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Nicholas Robinson (died 1585) was a Welsh
Bishop of Bangor The Bishop of Bangor is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. The see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol Bangor Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Ban ...
and correspondent of Lord William Cecil, Sir
Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her " spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wa ...
, and Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester.


Life

Born at
Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy o ...
in North Wales, he was the second son of John Robinson, by his wife Ellin, daughter of William Brickdale. He was educated at
Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, c ...
, where he matriculated in 1545 as a sizar, proceeded B.A. in 1548, and was a fellow from 1548 to 1563. In 1551 he commenced M.A., was bursar of his own college in 1551–3, and a proctor in the university for 1552, dean of his college 1577–8, and vice-president of his college in 1561. Plays written by him were acted at Queens' College in 1550, 1552, and 1553, the last being a comedy entitled ''Strylius''. In 1555 he subscribed the Roman Catholic articles. He was ordained at Bangor by William Glynn, first as acolyte and sub-dean on 12 March 1557, then deacon on the 13th, and priest on the 14th, under a special faculty from
Cardinal Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was bor ...
. On 20 December 1559
Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a ...
licensed him to preach throughout his province, and he was then, or about that time, appointed one of his chaplains. He proceeded at Cambridge B.D. in 1560 and D.D. in 1566. A sermon preached by him at St. Paul's Cross in December 1561 was commended by Edmund Grindal. After this preferment came quickly. He was appointed on 13 December 1561 to the rectory of
Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD an ...
in
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...
; on 16 June 1562 to the archdeaconry of Merioneth; and on 26 August of the same year to the sinecure rectory of Northop in
Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...
. He also became rector of
Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is ...
in Oxfordshire. By right of his archdeaconry he sat in the convocation of 1563, when he subscribed the
Thirty-nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
, and voted against the defeated proposal which was made for modification in rites and ceremonies. In 1564 he also subscribed the bishops' propositions concerning ecclesiastical dress, and wrote ''Tractatus de vestium usu in sacris.'' He was at Cambridge during Queen Elizabeth's visit in August 1564, and prepared an account of it in Latin; a similar account was written by him of the queen's visit to Oxford in 1566. He was one of the Lent preachers before the queen in 1565. Robinson was elected bishop of Bangor, in succession to Rowland Meyrick, after much deliberation on the part of the archbishop, under a licence attested at Cambridge on 30 July 1566. He also held in commendam the archdeaconry of Merioneth, and the rectories of Witney, Northop, and Shepperton. The archdeaconry he resigned in 1573 in favour of his kinsman, Humphrey Robinson, but he took instead the
archdeaconry of Anglesey The Archdeacon of Anglesey was the priest in charge of the archdeaconry of Anglesey, an administrative division of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. In 1844 the Archdeaconry of Anglesey was combined with the Archdeaconry of Bangor to form th ...
, which he held until his death. He resigned Shepperton about November 1574. For the next few years Robinson acted against the non-Protestant customs in his diocese. On 7 October 1567 he wrote to Sir William Cecil, noticing the use of images, altars, pilgrimages, and vigils. On 23 April 1571 he was acting as one of the commissioners for ecclesiastical causes at Lambeth, and in the convocation held that year he subscribed the English translation of the Thirty-nine Articles and the book of Canons. About 1581 he was still suspected of Catholic tendencies; on 28 May 1582 he wrote two letters, one to
Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her " spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wa ...
and the other to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, justifying himself. He died on 13 February 1585, and was buried on the 17th in
Bangor Cathedral Bangor Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Bangor) is a cathedral in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol. The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship since t ...
on the south side of the high altar. His effigy and arms were delineated in brass, but the figure had been removed at the time of Browne Willis's survey in 1720.


Works

Robinson made a collection on Welsh history, which was formerly preserved in the
Hengwrt Library Robert Powell Vaughan (1592? – 16 May 1667) was an eminent Welsh antiquary and collector of manuscripts. His collection, later known as the Hengwrt–Peniarth Library from the houses in which it was successively preserved, formed the nucleus of ...
. He sent to Archbishop Parker a copy of part of Eadmer's history. He translated into Latin a life of
Gruffydd ab Cynan Gruffudd or Gruffydd ( or , in either case) is a Welsh name, originating in Old Welsh as a given name and today used as both a given and surname. It is the origin of the Anglicised name '' Griffith[s]'', and was historically sometimes treate ...
from an old Welsh text at Gwydyr; the text and translation were edited by the Rev. Robert Williams for the ''Archaeologia Cambrensis'' for 1866. William Morgan, in the dedication of his Welsh version of the bible (published in 1588), acknowledges assistance from a bishop of Bangor, presumed to be Robinson.


Family

Robinson married Jane, daughter of Randal Brereton, by Mary, daughter of Sir William Griffith of Penrhyn, chamberlain of North Wales, and by her he had numerous sons, including Hugh, and William, his eldest, whose son was
John Robinson John Robinson may refer to: Academics *John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Irish astronomer and physicist * John J. Robinson (1918–1996), historian and author of ''Born in Blood'' *John Talbot Robinson (1923–2001), paleontologist *John ...
(1617–1681) the royalist.


Notes


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Nicholas Year of birth missing 1585 deaths 16th-century Welsh Anglican bishops 16th-century dramatists and playwrights Bishops of Bangor Archdeacons of Merioneth Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge Welsh dramatists and playwrights Welsh male dramatists and playwrights People from Conwy 16th-century Anglican theologians