John Cosin
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John Cosin (30 November 1594 – 15 January 1672) was an English churchman.


Life

He was born at
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, and was educated at
Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...
and at
Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...
, where he was scholar and afterwards fellow. On taking orders he was appointed secretary to John Overall,
Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Mi ...
, and then domestic chaplain to
Richard Neile Richard Neile (or Neale; 1562 – 31 October 1640) was an English churchman, bishop successively of six English dioceses, more than any other man, including the Archdiocese of York from 1631 until his death. He was involved in the last burning ...
,
Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
. In December 1624 he was made a prebendary of Durham, and on 9 September 1625
Archdeacon of the East Riding The Archdeacon of the East Riding is a senior ecclesiastical officer of an archdeaconry, or subdivision, of the Church of England Diocese of York in the Province of York. It is named for the East Riding of Yorkshire and consists of the eight rur ...
of Yorkshire (until 1660). In 1630 he received his degree of Doctor of Divinity (DD). He first became known as an author in 1627, when he published his ''Collection of Private Devotions'', a manual stated to have been prepared by command of King
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
, for the use of Queen
Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...
's maids of honour. This book, together with his insistence on points of ritual in his cathedral church and his friendship with
William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...
, exposed Cosin to the hostility of the Puritans; and the book was criticised by
William Prynne William Prynne (1600 – 24 October 1669), an English lawyer, voluble author, polemicist and political figure, was a prominent Puritan opponent of church policy under William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (1633–1645). His views were presbyte ...
and Henry Burton. In 1628 Cosin took part in the prosecution of a brother prebendary, Peter Smart, for a sermon against high church practices; and the prebendary was deprived. On 8 February 1635 Cosin was appointed master of
Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...
; and in 1640 he became Vice-Chancellor of the University. In October of this year he was promoted to the deanery of Peterborough. A few days before his installation the
Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...
had met; and among the complainants who hastened to appeal to it for redress was the ex-prebendary, Smart. His petition against the new dean was considered; and early in 1641 Cosin was sequestered from his benefices. Articles of impeachment were presented against him two months later, but he was dismissed on bail. For sending the university plate to the king, he was deprived of the mastership of Peterhouse (13 March 1643).Roach, J.P.C. (ed.) A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3: The City and University of Cambridge. Chapter: The colleges and halls: Peterhouse; section: Masters of Peterhouse
Accessed 8 September 2014
/ref> He went to France, preached at Paris, and served as chaplain to some members of the household of the exiled royal family. At the
Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
he returned to England, was reinstated in the mastership (3 August 1660), restored to all his benefices, and in a few months raised to the
see of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Church of England, Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Pau ...
– he therefore resigned from the Mastership of Peterhouse on 18 October 1660. Cosin noted that Auckland Castle in the town of
Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...
was empty and that its chapel was in ruin; he went on to improve the property, renovating the Great Hall and converting it into a new chapel that still stands today. He was elected to that See on 5 November, which election was
confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
on 22 November; he was duly consecrated a bishop on 2 December and enthroned on 8 December 1660. Cosin was responsible for a style of church woodwork unique to
County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
, a sumptuous fusion of gothic and contemporary Jacobean forms. The font cover in
Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...
is a splendid example of this, as are the displays in the churches at
Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...
and elsewhere. The Cosin woodwork at
Brancepeth Brancepeth is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated about from Durham on the A690 road between Durham and Weardale. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 414. Brancepeth Castle was u ...
has sadly been destroyed by fire. At the convocation in 1661 Cosin played a prominent part in the revision of the
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
, and endeavoured with some success to bring both prayers and
rubric A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written or printed in red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the la, rubrica, meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th cent ...
s into better agreement with ancient liturgies. Ultimately, his efforts produced the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'', established as the authorized
liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic ...
of the Church of England by the
Act of Uniformity 1662 The Act of Uniformity 1662 (14 Car 2 c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of England. (It was formerly cited as 13 & 14 Ch.2 c. 4, by reference to the regnal year when it was passed on 19 May 1662.) It prescribed the form of public prayers, adm ...
. He administered his diocese successfully for eleven years; and used a large share of his revenues to promote the interests of the Church, of schools and of charitable institutions. He died in London in 1672. He had married Frances (d. 25 March 1642), the daughter of Marmaduke Blakiston on 15 August 1626 at St Margaret's, Durham.


Attitudes

Though a classical high churchman and a rigorous enforcer of outward conformity, Cosin was uncompromisingly hostile to
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, and most of his writings illustrate this antagonism. In France he was on friendly terms with
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
s, justifying himself on the ground that their non-episcopal ordination had not been of their own seeking, and at the
Savoy conference The Savoy Conference of 1661 was a significant liturgical discussion that took place, after the Restoration of Charles II, in an attempt to effect a reconciliation within the Church of England. Proceedings It was convened by Gilbert Sheldo ...
in 1661 he tried hard to effect a reconciliation with the
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
s. He differed from the majority of his colleagues in his strict attitude towards Sunday observance and in favouring, in the case of
adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
, both divorce and the remarriage of the innocent party. On a theological point of view, Cosin is considered to be an
Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...
anti-Calvinist. In particular, his book of devotions is considered by historians as Arminian and imbued with sacramentalism.


Writings

Among his writings (most of which were published posthumously) are a ''Historia Transubstantiationis Papalis'' (1675), ''Notes and Collections on the Book of Common Prayer'' (1710) and ''A Scholastical History of the Canon of Holy Scripture'' (1657). A collected edition of his works, forming 5 vols of the Oxford ''
Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology The Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology (published by John Henry Parker) was a series of 19th-century editions of theological works by writers in the Church of England, devoted as the title suggests to significant Anglo-Catholic figures. It brought ...
'', was published between 1843 and 1855; and his ''Correspondence'' (2 vols) was edited by George Ornsby for the Surtees Society (1868–1870). Among his notable work was the translation of "
Veni Creator Spiritus "Veni Creator Spiritus" (Come, Creator Spirit) is a traditional Christian hymn believed to have been written by Rabanus Maurus, a ninth-century German monk, teacher, and archbishop. When the original Latin text is used, it is normally sung in Greg ...
" included in the 1662 revision of the Book of Common Prayer; written for the Coronation of King
Charles I of Great Britain Charles I (19 November 1600 â€“ 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...
, and sung at every coronation since that time.


Notes and references


Citations


Sources

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Attribution

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External links


Project Canterbury: The Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosin, John 1594 births 1672 deaths 17th-century Church of England bishops Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Archdeacons of the East Riding Arminian ministers Arminian writers Bishops of Durham Deans of Peterborough Doctors of Divinity Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge Lord-Lieutenants of Durham Masters of Peterhouse, Cambridge Participants in the Savoy Conference People educated at Norwich School Clergy from Norwich Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge 16th-century Anglican theologians 17th-century Anglican theologians