Joshua Sprigg or Sprigge ( Banbury, 1618–1684) was an English Independent theologian and preacher. He acted as chaplain to Sir Thomas Fairfax, general for the Parliamentarians, and wrote or co-wrote the 1647 book ''Anglia Rediviva'', a history of the part played up to that time by Fairfax's army in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He studied at New Inn Hall, Oxford, and took an M. A. at the University of Edinburgh. He then became a parish priest in London, at the church of St. Pancras, Soper Lane. He later was a Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, imposed by Parliament after their victory. Some contemporary scholarship also attributes to him the authorship of the anonymous pamphlet ''Ancient Bounds'' from 1645,

Barbara Kiefer Barbara Josephine Lewalski (; February 22, 1931 – March 2, 2018)Roberts, Sam (March 29, 2018).. ''The New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewalski, Barbara Kiefer 1931 births 2018 deaths American academics o ...

, ''The Authorship of "Ancient Bounds"'', Church History, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Sep., 1953), pp. 192-196. a major work of the period on

freedom of conscience Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. Overview Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...

; this had previously been thought to be from the pen of Francis Rous. Sprigg is featured at the end of Rosemary Sutcliff's 1953

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

novel Simon, where he is portrayed helping the wounded of both sides of the Battle of Torrington, and plays a pivotal role in connecting the story with a resolution for who blew up the church.

Notes

External links

''Anglia Rediviva'', online text (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprigg, Joshua 1618 births 1684 deaths English theologians Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Alumni of New Inn Hall, Oxford Alumni of the University of Edinburgh English male non-fiction writers