John Pitts (also Pits, Pitseus) (1560 – 17 October 1616) was an English Roman Catholic scholar and writer.

Life

Pitts was born in

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England, near the source of the River Wey. It had a population of 17,816 at the 2011 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aoltone'' ...

in 1560 and attended

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

. From 1578 to 1580 he studied at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. In 1581 he was admitted to the

English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...

. In 1588 he was ordained priest, and became professor at the English College,

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

. He then graduated Lic.D. at

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

(1592) and D.D. at

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...

(1595). He became Canon at

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

, then confessor and almoner to the Duchess of Cleves; after her death he became Dean of

Liverdun Liverdun () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department The following is a list of the 591 Communes of France, communes of the Meurthe-et-Mosell ...

. He died in Liverdun,

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

Work

* ''Relationum Historicarum de rebus Angliæ'' in four parts: ** ''De Illustribus Angliæ Scriptoribus'', published in Paris in 1619 ** ''De Regibus Angliæ'' ** ''De Episcopis Angliæ'' ** ''De Viris Apostolicis Angliæ'' : (the last three parts remained in manuscript in Liverdun) * ''Tractatus de legibus'', published in

in 1592 * ''Tractatus de beatitudine'', published in

in 1595 * ''Libri septem de peregrinatione'' published in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

in 1604

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitts, John 1560 births 1616 deaths People from Alton, Hampshire People educated at Winchester College University of Ingolstadt alumni 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests 17th-century English Roman Catholic priests