John Overall (1559–1619) was the 38th bishop of the see of Norwich from 1618 until his death one year later. He had previously served as

Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwi ...

(from 1614), as Dean of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

from 1601, as Master of Catharine Hall (under protest) from 1598, and as Regius Professor of Divinity at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1596. He also served on the

Court of High Commission A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...

and as a Translator (in the First Westminster Company) of the King James Version of the Bible. Overall was born in Hadleigh, Suffolk and studied at St John's College and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He is buried within Norwich Cathedral.

Early years

John Overall was born in 1559, in Hadleigh, Suffolk. In Overall's time, Hadleigh was a centre for radical Protestantism. He was baptised there on 2 March 1561, the younger son of George Overall, who died that July. The future bishop studied at Hadleigh Grammar School, where he was a fellow student with Bible translator John Bois. John Still, then Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and a parish priest from 1571, took an interest in their education. Owing to his patronage and direction both applied to

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 ...

, when in 1575, Still became Master of the college. When Still moved to become Master of

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

, Overall followed him and on 18 April 1578 was admitted as a scholar. He graduated BA in 1579 and became a minor

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

on 2 October 1581. He proceeded MA (Cantab) the following year and on 30 March became a major fellow. Overall received other college preferments while Still was the master and at the start of the academic year in 1586, he was made praelector Graecus, by October 1588 he was praelector mathematicus. He became seneschal on 17 December 1589 and junior dean on 14 October 1591. That year he was also ordained a priest at Lincoln.

Church of England

He was briefly, in 1591–1592, vicar of Trumpington, a college

living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * ...

just outside Cambridge. In 1592, Sir Thomas Heneage, on behalf of Elizabeth I, created him

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Epping, Essex. In October 1595 he was appointed to the Crown living of Henton by Elizabeth, and in December 1595 Overall was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. His election may have been a snub for Archbishop

John Whitgift John Whitgift (c. 1530 – 29 February 1604) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to his death. Noted for his hospitality, he was somewhat ostentatious in his habits, sometimes visiting Canterbury and other towns attended by a retinue of 8 ...

, who had adopted the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

ic Lambeth Articles. Overall, with Lancelot Andrewes, Samuel Harsnett, and others, had rejected these articles in support of Peter Baro, the Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, when on 12 January 1596 he attacked them from the pulpit. This opposition cost Baro his chair, as he failed to be re-elected in 1596. John Overall was also a friend to the erratic mystic William Alabaster (1568–1640), even throughout his years of imprisonment, and was the tutor to Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex at Trinity College. Perhaps Overall brought these two acquaintances together. Essex became Alabaster’s patron. In ''Alabaster’s Conversion'' we read: In 1599, Overall clashed with the authorities when he maintained that the perseverance of a truly justified man was conditional upon repentance. There followed a year-long campaign against Overall which ultimately had little effect. Through it all, he retained his chair until he resigned it in 1607. As one of the chaplains-in-ordinary to the queen, Overall was appointed by Whitgift in 1598 to preach before her on the third Wednesday of Lent, 15 March, in place of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Godfrey Goldsborough of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. Shortly afterwards, at Easter, his theological position was further endorsed in Cambridge when he was appointed Master of St Catharine's College, with the support of Whitgift. Thereafter he was occasionally chosen to give Lenten sermons before the queen, but he was not happy in the pulpit. He apparently found it "troublesome to speak English as a continued oration" after years of lecturing in Latin. John Manningham, a Magdalene graduate who would have heard Professor Overall in Cambridge, later complained that he "discoursed verry scholastically" when he preached a Whitehall sermon at the dead queen's court on 6 April 1603 In 1602, Overall was made rector of Algarkirk, Lincoln; he held the living for three years. With the support of Sir Fulke Greville he was nominated Dean of St Paul's

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. On 6 June, Lawrence Barker, vicar of St Botolph Aldersgate, and a former colleague at Trinity spoke at Paul's Cross of the "gravity & learning and life" of the new dean. The Deanery itself became a haven for scholars like Scultetus who shared the house with him. Overall himself, according to the radical preacher Thomas Scott, emerged as something of an Anglo-Catholic. Overall was also granted the

Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

of Tottenhall.

