William Charke (died 1617)
was an 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. ...
cleric and controversialist, known as one of those brought into the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...
to debate with the imprisoned
Jesuit,
Edmund Campion
Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was h ...
.
Life
Charke was a fellow of
Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was expelled in 1572 for declaring, in a sermon preached at
Great St. Mary's, that the episcopal system was introduced by
Satan. After the judgment of the vice-chancellor and heads of houses, he appealed to the chancellor,
Lord Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...
, who interceded for him, but without success. On his expulsion from the university he was appointed domestic chaplain first to
Henry Cheney, 1st Baron Cheney of Toddington, and then to
Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset.
[.]
In 1580 Charke published a work against Edmund Campion.
[''An Answere to a Seditious Pamphlet lately cast abroade by a Jesuite , with a discoverie of that blasphemous sect''.] When Campion was a prisoner in the Tower, Charke was employed with
John Walker to hold a discussion with him, on the fourth day of the procedure. ''A true report of the disputation ... set down by the reverend learned men themselves that dealt therein'', was published in 1583.
Robert Persons
Robert Persons (24 June 1546 – 15 April 1610), later known as Robert Parsons, was an English Jesuit priest. He was a major figure in establishing the 16th-century "English Mission" of the Society of Jesus.
Early life
Robert Person ...
, in his ''Defence of the Censure gyven vpon two Bookes of William Charke and Meredith Hanmer'', launched a heavy personal attack on Charke. It accused him of "merciless behaviour" in the place of execution.
In 1581 Charke was elected constant preacher to the society of
Lincoln's Inn. After holding this post for some years, he was suspended in 1593 by Archbishop
John Whitgift for Puritanism.
Notes
References
*
;Attribution
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charke, William
Year of birth missing
1617 deaths
Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge
16th-century English Puritan ministers