Thomas Arthur (died 1532) was an English

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

and dramatist. A native of Norfolk, he was educated at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, probably in Trinity Hall, and imbibed Protestant opinions from his fellow-countryman, Thomas Bilney. Arthur was admitted a fellow of St. John's College in February 1517–18, being then a master of arts, and in 1518 he occurs as principal of St. Mary's Hostel. In 1526 he and Bilney were charged with heresy, and compelled to take an oath abjuring Luther's opinions. In November 1527 they were brought as relapsed heretics before Cardinal Wolsey and other bishops in the chapter-house at Westminster. Both of them recanted and did penance, though Bilney afterwards had the courage of his opinions and suffered for them at the stake. Arthur died at Walsingham in 1532. He wrote: 1. ''Microcosmus'', a tragedy. 2. ''Mundus plumbeus'', a tragedy. 3. ''In quosdam Psalmos''. 4. ''Homeliæ Christianæ''. 5. A translation of

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

, ''De Milite Christiano''.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, Thomas Year of birth unknown 1532 deaths English Renaissance dramatists 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers 16th-century English dramatists and playwrights 16th-century Protestants People from Norfolk