John Madew (died 1555) was an English churchman and academic,

Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge The Regius Professorships of Divinity are amongst the oldest professorships at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. A third chair existed for a period at Trinity College Dublin. The Oxford and Cambridge chairs were founded by ...

and Master of Clare Hall.

Life

From

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Madew became Fellow of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

in 1530. He graduated M.A, in 1533, then B.D. in 1543 and D. D. in 1546. His appointment as Regius Professor was around 1545. He was

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

on four occasions. Madew became Master of Clare Hall after Roland Swynbourne, a committed Catholic, was ejected. He himself was removed from the post, after Queen Mary came to the throne in 1553. In 1548 as Vice-chancellor Madew stopped a proposed disputation by

Roger Ascham Roger Ascham (; 30 December 1568)"Ascham, Roger" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 617. was an English scholar and didactic writer, famous for his prose style, his pr ...

on the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

. The next year, on 20 June, there was an official disputation on a similar topic. In the audience, in the philosophy schools, were

William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton William Parr, Marquess of Northampton, Earl of Essex, 1st Baron Parr, 1st Baron Hart (14 August 151328 October 1571), was the only brother of Queen Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII. He was a "sincere, plain, dir ...

, and all the college Visitors. Madew was required to defend the Protestant side, against Alban Langdale,

William Glyn William Edward Glyn (1859 – March 23, 1939) was a United States–based British male tennis player. William Glyn from the Staten Island Cricket and B.B. Club was a finalist in the first U.S. National Championships held in 1881 at the Newpor ...

and others. On that occasion Nicholas Ridley, there as a moderator of the discussion, frequently took up the argument rather than letting Madew speak.Acts and Monuments Online, 1576 edition Book 9, ''1350 K. Edw. 6. Determination of B. Ridley at Cambridge agaynst Transubstantiation.''
/ref> At the end of his life Madew was reconciled to the Catholic church.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madew, John Year of birth missing 1555 deaths 16th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Masters of Clare College, Cambridge Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Cambridge) Vice-chancellors of the University of Cambridge