John Kennall (aka John Kenold) (1511–1592) was

Archdeacon of Oxford The Archdeacon of Oxford is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Oxford, Church of England, England. The office responsibility includes the care of clergy and church buildings within the area of the ''Archdeaconry of Oxford.'' Histo ...

and a noted pluralist. Kennall was educated 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 ...

. He was Canon of 8th preb.,

, from 1559 to 1592,

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, from 1561 to 1592, Canon of 6th preb., Rochester, from 1556 to 1559, and Archdeacon of Rochester, 1554–1560. He was for a time

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

at St Columb Major in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and had a strong interest in the use of the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a List of revived languages, revived language, having become Extinct language, extinct as a livin ...

. Carew, who published his survey of Cornwall in 1602, notices the almost total extirpation of the Cornish language in his days. He says: ''The principal love and knowledge of this language liveth in Dr. Kennall, the civilian, and with him lieth buried, for the English speech doth encroach upon it and have driven the same to the utmost skirts of the shire''. The link between the

and

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

was also exhibited in the activities of Kennall, at St Columb, where he was still holding

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

as late as 1590. Payton, Philip, ''Cornwall a history'', p. 126. .

References

1511 births 1592 deaths Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Archdeacons of Oxford Archdeacons of Rochester Cornish language Cornish-speaking people 16th-century English educators Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford {{Canterbury-archdeacon-stub

See also

References