Thomas Brice (1536–1571)
was a
Church of England clergyman,
martyrologist and poet in the later 16th century.
Life
Brice was engaged early in
Queen Mary's reign in bringing
Protestant books from
Wesel into
Kent and
London. He was watched and dogged by the government, but escaped several times. On 25 April 1560 he was ordained deacon, and on the following 4 June priest, by
Edmund Grindal, then later Bishop of London. He became curate at
Ramsden Bellhouse
Ramsden Bellhouse is a village and civil parish in Essex in the east of England. It is in the Borough of Basildon and in the parliamentary constituency of Billericay.
The River Crouch flows through Ramsden Bellhouse, flowing under Church Road.
...
in
Essex.
[
]
Works
He was the author of ''A Compendious Regester'' of 1559.[''A Compendious Register in Metre conteinyng the names and pacient suffrynges of the membres of Jesus Christ, afflicted, tormented, and cruelly burned here in Englande since the death of our late famous kyng of immortall memorie Edwarde the sixte, to the entrance and beginnyngn of the reigne of our soveraigne and derest Lady Elizabeth of England, France, and Ireland, quene defender of the Faithe, to whose highnes truly and properly apperteineth, next and immediately vnder God, the supreme power and authoritie of the Churches of Englande and Ireland. So be it. Anno 1559''.] The dedication is addressed to William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton. The '' Register of Martyrs'' extends from 4 February 1555 to 17 November 1558, and consists of seventy-seven six-line doggerel stanzas. John Foxe
John Foxe (1516/1517 – 18 April 1587), an English historian and martyrologist, was the author of '' Actes and Monuments'' (otherwise ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''), telling of Christian martyrs throughout Western history, but particularly the su ...
found the ''Register'' of use in the compilation of his '' Acts and Monuments''. A religious poem entitled ''The Wishes of the Wise'', in twenty verses of four lines each, concludes the work. The original edition was printed by Richard Adams
Richard George Adams (9 May 1920 – 24 December 2016) was an English novelist and writer of the books ''Watership Down'', ''Maia'', ''Shardik'' and ''The Plague Dogs''. He studied modern history at university before serving in the British Army ...
, who was fined by the Stationers' Company for producing it without licence. Another surreptitious edition appears to have been issued about the same time, but no copy has survived. A second edition was "newly imprinted at the earnest request of divers godly and well-disposed citizens" in 1597. Several extracts from the book appear in the Parker Society's ''Devotional Poetry of the Reign of Elizabeth'' (161, 175), and the whole work was reprinted in Edward Arber's ''Garner''.
Two other books are attributed to Brice in the Stationers' Registers
The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including prin ...
, but nothing is now known of either of them. The first is ''The Courte of Venus moralized'', which Hugh Singleton received licence to print about July 1567; the second is ''Songs and Sonnettes'', licensed to Henry Bynneman in 1568. In 1570 John Allde had licence to print ''An Epitaphe on Mr. Brice'', who may very probably be identified with the author of the ''Register''.
References
*
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brice, Thomas
1536 births
1571 deaths
16th-century English poets
16th-century Protestants
Deacons
English religious writers
English male poets