![John Richardson Peterhouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/John_Richardson_Peterhouse.jpg)
John Richardson (born
Linton,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
, c. 1564 – 1625) was a
Biblical scholar and a Master of
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
from 1615 until his death.
Life
He was born ‘of honest parentage’ at Linton, Cambridgeshire. John Richardson matriculated as a
sizar
At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...
from
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...
in 1578,
where he graduated B.A. in 1581. He was afterwards elected to a fellowship at
Emmanuel College.
He proceeded M.A. in 1585, B.D. in 1592, and D.D. in 1597.
In 1607 he was appointed
Regius Professor of Divinity, in succession to Dr.
John Overall.
In 1609 he was appointed Master of
Peterhouse
Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite o ...
before accepting in 1615 the same position at Trinity.
Some notes of his ''Lectiones de Predestinatione'' are preserved in manuscript in
Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...
(Gg. i. 29, pt. ii.). He and
Richard Thomson were among the first of the Cambridge divines who maintained the doctrine
Arminianism in opposition to the
Calvinists. He resigned in 1617 as a results of increasing anti-Arminian pressure. He then served in 1617 and 1618 as vice-chancellor of the university.
Richardson was a skilled
hebraist
A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...
and he served in the "First Cambridge Company", charged by
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 Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
with the translation of the books of the
Old Testament from the ''
Books of Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...
'' to ''
Song of Songs'' (comprising most of the
Ketuvim
The Ketuvim (; hbo, , Modern: ''Kəṯūvīm'', Tiberian: ''Kăṯūḇīm'' "writings") is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), after Torah (instruction) and Nevi'im (prophets). In English translations of the Hebrew Bi ...
) for the
King James Version of the Bible.
At his death, Richardson left a bequest of £100 to Peterhouse.
Notes and references
Citations
Sources
*
*
Further reading
* McClure, Alexander. (1858) ''The Translators Revived: A Biographical Memoir of the Authors of the English Version of the Holy Bible''. Mobile, Alabama: R. E. Publications (republished by the Marantha Bible Society, 1984 ASIN B0006YJPI8 )
* Nicolson, Adam. (2003) ''God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible.'' New York: HarperCollins
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, John
1564 births
1625 deaths
People from Linton, Cambridgeshire
Translators of the King James Version
Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge
Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
16th-century English translators
17th-century English people
Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge
Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Cambridge)
Masters of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Arminian writers
16th-century Anglican theologians
17th-century Anglican theologians