Ralph Baines or "Bayne" (c. 1504 – 18 November 1559) was the last

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, in England.

Early life

Baines was born around 1504 at

Knowsthorpe Knowsthorpe, Knostrop or Knostropp is an area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire. The spelling "Knostrop" is predominantly used for the large water treatment works in the area. Atkinson Grimshaw painted ''Knostrop Cut, Leeds, ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, he was ordained priest at

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formal ...

in 1519. He came out against Hugh Latimer, and opposed

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

's divorce from

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

, being incited to the latter by John Fisher. He was rector of Hardwick, Cambridgeshire, until 1544; but he had left the country by 1538.

Hebraist

Baines was a Hebraist, being a college lecturer in Hebrew at St John's. He went to Paris and became professor of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

at the Collège de France from 1549 to 1554. He was the author of the work ''Compendium Michlol'' (also with the Hebrew title, ''Ḳiẓẓur ha-Ḥeleḳ Rishon ha-Miklol''), containing a Latin abstract of the first part of

David Ḳimḥi ''Cervera Bible'', David Qimhi's Grammar Treatise David Kimhi ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד קִמְחִי, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a medieval rabbi, biblical commen ...

's Hebrew grammar, and dealing methodically with the letters, reading, nouns, regular and irregular verbs, prefixes and suffixes (Paris, 1554).

Bishop

In 1554, Baines returned to England and was consecrated as Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, on 18 November 1554. He vigorously opposed the Protestant Reformers, and features largely in '' Foxe's Book of Martyrs'', conducting many examinations with his Chancellor,

Anthony Draycot Anthony Draycot (died 1571 in Draycott in the Moors) was an English Roman Catholic churchman and lawyer. During the reign of Queen Mary he held a diocesan position as chancellor; his role in condemning numerous Protestants to death is detailed i ...

. His chancellor was involved, for instance, in the burning of a young blind woman,

Joan Waste Joan Waste or Wast (1534 – 1 August 1556) was a blind woman who was burned in Derby for refusing to renounce her Protestant faith.Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

.Blind Joan (22) Is Executed
, HeadlineHistory.co.uk, accessed February 2009 He was one of the eight defenders of Catholic doctrine at the Westminster Conference of 1558/9. On the accession of

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

, he was deprived of his bishopric (21 June 1559)Bishops , British History Online
/ref> and committed to the care of

Edmund Grindal Edmund Grindal ( 15196 July 1583) was Bishop of London, Archbishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth I. Though born far from the centres of political and religious power, he had risen rapidly in the church durin ...

, the Protestant

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, becoming one of eleven imprisoned bishops (researches of G. Philips support a theory that, though nominally a guest, Baines was in fact a strict prisoner). His captivity lasted until 18 November 1559, when, in the words of fellow Roman Catholic John Pitts, Baines "died an illustrious Confessor of the Lord".

Works

*''Prima Rudimenta in linguam Hebraicam'' (Paris, 1550) *''Compendium Michol, hoc est absolutissimæ grammatices Davidis Chimhi'' (Paris, 1554) *''In Proverbia Salomonis'' (Paris, 1555).

References

Nicholas Sanders Nicholas Sanders (also spelled Sander; c. 1530 – 1581) was an English Catholic priest and polemicist. Early life Sanders was born at Sander Place near Charlwood, Surrey, one of twelve children of William Sanders, once sheriff of Surrey, who ...

, ''Report to Cardinal Moroni'', 1561 (Cath. Record Soc. Pubs., 1905), I * John Pitts, ''De Angliae Scriptoribus'' (1623) *

Charles Dodd Hugh Tootell (1671/72 – 27 February 1743) was an English Catholic historian. He is commonly known under his pseudonym Charles Dodd. Life Tootell was born in Lancashire. He was tutored by his uncle, Christopher Tootle, before studying with ...

, ''Church History'' (1688), Pt. III, ii, art. 3 *

Charles Henry Cooper Charles Henry Cooper (20 March 1808 – 21 March 1866) was an English antiquarian. Life Born at Marlow, Buckinghamshire, he was descended from a family formerly of Bray in Berkshire. He was privately educated in Reading. In 1826 he settled in ...

, ''Athenæ Cantabrigienses'', 1,202 *

Joseph Gillow Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850, Preston, Lancashire – 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale, Cheshire) was an English Roman Catholic antiquary, historian and bio-bibliographer, "the Plutarch of the English Catholics". Biography Born in Frenchwood Hous ...

, ''Bibl. Dict. Eng. Cath.'' (London, 1885) *

Thomas Edward Bridgett Thomas Edward Bridgett (20 January 182917 February 1899) was an English Catholic priest, missionary preacher and historical writer. Life He was the third son of Joseph Bridgett, a silk manufacturer of Colney Hatch, and his wife Mary (born Gregso ...

and

Thomas Francis Knox Father Francis Knox (born as Thomas Francis Knox; 24 December 1822 – 20 March 1882, LondonThompson Cooper''Knox, Thomas Francis (1822–1882)'' reviewed by Sheridan Gilley, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press ...

, ''Q. Eliz. and the Cath. Hierarchy'' (London, 1889) *G. E. Phillips, ''Extinction of the Ancient Hierarchy'' (London, 1905) *

Johann Christoph Wolf Johann Christoph Wolf (born at Wernigerode, February 21 1683; died at Hamburg, July 25 1739) was a German Christian Hebraist, polyhistor, and collector of books. He studied at Wittenberg, and traveled in Holland and England in the intere ...

, ''Bibliotheca Hebrœa'', i. 308.

Notes

External links

Ralph Baines
article in the

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

Source, ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baines, Ralph Bishops of Lichfield 16th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Christian Hebraists 1504 births 1559 deaths Academic staff of the Collège de France Clergy from Leeds Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge