Thomas Sampson (c. 1517–1589) 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 ...
theologian. A
Marian exile
The Marian exiles were English Protestants who fled to Continental Europe during the 1553–1558 reign of the Catholic monarchs Queen Mary I and King Philip.Christina Hallowell Garrett (1938) ''Marian Exiles: A Study in the Origins of Elizabeth ...
, he was one of the
Geneva Bible
The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James Version by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th-century English Protestantism and was used by William Shakespear ...
translators. On his return to England, he had trouble with conformity to the
Anglican
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 th ...
practices. With
Laurence Humphrey, he played a leading part in the
vestments controversy
The vestments controversy or vestarian controversy arose in the English Reformation, ostensibly concerning vestments or clerical dress. Initiated by John Hooper's rejection of clerical vestments in the Church of England under Edward VI as desc ...
, a division along religious party lines in the early years of the reign 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 ...
.
Life
He was said to have been born at Playford, Suffolk, but possibly came from Binfield in Berkshire.
[Alec Ryrie, ‘Sampson, Thomas (c.1517–1589)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200]
accessed 25 Feb 2011
/ref> He was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge
Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...
. In 1547 he joined the Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...
. He married a niece of Hugh Latimer
Hugh Latimer ( – 16 October 1555) was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Worcester during the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555 under the Catholic Queen Mary I he was burned at the s ...
; Latimer and Sampson influenced the conversion of John Bradford
John Bradford (1510–1555) was an English Reformer, prebendary of St. Paul's, and martyr. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for alleged crimes against Queen Mary I. He was burned at the stake on 1 July 1555.
Life
Bradford was born i ...
, a Marian Protestant martyr. He has been described as ''perhaps the most eloquent of all the new generation of evangelical preachers''.
After Sampson's conversion to Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
in 1551, he became rector of All Hallows, Bread Street, London. When the dean of Chichester
The Dean of Chichester is the dean of Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England.
Bishop Ralph is credited with the foundation of the current cathedral after the original structure built by Stigand was largely destroyed by fire in 1114.
Ralph di ...
, Bartholomew Traheron, resigned in December 1552, he recommended Sampson to succeed him, calling him ''a preacher … of such integrity as I would be glad to see placed here'' and he was duly preferred to the post the following February. However Sampson was never installed: Mary Tudor's accession intervened. His arrest was ordered as early as August 1553, however, he did not move out of the country until May 1554 when he went to Strasburg.
His successor as rector at All Hallows, Laurence Saunders
Lawrence Saunders (1519 – 8 February 1555) was an English Protestant martyr whose story is recorded in ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''.
Early life
Saunders was the son of Thomas Saunders (d. 1528) of Sibbertoft, Northamptonshire, by Margaret, the dau ...
, was burned at the stake.
Sampson was strongly anti-Catholic throughout the rest of his life. He communicated to his parishioners his distaste for Catholic prayers for the dead.
Elizabethan era
He did not return immediately upon Elizabeth's accession, waiting until 1560. In that year he became canon of Durham, and in 1561 Dean of Christ Church, Oxford
The Dean of Christ Church is the dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and head of the governing body of Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of ...
.
In the controversy over clerical dress, Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...
ordered the Anglican clergy to wear surplice
A surplice (; Late Latin ''superpelliceum'', from ''super'', "over" and ''pellicia'', "fur garment") is a liturgical vestment of Western Christianity. The surplice is in the form of a tunic of white linen or cotton fabric, reaching to the kne ...
and caps. Sampson attempted to give the debate a broader Protestant dimension, involving correspondence with Heinrich Bullinger
Heinrich Bullinger (18 July 1504 – 17 September 1575) was a Swiss Reformer and theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss Re ...
. He was ultimately unsuccessful, since Bullinger sided with Parker. The Court of High Commission
The Court of High Commission was the supreme ecclesiastical court in England. Some of its powers was to take action against conspiracies, plays, tales, contempts, false rumors, books. It was instituted by the Crown in 1559 to enforce the Act of U ...
ruled against Sampson, after summoning him in 1565. He was deprived of his position as Dean, despite being thought a very effective administrator.
He subsequently held other positions. He was prebendary
A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...
of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
in 1570. He became Master of Whittington College. The old College of St. Spirit and St. Mary and almshouse set up by Richard Whittington
Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, was an English merchant and a politician of the late medieval period. He is also the real-life inspiration for the English folk tale ''Dick ...
at St. Michael Paternoster Royal had been shut down, first by Edward VI and then for good by Elizabeth, but he lectured there regularly. The spectacular case of Peter Birchet, who wounded John Hawkins
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
in 1573, mistaking him for Christopher Hatton
Sir Christopher Hatton KG (1540 – 20 November 1591) was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England. He was one of the judges who found Mary, Queen of Scots guilty of treason.
Early years
Sir ...
, brought attention to Sampson, since Birchet had heard him preach on the morning of the attack. Afflicted by bad health, Sampson gave that post up. He was then appointed Master of the Hospital of William de Wygston, at Leicester.
Sampson continued to argue his position. He prepared a summary of Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer ( early German: ''Martin Butzer''; 11 November 1491 – 28 February 1551) was a German Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a me ...
's ''De Regno Christi'', which he passed to Lord Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...
during the 1570s. He died in Leicester in 1589, and was buried in St. Ursula's Chapel, attached to the Hospital, where his sons erected a memorial to him.[Basil Hall, ''Martin Bucer in England'', in David F. Wright, ''Martin Bucer: Reforming Church and Community'' (1994), p. 158.]
He had a daughter, Anne.
References
*Benjamin Brook
Benjamin Brook (1776–1848) was an English nonconformist minister and religious historian.
Life
He was born at Netherthong, near Huddersfield. When young he was admitted to membership in the independent church at Holmfield, under the Rev. Robert ...
(1813), ''The Lives of the Puritans'', pp. 375–384
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Thomas
1517 births
1589 deaths
Deans of Christ Church, Oxford
Deans of Chichester
16th-century English Puritan ministers
Marian exiles
16th-century English theologians
English expatriates in Switzerland
English Christian clergy