John Bernard (died 1554) was an English academic and religious author. He is known for a Latin devotional work ''Oratio Pia'' that was published some 14 years after his death, and then translated into English.

Life

Bernard was from Yorkshire, and is thought to have been from the

West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. He was a student at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, where he was a scholar in 1541. He proceeded B.A. in 1543–4. He became Trotter's priest there about 1544, and a Fellow shortly afterwards that year. He commenced M.A. in 1547. Bernard was

bursar A bursar (derived from "bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education (f ...

of his college from 1550 to 1552. At the beginning of the reign of

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

, he retained his fellowship, he retained his fellowship, despite reforming and evangelical

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

views, and that year was licensed to preach. He died in 1554.

Works

Bernard composed ''Oratio pia, religiosa, et solatii plena, de vera animi tranquillitate.'' It was found in the author's study, after his death, and published at London, 1568, with a dedication to the courtier Peter Osborne, by his brother Thomas Bernard who edited the work. A translation into English, by

Anthony Marten Anthony Marten ( – August 1597) was an English courtier and author during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was the son of David Marten (senior clerk to the surveyor of the king's works) and his wife Jane Cooke. Anthony Marten was educated at Tr ...

, was published under the title of ''The Tranquillitie of the mind: an excellent Oration directing every man and woman to the true tranquillity and quietness of the minde'', London, 1570. The book is considered an example of the Protestant ''

belles lettres is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pejora ...

'' of the period, comparable with works of the Huguenot minister Jean de L'Espine, and of Jeremias Bastingius from

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

Family

Bernard was the brother of Thomas Bernard (died 1582) and uncle of Daniel Bernard.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, John Year of birth missing 1554 deaths Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge English religious writers English Protestants Christian devotional literature