Juan de Villagarcía (John de Villa Garcia, known as Joannes Fraterculus or Friar John) (died 1564) was a Spanish Dominican from

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

, known as the witness to one of the statements of confession and recantation by

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

Life

He was a pupil of Bartolomé de Carranza, and came to England with Carranza, brought by

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

. He was a Fellow and Praelector in Theology of

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

in 1555. He was Regius Professor of Divinity at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1555. He was the recipient of degrees of B.D. and D.D. at Oxford, in 1555 and 1558 respectively. He first met and discussed with Cranmer at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, on 31 December 1555. On January 1, 1556, in another discussion based on patristic texts, Cranmer was willing to sign the first of his statements, on papal supremacy, conditional on the history of the Council of Nicaea. Later in January they clashed on much worse terms, after the news of Cranmer's disgrading as Archbishop had reached England. They met again at the

Bocardo Prison The Bocardo Prison in Oxford, England existed until 1771. Its origins were medieval, and its most famous prisoners were the Protestant Oxford martyrs (Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley) in 1555. Other prisoners included a number of ...

adjacent to

St Michael at the Northgate __NOTOC__ St Michael at the North Gate is a church in Cornmarket Street, at the junction with Ship Street, in central Oxford, England. The name derives from the church's location on the site of the north gate of Oxford when it was surrounded b ...

, when Villagarcía and

John Harpsfield John Harpsfield (1516–1578) was an English Catholic controversialist and humanist. Life Harpsfield was educated in Winchester College and New College, Oxford (BA 1537, MA in theology 1541). He was perpetual fellow of New College from 1534 unt ...

interrogated Cranmer in the middle of February. On 26 February there was another statement, written in Latin and probably by Villagarcía, that was signed by Cranmer and witnessed by Villagarcía and Henry Syddall. This was the fifth statement written or signed by Cranmer; he himself spoke of it as a return to the Catholic faith, and asked for sacramental absolution. On 20 March, the day of Cranmer's execution, Villagarcía accompanied him to the

University Church of St Mary the Virgin The University Church of St Mary the Virgin (St Mary's or SMV for short) is an Oxford church situated on the north side of the High Street. It is the centre from which the University of Oxford grew and its parish consists almost exclusively of un ...

, where Cranmer preached, and exchanged words in Latin with him afterwards. These are variously reported in ''

Foxe's Book of Martyrs The ''Actes and Monuments'' (full title: ''Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church''), popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by Protestant Engli ...

'' and ''Cranmer's Recantacyons'', but concerned Cranmer's denial of papal supremacy from the pulpit. On his return to Spain, Villagarcía found that Carranza was in trouble with the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

for alleged

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

, and his name was linked to the charges. Charles Henry Lea, ''The Inquisition of Spain'' vol. II (1922), pp. 52-4.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villagarcia, Juan de Year of birth missing 1564 deaths Spanish Dominicans 16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Oxford)