Wenceslas Hollar - Richard Bernard (State 1)

Richard Bernard (1568–1641) was an English

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

clergyman and writer.

Life

Bernard was born in Epworth and received his education at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, where he matriculated in 1592, obtained his BA in 1595, and an MA in 1598. He was married in 1601 and had six children. From 1612 to 1641 he lived in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and preached in Batcombe. Bernard was a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

, but a moderate one. Bernard advocated a joyful approach to life, instead of the more serious and pious disposition that was encouraged at the time. Bernard wrote: He flirted with nonconformity with the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

when he was first preaching. He lost his job over his

dissent Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from th ...

on 15 March 1605. He formed his own congregation of about 100 in 1606 in a separatist church, but then returned to his parish post in Worksop in 1607. He still refused to make the sign of the cross during baptisms, however. This led to him being brought before church courts again in 1608 and 1611. When he was at Worksop he associated with well-known Puritans William Brewster (1567–1644), a passenger on the

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

, and John Robinson (1575–1625), who organised the

voyage. Bernard wrote an influential handbook for ministers entitled ', which was published in 1607 and 1621. His most popular book was ''The Isle of Man'' (1627) which went through 16 printings by 1683. He led his generation in his advocacy for the imprisoned, the poor, and the Jews, the latter argument was made in an essay titled "." within the book, '.Grosart, Alexander Balloch. "Bernard, Richard" ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. London: Oxford University Press. 1921. v.2, pp. 386-7. He frequently wrote against Separation, which put him in conflict with Robinson and the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

churches. His daughter Mary married

Roger Williams Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...

, co-founder of the state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, in 1629. Roger and Mary Williams emigrated to the New World in 1631. His predecessor at Batcombe was Philip Bisse; he was succeeded as preacher there by the Puritan theologian

Richard Alleine Richard Alleine (1610/11 – 22 December 1681) was an English Puritan divine. Life Alleine was born at Ditcheat, Somerset, in 1610 and baptised on the 18 October 1610, (where his father another Richard Alleine, born circa 1585 and died 1656, ...

Published work

* ' 1602, 1607, 1612 * ', 1607 * ', 1608 (Also ''?'' – no copies exist) * ', 1609 * ', 1609 * ', 1610 * ', 1610 * ', 1612, 1629 * ', 1613 * ', 1616, 1628, 1650? (') * ', 1616 * ', 1616 * ', 1617 * ', 1619 * ', 1621 * ', 1621 * ', 1623, 1624 * ', 1626 *' 1627, 1628, 1629, 1630, 1640, 1632, 1634, 1635, 1648, 1658, 1659, 1668, 1674, 1677, 1683; 1719, 1778, 1997 * ''

A Guide to Grand-Jury Men ''A Guide to Grand-Jury Men'' — in full, A Guide to Grand Jury Men, Divided in two books. In the first, is the Author's best advice to them what to do, before they bring in a Billa vera in cases of Witchcraft, with a Christian Direction to suc ...

, '', 1627, 1629, 1630 * ''Ruth's Recompense'', 1628 * ', 1629 * ', 1630, 1631, 1632, 1635, 1640 * ''Christian See To Thy Conscience Or A Treatise Of The Nature, The Kinds And Manifold Differences Of Conscience'', 1631 * ''The Ready Way to Good Works'', 1635 * ', 1641 * ', 1641 * ', Richard Bernard; John Bernard, ondon : s.n. 1641, 1661 * ', 1641 * ', 1642 * ''An Epistle Directed To All Justices Of Peace In England And Wales'', 1642 * ', 1644 * ', 1661, 1664 *Collected works in Latin and English, 1598 (?), 1607, 1614, 1629 and 1641. *Bernard's first publication was a translation of the Latin poet

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

, which had at least six editions.

Notes

References

''Richard Bernard Puritan''
Gary Brady.

Life

Published work

See also

Notes

References

Further reading