John Belson (c.1625–1704) was an English

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

historian and religious controversialist.

Life

John Belson was the son of Augustin Belson (c.1606–1684) and Elizabeth Cursonn (born c.1606). He was born into an old Catholic family from

Stokenchurch Stokenchurch is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about south of Chinnor in Oxfordshire and west of High Wycombe. Stokenchurch is a commuter village, served by junction 5 ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

: his great-uncle was the martyr

Thomas Belson Thomas Belson (c. 1563 - 5 July 1589) was an English Roman Catholic layman and martyr, beatified in 1987. Life Belson was born at Brill in Buckinghamshire, although the date is uncertain. He was the son of Augustine Belson. He studied at St M ...

. He was probably educated abroad, like his brothers, who attended the

English College, Douai The English College (''College des Grands Anglais'') was a Catholic seminary in Douai, France (also previously spelled Douay, and in English Doway), associated with the University of Douai. It was established in 1568, and was suppressed in 179 ...

. In 1653 he married Clare Gage. Belson gained a reputation for his knowledge of history and controversial matters, helping

John Austin John Austin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John P. Austin (1906–1997), American set decorator * Johnny Austin (1910–1983), American musician *John Austin (author) (fl. 1940s), British novelist Military *John Austin (soldier) (1801� ...

, Thomas White, Thomas Blount, John Sergeant, and several other learned writers of his time. A collaboration with Thomas Blount, the ''Chronological History of England'', was never finished. Belson wrote a controversial treatise, ''Tradidi vobis'' (1662), an exposition and defence of William Rushworth's ''Dialogues'', which Thomas White had edited and amplified in 1654. In the late 1670s Belson took the oath of allegiance, justifying his decision in an apologia. In the early 1680s he was living in France, but from about 1684 lived with his wife in King Street, St James,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

. He died in London in 1704. Belson's papers are held at the

Berkshire Record Office The Berkshire Record Office is the county record office for Berkshire, England. It is located in Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, s ...

Works

* ''Tradidi vobis, or, The traditionary conveyance of faith cleer'd, in the rational way, against the exceptions of a learned opponent'', 1662 * ''Remedies against the infection of the plague'', 1665

References

* Attribution: English Roman Catholics English religious writers 1620s births 1704 deaths English male non-fiction writers {{England-reli-bio-stub