Dr Samuel Brooke (1575–1631) was a

Gresham Professor of Divinity The Professor of Divinity at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1597, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to ten and in addition the c ...

(appointed 1612), a playwright, the chaplain of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

and subsequently the Master of Trinity (1629–1631). He was known to be an Arminian and anti-

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

. In 1631 he was appointed

archdeacon of Coventry The Archdeacon of Coventry is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Coventry. The post has been called the '' Archdeacon Pastor'' since 2012. History The post was historically within the Diocese of Lichfield beginni ...

Life

He was the son of Robert Brooke of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, the brother of

Christopher Brooke Christopher Brooke (died 1628) was an English poet, lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons between 1604 and 1626. Life He was the son of Robert Brooke (16th century MP), Robert Brooke, a rich merchan ...

who appears in George Wither's eclogues under the pastoral name of Cuddie. Samuel Brooke was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

, where he was admitted in 1596; he proceeded M.A. 1604, B.D. 1607, and D.D. 1615. He was imprisoned for a short period, by the action of Sir George More, for secretly celebrating the marriage of John Donne with More's daughter. He was promoted to the office of chaplain to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, who recommended him (26 September 1612) as

; he was later chaplain to both James I and Charles I. On 13 June 1618 he became rector of St Margaret, Lothbury, London, and 10 July 1621 was incorporated D.D. at Oxford. He was elected master of Trinity College, Cambridge, 5 September 1629, and on 17 November resigned his Gresham professorship. On 13 May 1631 Brooke was admitted archdeacon of Coventry, and he died 16 September 1632. He was buried without monument or epitaph in Trinity College Chapel.

Works

In 1614 he wrote three Latin plays, which were performed before James I on his visit to the university in that year. The names of the plays were recorded as ''Scyros'', ''Adelphe'', and ''Melanthe''. ''Adelphe'' derives from ''La Sorella'' by

Giambattista della Porta Giambattista della Porta (; 1535 – 4 February 1615), also known as Giovanni Battista Della Porta, was an Italian scholar, polymath and playwright who lived in Naples at the time of the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution and Reformation. Giamb ...

. A central character in ''Melanthe'' is Nicander, the loutish heir of a rich father, who is laughed at and kicked around by the heroine Ermilla, before she finally decides to accept him as her husband. The play also contains a chorus of dancing satyrs.

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 ...

in his ''Canterburie's Doome'' attacked Brooke as a disciple of

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 ...

, and stated that in 1630 Brooke was engaged on Arminian treatise on

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...

. Laud encouraged him to complete this book, but afterwards declined to sanction its publication on account of a general prohibition on debating the subject. None of Brooke's works were printed. Beside the treatise already mentioned (a manuscript of the first three books of which is in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge), he wrote a tract on the Thirty-nine Articles, and a discourse, dedicated to the

Earl of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...

, entitled ''De Auxilio Divinæ Gratiæ Exercitatio theologica, nimirum: An possibile sit duos eandem habere Gratiæ Mensuram, et tamen unus convertatur et credat; alter non: e Johan. xi. 45, 46.'' ("A Theological Essay on the Assistance of Divine Grace, namely: Whether it be possible for two people to have the same Measure of Grace, but that one should be converted and believe, and the other not." - from John Ch. XI, vs. 45-46.) The manuscript of this is in the Cambridge University Library.

Manuscripts

* Trinity College, Cambridge, MS B. 15. 13. 'De Natura & Ordine divinæ Prædestinationis in Ecclesiâ, vel intra Ecclesiam Dei.' * Cambridge University Library, MS Additional 44, item 16. 'De Auxilio Divinæ Gratiæ Exercitatio theologica.'

Life

Works

Manuscripts

References

Further reading