King James I of England

In 1603 Overall received the rectory of Clothall, Hertfordshire (which he held till 1615), and in 1604 the rectory of Therfield, Hertfordshire (which he held till 1614); both were served by

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

s. At the Hampton Court Conference he spoke (16 January 1604) on the controversy concerning

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...

, referring to the disputes in which he had been engaged at Cambridge, and won the approval of King James. Following the conference, Overall penned the new final portion of the Catechism within the 1604 ''Book of Common Prayer''. Overall, as Dean of St. Paul's, was present on 3 May 1606 in St Paul's Churchyard in London, for the hanging of Father Henry Garnet, Provincial of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, from whom he tried unsuccessfully to extract a gallows recantation of

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Garnet was charged with having a hand in the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...

. During the Convocation of 1610, John Overall's famous ''Convocation Book'' was sanctioned, although it was not published until much later. This treatise was "on the subject of Government, the divine institution of which was very positively asserted." In addition, the nature of the sacraments was described by Overall. The composition of the latter part of the Catechism, containing an explanation of the Sacraments, is generally attributed to John Overall. It was added in 1604 by royal authority, "by way of explanation," in compliance with a wish which the Puritans had expressed at the Conference at Hampton Court.

Authorized Version of the Bible

Some time, perhaps on the final or third day of the Hampton Court Conference, a decision was made to make a new English translation of the Bible. Both the Crown and the puritans found fault with the bibles then in use. The work was carried on by 54 middle-aged, learned men. John Overall served as a translator (in the First Westminster Company) of the

Authorized King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

of the Bible. His name appears in the 1611 and 1613 printings, and he is associated with the translation of the chapters from Genesis to 2 Kings. During work on the Authorized Bible, Overall became a friend of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes (1555–1626), and the two were firm allies from then on, forming the

Arminian Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the Christian theology, theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remo ...

wing of the Anglican church. Both Overall and Andrewes are considered early fathers of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

, along with

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a theologian, leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a Oxford Martyrs, martyr ...

, Matthew Parker, Richard Hooker, John Jewel, John Cosin, and

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...

. They discriminated and vindicated the Anglican position as opposed to both Papalism and

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

ism. During the translating of the Bible, John Overall's beautiful young wife, Anne Overall (née Orwell), ran off with a Yorkshire courtier, Sir John Selby. Although John had her brought back to London, the scandal was well known. A popular verse of the day went like this, according to the great gossip

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded (often for the first time) numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England ...

The Dean of St Paul's did search for his wife
And where d'ye think he found her?
Even upon Sir John Selby's bed,
As flat as any flounder.

Anne Overall seems not to be mentioned after this incident. She was the subject of this suggestive rhyme, cited as evidence that she was too hot for intellectual John Overall to handle:

Face she had of filbert hue
And bosom’d like a swan.
Back she had of bended ewe
And waisted by a span.
Hair she had as black as crow
From her head unto her toe,
Down, down all over her,
Hey nonny, nonny no.

Final years

John Overall also served on the

. The Court of High Commission was the supreme ecclesiastical court in England. It was instituted by the Crown during the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

and finally dissolved by parliament in 1641. The Court was convened at will by the sovereign, and it had near unlimited power over civil as well as church matters. In the same way, Parliament could impeach bishops. In 1614, John Overall was appointed

, and was installed on 4 May. On 16 November 1616, Marco Antonio de Dominis, Archbishop of Spalato in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

, being in a feud with his Roman Catholic superiors, came to England. At the King’s command, he was entertained in the household of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishop Overall, who was highly favoured by the king, was sent to meet the Roman Catholic Archbishop. The result of this intervention by Bishop Overall was that Marco Antonio de Dominis was created Dean of Windsor. On 14 December 1617 the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Spalato — who had been consecrated at Venice using the Tridentine Pontifical in October 1600 — assisted Archbishop George Abbot at the consecration of Nicholas Felton, and George Montaigne, elected, respectively, Bishops of Ely and of

, with the

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester, Kent, Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Rochester Cathedral, Cathedral Chur ...

