William Hughes (died 1600) was a Welsh

bishop of St Asaph The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph. The diocese covers the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The Episcopal seat is loca ...

Life

He was the son of Hugh ap Kynric of

Carnarvonshire , HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon , Map= , Image= Flag , Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd) , year_start= , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...

, and Gwenllian, daughter of John Vychan ab John ab Gruffydd ab Owen Pygott. He matriculated as a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...

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 ...

, in November 1554 and took his B.A. degree in 1557. He became fellow of

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

1557, M.A. 1560, B.D. 1565, and that year was appointed Lady Margaret preacher. About 1560 Hughes became chaplain to

Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, (Kenninghall, Norfolk, 10 March 1536Tower Hill, London, 2 June 1572) was an English nobleman and politician. Although from a family with strong Roman Catholic leanings, he was raised a Protestant. He was a ...

. Attending his patron to Oxford in 1568, he was on 19 April incorporated B.D. of the university, and in 1570, through the influence of the duke, he was allowed to proceed D.D. Behind the scenes, however, there had been a theological wrangle. In 1567 Hughes preached at

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, and gave offence by his exposition of the article ''De Descensu Christi ad Inferos'' (Article III of the

Thirty Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...

). A complaint was made to the university. On 7 July 1567 a decree of the senate was issued referring the matter to a committee, Hughes to be bound by its decision without appeal. In the same month another complaint was sent through the

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. Early creations ...

of Hughes's doctrines. At the earl's suggestion the matter was left to him,

Sir William Cecil 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 ...

, then chancellor of the university, and Archbishop

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 ...

. Parker advised that he should be restrained from preaching; but the concrete result was an order of the chancellor against questioning the article. The Earl of Leicester exerted himself to get Hughes, to recant, which the University of Oxford had failed to do; and after that the way was cleared for Hughes to gain his higher degree of D.D. at Cambridge as well as Oxford. From 1567 to his death Hughes was rector of Llysvaen in Carnarvonshire. He was also rector of

Dennington Dennington is a village and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. It is north of Framlingham and north-east of Ipswich in the east of the county. It lies along the A1120 road around west of the road's junction with the main A12 ro ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, but resigned the benefice before 10 December 1573. In December 1573 Hughes was made

Bishop of St Asaph The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph. The diocese covers the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The Episcopal seat is loca ...

. Hughes gave assistance to William Morgan in his translation of the Bible into Welsh; and made an issue of having Welsh-speaking priests. On the other hand, his administration of his diocese became the subject of an inquiry. The report dated 24 February 1587, described the bishop as holding ''

in commendam In canon law, commendam (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical ...

'', with the archdeaconry and the rectory of Llysvaen, which he held by virtue of a faculty obtained in 1573, 15 livings. He had leased out parts of the bishopric, as lordships, manors, and rectories. The bishop was further charged with extorting money from his clergy on his visitations. In October 1600 Hughes died, and was buried in the choir of

St Asaph Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saints Asaph and Cyndeyrn, commonly called St Asaph Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llanelwy), is a cathedral in St Asaph, Denbighshire, north Wales. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of St Asaph. The cathedral d ...

. By his wife Lucia, daughter of Robert Knowesley of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, he left a son, William, and a daughter, Anne, who married Thomas, youngest son of Sir Thomas Mostyn.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, William Year of birth missing 1600 deaths 16th-century Welsh Anglican priests Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge Bishops of St Asaph Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge