Stephen Nettles ( fl. 1595 – 1647) was an English clergyman and controversialist.

Life

He was a native of

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, was admitted pensioner of

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, on 25 June 1595, graduated B.A. in 1599, and was elected fellow on 11 October 1599. He proceeded M.A. in 1602, and commenced B.D. as a member of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

. :s:Nettles, Stephen (DNB00) In 1610 he became rector of

Lexden Lexden is a suburb of Colchester and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Colchester, in the Colchester district, in the county of Essex, England. It was formerly a village, and has previously been called Lessendon, Lassendene and ...

, on 24 March 1617 vicar of

Great Tey Great Tey is a village and civil parish near the villages of Marks Tey and Little Tey in the Colchester borough of Essex, England, located approximately six miles west of Colchester. __TOC__ Location Great Tey is situated near Marks Tey rail ...

, which he resigned before 27 January 1638, and in 1623 vicar of

Steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...

, all in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He signed the 1629 petition for conformity. During the period of the

First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo ...

he ignored the

Solemn League and Covenant The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians in 1643 during the First English Civil War, a theatre of conflict in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. On 17 August 1 ...

, and continued to use the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

''. His livings of Lexden and Steeple were sequestrated in 1644, but he resisted the sequestration and his successor Gabriel Wyresdale until 1647, when he was removed from the rectory at Lexden.

Works

He wrote a learned ''Answer to the Jewish Part of Mr. Selden's History of Tithes'', Oxford, 1625, in answer to

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...

's history of tithes. He was ejected from his rectory on 16 August 1644 by force of arms.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nettles, Stephen 16th-century births 17th-century deaths 17th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge