Phineas Hodson (died before 28 November 1646) was Chancellor of York Minister from 1611 to 1646. Hodson lived during a period of religious factionalism in Britain; as a

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

he confronted the proliferation of dissenting sects, the agitations of England's Catholics, and — with the rise of Parliament after the death of

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

— political attacks on the power of the bishopric. Hodson fell foul of post-Jacobean Parliamentary hostility to the established church and was impeached, but remained chancellor of York until his death.

Nonconformists and Catholics

Hodson was a doctor of divinity. From 1579 to 1615 he held the advowson — the right to present a benefice — of Normanby parish in north Yorkshire. He was a trusted lieutenant of

Tobias Matthew Tobias Matthew (also Tobie and Toby; 13 June 154629 March 1628), was an Anglican bishop who was President of St John's College, Oxford, from 1572 to 1576, before being appointed Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University from 1579 to 1583, and Matthew ...

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

; in 1617 Matthew delegated Hodson to advise Roger Brearley, who had founded the Grindletonian nonconformist sect and been accused of heresy as a result, on how he might reconcile with the Church of England. At a time when the imprisonment of many Catholics had raised fears that England's prisons might become a hotbed of anti-establishment activity, Hodson contributed £25 a year for the provision of Protestant worship in

York Castle York Castle is a fortified complex in the city of York, England. It consists of a sequence of castles, prisons, law courts and other buildings, which were built over the last nine centuries on the south side of the River Foss. The now-ruined ...

James I

Hodson was close to King

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

of Scotland (James I of England), and was one of three English divines to preach at an assembly James held at Glasgow in 1610. After James's death he preached the last sermon over the king's body, during its lying in state at Denmark House, before James's funeral in May 1625.

Impeachment

Hodson's association with the Stuart monarchy made his position difficult when the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

was called. On 16 March 1641 Hodson and two other English clerics were impeached in the case of one James Smart, a nonconformist minister, whom the three were judged to have unjustly fined for seditious activities. Hodson was bailed in the case on 20 March 1641.

Personal life

Hodson was a friend of the popular writer John Taylor. Hodson's wife Jane, according to her epitaph in

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...

, died on 2 September 1636, aged 38, during the birth of her 24th child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodson, Phineas 1646 deaths Year of birth unknown 17th-century English Anglican priests