John Ashwell (died 1541), was the prior of Newnham Abbey, in Bedfordshire. Ashwell was best known for his opposition to the principles of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, was a graduate of

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. In 1504 it is probable that Ashwell, who was then a bachelor of divinity, became rector of Mistley in Essex, and held in subsequent years the benefices of Littlebury and Halstead in the same county. In 1515 he was appointed chaplain to Lord Abergavenny's troops in France (Brewer's Letters of Henry VIII, ii. part i. 137), and six years later a prebendal stall in St. Paul's Cathedral was conferred upon him. He became prior of Newnham Abbey about 1527. In the same year he addressed a secret letter, written partly in Latin and partly in English, to John Longland, the Bishop of Lincoln, bitterly complaining of the heretical opinions held by

George Joye George Joye (also Joy and ) (c. 1495 – 1553) was a 16th-century Bible translator who produced the first printed translation of several books of the Old Testament into English (1530–1534), as well as the first English Primer (1529). His life ...

, a bold advocate of Lutheranism, with whom he had lived on terms of great intimacy. The epistle unhappily fell into Joye's hands, and the reformer withdrew to Strasburg to escape the effects of the bishop's displeasure.

Denunciation of George Joye

There, however, he published Ashwell's letter, together with an elaborate reply to all the charges preferred against him. The pamphlet, of which very few copies are now extant, bears the title The colophon runs: . One of the most singular passages in the book is Ashwell's earnest entreaty to the bishop — a passage clearly showing that the Reformation in England was eagerly expected by the prior's neighbours. A second edition of the pamphlet was published by Joye at Antwerp in 1531. Ashwell apparently somewhat modified his opinions with the times, and in 1534 he was among the first to take the oath of supremacy to Henry VIII as head of the church. But he appears to have resigned the post of prior of Newnham before 1539, when the monasteries were finally dissolved.

Death

His death took place shortly before 23 August 1541, when the prebendal stall in St. Paul's Cathedral, which he had held for twenty years, was declared vacant and filled up.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashwell, John Year of birth unknown 1541 deaths People from Bedfordshire English priors 16th-century English clergy Alumni of the University of Cambridge 16th-century Roman Catholics