William Rastell (150827 August 1565) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

printer and judge.

Life

Rastell was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, a son of

John Rastell John Rastell (or Rastall) (c. 1475 – 1536) was an English printer, author, member of parliament, and barrister. Life Born in Coventry, he is vaguely reported by Anthony à Wood to have been "educated for a time in grammaticals and philosophi ...

and his wife Elizabeth More, sister of

Sir Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lor ...

. At the age of seventeen he went to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, but did not take a degree, being probably called home to superintend the printing business of his father. He was MP for Hindon in October 1553 and for

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

in April 1554 and for

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in 1555. His office was in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

in St Bride's churchyard. He became a student at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

on 12 September 1532, and gave up the printing business two years later. In 1547 he was appointed Reader. On account of his

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

convictions he left England for

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...

; but upon the accession of

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he returned, and was made Sergeant-at-law and Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn in 1555. His patent as judge of the Queen's Bench was granted on 27 October 1558. Rastell continued on the bench until 1562, when he retired to Leuven without the queen's licence. By virtue of a special commission issued by the barons of the Exchequer on the occasion an inventory of his goods and chattels was taken. This inventory furnishes an idea of the modest nature of the law library (consisting of twenty-four works) and of the chambers of an Elizabethan judge. Rastell died in Leuven,

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg ...

in 1565.

Works

The first work which bears Rastell's own imprint was ''A Dyaloge of Sir Thomas More'' (1531), a reprint of the edition published by his father in 1529. He also brought out a few law-books, some poetry, an edition of ''Fabyans Cronycle'' (1533), and ''The Apologye'' (1533) and ''The Supplycacyon of Soulys'' of his uncle Sir

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

Family

Rastell's wife was Winifred, daughter of Margaret Giggs Clement, who was the foster daughter of Sir Thomas More, and John Clement, who was tutor to Sir Thomas More's children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rastell, William 1508 births 1565 deaths Businesspeople from London English printers Justices of the King's Bench English lawyers English Roman Catholics 16th-century English judges 16th-century Roman Catholics 16th-century printers Serjeants-at-law (England) Members of Lincoln's Inn 16th-century English lawyers