, Bishop Overall, and Archbishop Spalato laying on hands. The participation of Spalato was a form of giving additional weight to the consecrations. Two years later, Overall was translated to the See of Norwich as bishop. In the diary of senior Herald of the College of Arms, William Camden (1551–1623), the relevant entry stated: John Overall died in 1619. The event failed to generate much notice from the royal court. William Camden’s diary entry only stated: While the cause of death of Overall was not recorded, it is known he died in his cathedral. There is also no record of the burial site of Overall's wife, Anne.

Legacy

Overall is buried in the south choir aisle of Norwich Cathedral, and there is a monument to him in the presbytery of the cathedral in the second bay on the south side of the high altar. The memorial to Bishop Overall, with a coloured bust looking out from a niche above, bears the inscription "Vir undequaque doctissimus, et omni encomio major." The monument was placed there by his friend and former secretary, John Cosin, after his own elevation as bishop to the See of Durham. Cosin's later teaching of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

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 ...

used the language of John Overall: "Corpus Christi sumitur a nobis sacramentaliter, spiritualiter, et realiter, sed non corporaliter." Cosin remembered his mentor as his "dear Lord and Master." The monument in Norwich Cathedral ("with a little painted portrait and vulture-like dove of peace")was erected by Cosin many years after Overall's death. The portrait bust is copied directly from or comes from the same source as the portraits in the National Portrait Gallery that were done by Wenceslaus Hollar in 1657 from an unknown original. Several English cathedral libraries contain copies of various editions of Bishop John Overall's ''Convocation Book'' (1606 and 1610) and unpublished works by him are also housed in these collections, such as the undated Latin manuscript in the Cambridge library ''De statu questionum quinq' inter Remonstrantes et Contra-Remonstrantes Controversarum''.

Works

John Rainolds John Rainolds (or Reynolds) (1549 – 21 May 1607) was an English academic and churchman, of Puritan views. He is remembered for his role in the Authorized Version of the Bible, a project of which he was initiator. Life He was born about ...

pleaded at the Hampton Court Conference for an enlargement of the church catechism of 1549. This was carried out in the same year by the addition of the section dealing with the sacraments. This section was Overall's work; with a slight revision in 1662, it remained as he left it. Overall was elected prolocutor of the lower house in the

Convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a specia ...

of Canterbury on the elevation in March 1605 of Thomas Ravis to the see of Gloucester. In 1606 Convocation drew up canons and constitutions relating to civil government, with statements of the principles on which they were grounded. The suggestion of these canons proceeded from James I, who wanted moral support for his efforts in favour of the

Dutch republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

; and therefore asked of the clergy their "judgments how far a Christian and protestant king may concur to assist his neighbours to shake off their obedience to their own sovereign upon the account of oppression" (James's letter to Archbishop Abbot). In drawing up the canons, Convocation had in view the

