John Bridges (1536–1618) was an English bishop.

Life

Born in 1536, he graduated M.A. at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge in 1560, having been a Fellow there since 1556. He became Dean of Salisbury in 1577.''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' He was appointed Bishop of Oxford on the accession of James I of England, and took part in the

Hampton Court Conference The Hampton Court Conference was a meeting in January 1604, convened at Hampton Court Palace, for discussion between King James I of England and representatives of the Church of England, including leading English Puritans. The conference resulte ...

, in 1604.

Works

''A Defence of the Government Established in the Church of England for Ecclesiastical Matters'' (1587) was a controversial work, expanded to 1400 pages from a Paul's Cross sermon, aimed at the theories of church polity of Thomas Cartwright, Laurence Chaderton and Walter Travers in defence of the current Church of England settlement. It brought replies by Dudley Fenner and Travers. It also provoked the first of the tracts by Martin Marprelate, ''Oh read over D. John Bridges ... Printed at the cost and charges of M. Marprelate gentleman'' (1588). He was formerly considered a possible author of ''

Gammer Gurton's Needle John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of ...

'', now attributed to William Stevenson.http://ota.ahds.ac.uk/headers/1788.xml

Quotes

He is known to have coined the phrase, "a fool and his money are soon parted," originally written in the 1587 ''Defence'' treatise.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, John 1536 births 1618 deaths Deans of Salisbury Bishops of Oxford Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge 17th-century Church of England bishops 17th-century Anglican theologians 16th-century Anglican theologians