Thomas Bentham (1513/14–1579) was a scholar and a Protestant minister. One of the

Marian exiles The Marian exiles were English Protestants who fled to Continental Europe during the 1553–1558 reign of the Catholic monarchs Queen Mary I and King Philip.Christina Hallowell Garrett (1938) ''Marian Exiles: A Study in the Origins of Elizabetha ...

, he returned to England to minister to an underground congregation in London. He was made the first Elizabethan bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, serving from 1560 until his death in 1579.

Life

Bentham was born in 1513/14, to unknown parents, in Sherburn, Yorkshire (although which of the two places of this name is uncertain). He was admitted perpetual fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, on 10 November 1546, proceeded M.A. in 1547, and "about that time did solely addict his mind to the study of theology and to the learning of the Hebrew tongue, in which last he was most excellent, as in those of Greek and Latin". On the accession of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

he was turned out of his fellowship "for his forward and malapert zeal against the catholic religion in the time of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

, by the visitors appointed by her to regulate the university". He went to Zurich and afterwards to

Basle , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

, and became preacher to the exiles there, to whom he delivered an exposition of the Acts of the Apostles. John Foxe, another Fellow of Magdalen, includes anecdotes of Bentham in his ''

Book of Martyrs The ''Actes and Monuments'' (full title: ''Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church''), popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by Protestant Engl ...

''.''Book of Martyrs''
/ref> He was back in England before the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, despite the persecution of protestants. In 1559 Ralph Baines, the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, who was a Roman Catholic, was imprisoned; he died the same year. Bentham was appointed to the bishopric. He faced a number of economic challenges. He was buried at

Eccleshall Eccleshall is a town and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is located seven miles northwest of Stafford, and six miles west-southwest of Stone. Eccleshall is twinned with Sancerre in France. His ...

, where he had his official residence.

Life

Notes

Attribution

Further reading