HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Peter Smart (1569–1652?) was an Anglican
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. P ...
clergyman, kept imprisoned for 12 years after he preached against innovations in the ceremonies at
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 ...
.


Life

He was born at
Lighthorne Lighthorne is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. It is about south of Leamington Spa. The population taken at the 2011 census was 361. Lighthorne is a small village in a valley and is near Moreton Morrell, Kineton and Wellesb ...
,
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
, the son of a clergyman William Smart (Daniel Smart, presented in 1624 to the rectory of
Oxhill, Warwickshire Oxhill is a village in South Warwickshire, England, off the A422 road between Stratford-upon-Avon and Banbury. The population taken at the 2011 census was 305. It lies in the administrative district of Stratford-on-Avon in the area known as th ...
being a brother). He was educated at
Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It derives from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the 1066 Norman Conquest, as d ...
under
Gabriel Goodman Gabriel Goodman (6 November 1528 – 17 June 1601) became the Dean of Westminster on 23 September 1561 and the re-founder of Ruthin School, in Ruthin, Denbighshire. In 1568 he translated the “First Epistle to the Corinthians" for the “B ...
and
Edward Grant Edward Grant (April 6, 1926 – June 21, 2020) was an American historian of medieval science. He was named a Distinguished Professor in 1983. Other honors include the 1992 George Sarton Medal, for "a lifetime scholarly achievement" as an histor ...
, with
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 ...
. On 25 October 1588, aged 19, he matriculated as a batler (poor scholar) at Broadgates Hall, Oxford and was elected (before April 1589) to a studentship at Christ Church, Oxford where he wrote some Latin verse, and commenced B.A. 26 June 1592, M.A. 9 July 1595.
William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the la ...
, promoted in 1596 from Dean of Christ Church to Dean of Durham, appointed Smart in 1598 to the mastership of
Durham Grammar School Durham School is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Durham, North East England and was an all-boys institution until 1985, when girls were admitted to the sixth form. The school takes pupils a ...
. James, when he became
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 Durha ...
(1606), ordained Smart, made him his chaplain, and gave him the rectory of Boldon,
co. 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 �About North East Eng ...
in 1609, with a
prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of t ...
at Durham Cathedral. At some time before 1610 Smart was made master of
St. Edmund's Hospital, Gateshead ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...
. He was present when
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...
communicated at Durham on Easter Day (20 April 1617), and noted the ceremonial details: by royal order there was no chanting or organ-playing; two plain
cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...
s were worn. Smart absented himself from communions at Durham Cathedral, his reason being that Richard Neile, from 1617 the new bishop of Durham, had brought in ceremonial changes (altars and embroidered copes). In 1626, and again in 1627, he was placed on the high commission for the
province of York The Province of York, or less formally the Northern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England and consists of 12 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to ...
, and was a member of it when he was summoned for 'a seditious invective sermon'. The renovation of the cathedral and enrichment of the service had drawn from Smart on Sunday morning, 27 July 1628, a sermon (on Psalms xxxi. 7). It was published 1628, and reprinted at Edinburgh the same year, as ''The Vanitie and Downefall of Superstitious Popish Ceremonies'', and again in 1640 with an appended ''Narrative of the Acts and Speeches ... of Mr. John Cosins''. A quorum of the high commission commenced proceedings against Smart.
John Cosin John Cosin (30 November 1594 – 15 January 1672) was an English churchman. Life He was born at Norwich, and was educated at Norwich School and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he was scholar and afterwards fellow. On taking orders he was ...
, a particular target in the sermon and a leader in the group of Neile's chaplains and prebendaries pushing for more "high church" ceremonial, was one of his judges. On 2 September the commissioners suspended Smart, and sequestered his prebend. On 29 January 1629 the case was transmitted to the high commission of the
province of Canterbury The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses). Overview The Province consist ...
, sitting at
Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area ex ...
, Smart was held in custody, and his sermon (now in print) was burned. He had influential friends:
Sir Henry Yelverton Sir Henry Yelverton (29 June, 1566 – 24 January, 1630) was an English lawyer, politician, and judge. Early life The eldest son of Sir Christopher Yelverton and his wife Margaret Catesby, Henry Yelverton was born on 29 June 1566, most li ...
admired his sermon, and Archbishop George Abbot is said to have agreed on the ceremonies. But his bitterness before the commission harmed him. On his own petition, he was removed back (August 1630) to the high commission at York. In the end for
contumacy Contumacy is a stubborn refusal to obey authority or, particularly in law, the willful contempt of the order or summons of a court (see contempt of court). The term is derived from the Latin word ''contumacia'', meaning firmness or stubbornness. ...
he was in 1631 degraded, and fined. Refusing to pay the fine, he was sent to the
King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were he ...
. Friends raised £400 a year to support him and his family. On 3 November 1640, having been close on twelve years in custody, he drew up a petition (presented 12 November) to 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 ...
for his release. The Commons resolved (22 January 1641) that his sentence was illegal and void, and directed the prosecution of Cosin. In his ''Short Treatise'' (1641), Smart charged Cosin with "unseemly" words and actions.
Francis Rous Francis Rous, also spelled Rouse (c. 1581 to 1659), was an English politician and Puritan religious author, who was Provost of Eton from 1644 to 1659, and briefly Speaker of the House of Commons in 1653. Stepbrother of Parliamentary leader Joh ...
, in his speech of 16 March 1641 impeaching Cosin, styled Smart "a Proto-Martyr." Smart recovered his preferments and up to 1648 he was suing for arrears. He took the
Solemn League and Covenant The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians in 1643 during the First English Civil War, a theatre of conflict in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. On 17 August ...
in 1643, and gave evidence at the
trial of William Laud The trial of William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, took place in stages in the first half of the 1640s, and resulted in his execution on treason charges. At first an impeachment, the parliamentary legal proceedings became an act of attainder. ...
(1644). In 1645 he obtained, in place of Thomas Gawen, the sequestered rectory of
Bishopstoke Bishopstoke, a village recorded in the Domesday Book, is a civil parish in the borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. Bishopstoke was also mentioned when King Alfred the Great's grandson King Eadred, granted land at "Stohes" to Thegn Aelfr ...
,
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, and in 1646 he had, or claimed to have, the sequestered vicarage of
Great Aycliffe Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...
, co. Durham. He was living in London on 31 October 1648. Christopher Hunter heard that he died at Baxterwood, an outlying hamlet in the parish of St. Oswald, Durham, but failed find a record of his death, which probably took place in 1652.


Works

He published, besides the sermon of 1628: *''The Humble Petition of Peter Smart, a poore Prisoner in the King's Bench'', 640? *''A Short Treatise of Altars, Altar-fumiture'', (probably printed 1641, but written 1628); *''A Catalogue of Superstitious Innovations . . . Violations of the locall Statutes of Durham Cathedrall'', 1642; *''Septugenarii Senis iterantis Cantus Epithalamicus'', 1643 (dedicated to the Westminster Assembly).


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Peter 1569 births 1652 deaths English Caroline nonconforming clergy English subscribers to the Solemn League and Covenant 1643 16th-century English clergy 16th-century Protestants Alumni of Broadgates Hall, Oxford People from Stratford-on-Avon District