John Parkhurst
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John Parkhurst (c. 1512 – 2 February 1575) was an English Marian exile and from 1560 the
Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Norwich, Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. Th ...
.


Early life

Born about 1512, he was son of George Parkhurst of
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
, Surrey. He initially attended the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, before at an early age moving to Magdalen College School at
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
. Subsequently, he joined Merton College, where he was admitted to a fellowship in 1529 after graduating B.A. (24 July 1528). He was an adept in the composition of Latin
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...
s. He took holy orders in 1532, and proceeded M.A. 19 February 1533. While he was acting as tutor at Merton, John Jewel was his pupil and they remained friends through life.


Priestly career

When, in 1543,
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
and Queen Katherine Parr visited Oxford, Parkhurst wrote Latin verses in their honour and became chaplain to the Queen. He was already chaplain to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and to his wife
Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...
, and his friends included Miles Coverdale and John Aylmer. Soon afterwards he was appointed rector of Pimperne, Dorset, and in 1549 was presented by Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley to the living of Cleeve Episcopi, Gloucestershire. Jewel and other Oxford scholars often visited him there; when Jewel gave humanity lectures at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...
, Parkhurst went over to hear him, and declared in a Latin epigram that he was metamorphosed from a tutor into a pupil. On the accession of Queen Mary he left the country and settled at
Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, where he was received by Rudolf Gwalther, Heinrich Bullinger and other
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 ...
s. Returning on the accession of
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
, on 13 April 1560 he was elected
Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Norwich, Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. Th ...
, and was consecrated and installed in September following. He was created D.D. at Oxford in 1566.


Episcopal career

In the see of Norwich, at the time of Parkhurst's appointment, many of the livings were without incumbents. He did nothing to discourage 'prophesyings' in his diocese, and took measures against Catholics. Defrauded by a servant, Parkhurst moved from the bishop's palace, which he had repaired, to a small house at Ludham; and introduced a bill into parliament to prevent such abuses, which was accepted by the government. He died on 2 February 1575, aged 63, and was buried in the nave of his cathedral on the south side. Elegies by Rodolph Gualter and his son were published at Zürich in 1576, in a tract dedicated to Edwin Sandys,
Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...
. Parkhurst married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Garnish or Garneys of
Kenton, Suffolk Kenton is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located 1.9 miles to the north-east of Debenham, in 2005 its population was 170. The parish was formerly an exclave of the Loes Hundred one of the Hu ...
, but left no issue.


Works

Parkhurst published in the year before his death a collection of Latin epigrams''Ioannis Parkhursti Ludicra sive Epigrammata Juvenilia, Londini apud Johannem Dayum Typographum'', 1573. which he had composed in his youth, and which had been prepared for publication at Zurich in 1558; the majority are eulogies or epitaphs on friends. Verses by Thomas Wilson, Alexander Nowell, Bartholomew Traheron, Lawrence Humphrey, and others, are prefixed. A few are translated in Timothy Kendall's ''Flowres of Epigrammes'', 1577. He contributed to the collection of ''Epigrammata in mortem duorum fratrum Suffolcensium Caroli et Henrici Brandon'', London, 1552, and to John Sheepreeve's ''Summa ... Novi Testamenti disticis ducentis sexaginta comprehensa'', Strasburg, 1556. The translation of the ''
Apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...
'' in the '' Bishops' Bible'' of 1572 is also ascribed to him.
John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed and ...
dedicated to him, in a eulogistic address, his ''Reliques of Rome'' in 1563.


Notes


References


Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkurst, John 1511 births 1575 deaths Clergy from Guildford Bishops of Norwich Alumni of Merton College, Oxford 16th-century Church of England bishops People educated at Royal Grammar School, Guildford 16th-century Protestants English Protestants Burials at Norwich Cathedral People from Ludham 16th-century Anglican theologians