and Catholic resistance theory. Thirty-six canons, forming the first book, were passed unanimously by both houses of convocation in both provinces. Two other books were passed unanimously by the lower house of the convocation of Canterbury, as is attested by Overall as prolocutor. King James then refused to sanction the first book, on the grounds of the doctrine laid down in canon xxviii. While absolutely denying to subjects the right of resistance, this canon nevertheless affirms that "new forms of government" originating in successful rebellion have divine authority. James thought this canon struck at his own title, as merely ''de facto'' and not ''de jure''; and, further, that it gave the stamp of divine authority to proceedings in themselves evil. The canons accordingly passed out of sight for more than eighty years. A copy of the three books in Overall's hand came, at his death, into the possession of his secretary, John Cosin, who bequeathed it to the Cosin Library at Durham. The original manuscript of the first book passed at the death of Richard Bancroft, into Lambeth Palace Library, where it was noted by Laud. William Sancroft, was aware of the existence of Overall's manuscript; and in 1690, a few days before his suspension (1 August 1690), Sancroft published Overall's manuscript, collated with the Lambeth manuscript, under the title ''Bishop Overall's Convocation Book, MDCVI, concerning the Government of God's Catholick Church and the Kingdoms of the whole World'', &c., 1690, with portraits of Overall and Sancroft, engraved by Robert White (reprinted in '' Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology'', Oxford, 1844, with portrait of Overall). Against the history of the canons, Sancroft relied on their statement of the doctrine of non-resistance as justifying the attitude of the nonjurors. Overall's ''Articles to be enquired of in the Diocese of Norwich in the Ordinarie Visitation'', &c., Cambridge and London, 1619, exemplify his attempts to impose conformity in his diocese. The following further works by Overall were published posthumously: * ''Articuli Lambethani ... annexa est ... Sententia ... de Prædestinatione'', &c., 1631; 1651; the ''Sententia ... de Prædestinatione'' was reprinted 1694; 1696; 1700; 1720; translated in ''A Defence of the Thirty-nine Articles'', 1700, originally by John Ellis. A manuscript from the time of the

Synod of Dort The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was a European transnational Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. ...

, and dealing with the issue of predestination, was attributed to John Davenant by Thomas Bedford (1650); which was denied by George Kendall on the authority of James Ussher. It was published, attributed to Overall, in the 1651 edition of this work (editor F.G.). * Another Latin manuscript by Overall, on the "five points" at dispute at the Synod of Dort, appeared in translation by John Plaifere (1651 in his ''Appello Evangelium'') and in 1850 (in William Goode, ''The Doctrine of the Church of England as to the effects of Baptism in the case of Infants''). It was cited in Joseph Hall's ''Via Media'' and Davenant's ''Animadversions upon a Treatise lately published by S. Hoard, and entitled "God's Love to mankind, manifested in disproving his absolute decree for their damnation"'' (1641).Milton, p. 64 note 52. * ''Quæstio utrum animæ Patrum ante Christum defunctorum fuerant in Cœlo'', &c., in the ''Apparatus ad Origines Ecclesiasticas'', &c., Oxford, 1635, by

Richard Montagu Richard Montagu (or Mountague) (1577 – 13 April 1641) was an English cleric and prelate. Early life Montagu was born during Christmastide 1577 at Dorney, Buckinghamshire, where his father Laurence Mountague was vicar, and was educated at E ...

; reprinted, with another treatise, as ''Prælectiones ... de Patrum, & Christi, Anima, et de Antichristo'', &c., in ''The Doctrines of a Middle State'', &c., 1721, by Archibald Campbell. Overall was a correspondent of Gerard Voss and Hugo Grotius; some of his letters are in ''Præstantium ... Virorum Epistolæ'', &c. According to Montagu, Voss derived from Overall materials for his ''Historiæ de Controversiis quas Pelagius ejusque reliquiæ moverunt libri septem'', &c., Leyden, 1618.

References

External links

Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Overall, John 1559 births 1619 deaths 16th-century English Anglican priests 17th-century Welsh Anglican bishops Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Anglo-Catholic biblical scholars Anglo-Catholic bishops Arminian ministers Arminian theologians Bishops of Lichfield Bishops of Norwich Burials at Norwich Cathedral Deans of St Paul's English Anglo-Catholics Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Masters of St Catharine's College, Cambridge People from Hadleigh, Suffolk Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Cambridge) Translators of the King James Version 16th-century Anglican theologians 17th-century Anglican theologians