Richard Cosin (died 1596) was an English jurist. He became prominent as an ecclesiastical lawyer in the service of Archbishop John Whitgift, active against the

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

s 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 ...

Life

He was born the son of John Cosin in Hartlepool, and educated in

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Ai ...

. He was sent to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, aged 12. He became an all-round scholar, particularly interested in

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. He was awarded an LL.D. by the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

in 1580. He was chancellor of the diocese of Worcester in 1582, where Whitgift was bishop. His name appears on the marriage bond of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, she was among the world's highest-paid actresses in 2 ...

. He became

Dean of the Arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribun ...

in 1583. Whitgift made him his Vicar-General of the diocese of Canterbury in 1583, and Dean of the Arches in 1590. Cosin also had duties as a censor of publications. He entered Parliament as the MP for

Downton, Wiltshire Downton is a village and civil parish on the River Avon in southern Wiltshire, England, about southeast of the city of Salisbury. The parish is on the county boundary with Hampshire and is close to the New Forest; it includes the villages of ...

in 1584, and was then elected for

Hindon, Wiltshire Hindon is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of Salisbury and south of Warminster. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Hindon was a ma ...

in 1586 and again for Downton in 1589. In the major confrontation of the 1590s between Anglicans and Thomas Cartwright and his Puritan and presbyterian allies, Cosin with Matthew Sutcliffe for the church lawyers faced the common lawyers Richard Beale and

James Morice James Morice (1539–1597) was an English politician. He was born 1539, the eldest son of William Morice of Chipping Ongar by Anne Isaac of Kent and educated at the Middle Temple. He was chosen as the Member of Parliament for Wareham in 1563. ...

. Morice attacked the ''ex officio'' oath, which Cosin staunchly defended. He argued from the existence, in medieval understanding, of many exceptions to the requirement of an accuser. His 1592 pamphlet ''Conspiracie, for Pretended Reformation: viz. Presbyteriall Discipline'' exploited the scare after the 1591 plot of William Hacket,

Edmund Coppinger Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...

, and

Henry Arthington Henry Arthington (1615 – 19 June 1671) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1646 and 1660. Arthington was the eldest son of William Arthington of Arthington and his wife Anne Tancred, daughter of ...

. Cosin noted in it that the presbyterian notion of discipline included the ideas of resistance to bad magistrates, and deposition of kings. It also contains discussion, relating to Hacket, showing contemporary definitions of degrees of

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

. ''An apologie for sundrie proceedings by jurisdiction ecclesiastical'' (1593) is his major work. He expressed the views that '' Magna Carta'' implied that the English monarchy did not have absolute power, but that it had no application to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. He supported the education of William Barlow,Ralph Anthony Houlbrooke, ''James VI and I: Ideas, Authority, and Government'' (2006), p. 68. his biographer (1598).

Life

Notes

Further reading