John Pitts (also Pits, Pitseus; 1560 – 17 October 1616) was an English Roman Catholic scholar and writer.

Life

Pitts was born in

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in East Hampshire, England, near the source of the northern branch of the River Wey. It had a population of 19,425 at the 2021 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aoltone' ...

in 1560 and attended

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

. From 1578 to 1580 he studied at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

. In 1581 he was admitted to the

English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English Colleg ...

. In 1588 he was ordained priest, and became professor at the English College,

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

. He then graduated Lic.D. at

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

(1592) and D.D. at

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

(1595). He became Canon at

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

, then confessor and almoner to the Duchess of Cleves; after her death he became Dean of Liverdun. He died in Liverdun,

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

Work

* ''Relationum Historicarum de rebus Angliæ'' in four parts: ** ''De Illustribus Angliæ Scriptoribus'', published in Paris in 1619 ** ''De Regibus Angliæ'' ** ''De Episcopis Angliæ'' ** ''De Viris Apostolicis Angliæ'' : (the last three parts remained in manuscript in Liverdun) * ''Tractatus de legibus'', published in

in 1592 * ''Tractatus de beatitudine'', published in

in 1595 * ''Libri septem de peregrinatione'' published in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

in 1604

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitts, John 1560 births 1616 deaths People from Alton, Hampshire People educated at Winchester College University of Ingolstadt alumni 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests 17th-century English Roman Catholic priests