George Constantine ( – 1560) was a British priest who was an early
Protestant and evangelical reformer.
Life
Constantine was, by his own account, born around 1500, and in 1523 gained entry into
Cambridge University to study for a Bachelor of Canon Law.
He adopted the Protestant doctrine, and fled to
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, where he met and assisted both
William Tyndale and
George Joye. Here he helped to translate the
New Testament into English, and compiled books denouncing the Catholic Church.
[Lloyd (1958), pg 1115.] Constantine later moved to Paris, where he studied
Lutheran scriptures and began to smuggle banned literature into England. He was arrested in 1531 by Sir
Thomas More; after revealing the names of some of his Protestant colleagues he escaped in December of the same year, returning to Antwerp. Constantine returned to England in 1536, following More's death, and entered the service of Sir
Henry Norris.
[Lloyd (1958), pg 1116.]
After Norris's death, Constantine was made the vicar of
Llawhaden in
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...
, but some unguarded remarks to
John Barlow in 1539 led to his imprisonment by
Thomas Cromwell in the
Tower of London.
By 1546, Constantine had been released from imprisonment, and had regained favour with the church. He became the registrar of
St David's in
Wales, then gained the position of royal visitor of the
diocese in 1547, ascending to
Archdeacon of Carmarthen
This is a list of archdeacons of Carmarthen. The Archdeacon of Carmarthen is the priest in charge of the archdeaconry of Carmarthen, an administrative division of the Church in Wales Diocese of St David's. The archdeaconry comprises the five dean ...
and
Prebendary of
Llangammarch in 1549. Although Constantine was stripped of his registrarship and livings during
Mary's reign, he was back in favour by 1559 when he was appointed one of the visitors for the Western circuit of dioceses. At last, in November 1559, he was made
archdeacon of Brecon by
Elizabeth I.
Constantine married; his only surviving child became the first wife of
Thomas Younge, Archbishop of York.
[Prior, Mary; ''Women in English Society, 1500-1800'', Routledge (1985), pg 98. ]
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine, George
1500 births
1560 deaths
16th-century English Anglican priests
Translators of the Bible into English
British Protestants
Archdeacons of Brecon
16th-century English writers
16th-century male writers
15th-century Anglican theologians
16th-century Anglican theologians