regius Professors of Hebrew (University of Oxford)