William Bradshaw (1571–1618) was a moderate English

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

, born in

Market Bosworth Market Bosworth is a market town and civil parish in western Leicestershire, England. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 1,906, increasing to 2,097 at the 2011 census. It is most famously near to the site of the decisive final battle of ...

. He was educated at

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshir ...

, where he met both

Anthony Gilby Anthony Gilby (c.1510–1585) was an English clergyman, known as a radical Puritan and translator of the Geneva Bible, the first English Bible available to the general public. He was born in Lincolnshire, and was educated at Christ's College, ...

, and his future patron

Arthur Hildersham Arthur Hildersham (1563–1632) was an English clergyman, a Puritan and nonconforming preacher. Life Arthur Hildersham was born at Stetchworth, and brought up as a Roman Catholic. He was educated in Saffron Walden and at Christ's College, Cam ...

, and at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican m ...

. He became a Fellow of

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wi ...

in 1599, but left Cambridge in 1601. A friend from Sidney Sussex was

Thomas Gataker Thomas Gataker (* London, 4 September 1574 – † Cambridge, 27 June 1654) was an English clergyman and theologian. Life He was born in London, the son of Thomas Gatacre. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge. From 1601 to 1611 he h ...

, and they later wrote together (''A Plain and Pithy Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians'', 1620). He became a Puritan controversialist in many areas.

Works

He was the author of ''English Puritanisme containeung icthe maine opinions of the rigidest of those called Puritanes in the realme of England'', which was first published in 1605, and prefaced by

William Ames William Ames (; Latin: ''Guilielmus Amesius''; 157614 November 1633) was an English Puritan minister, philosopher, and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands, and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the Ca ...

in 1610. Also in 1605, he published ''Twelve general arguments, proving that the ceremonies imposed upon the ministers of the Gospel in England, by our prelates, are unlawful; ...''.

Views

The main point of his system was that he would subject no congregation to any ecclesiastical jurisdiction "save that which is within itself." He would have the members delegate their powers to pastors and elders, retaining that of excommunication. No clergyman should hold civil office. He was strongly opposed to "ceremonies." He was not a separatist and held that the king as "the archbishop and general overseer of all the churches within his dominions" had the right to rule and must not be resisted except passively. He published many other works and tracts, most of them anonymously.http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc02.html?term=Bradshaw,%20William

References

* Andrew Pyle (editor), ''Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Philosophers'' (2000), article pp. 116–7.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, William 1571 births 1618 deaths English Calvinist and Reformed theologians Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge 17th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians English Jacobean nonconforming clergy People from Market Bosworth Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers 17th-century English Puritan ministers