Nicholas Sheppard (or Shepherd) (died 1587) was an English churchman and academic, Master 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 ...

and

Archdeacon of Northampton The Archdeacon of Northampton is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Anglican Diocese of Peterborough, Diocese of Peterborough. As such she or he is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its six Rural Dean, rura ...

Life

He was a native of Westmoreland. He was admitted scholar of his college, 4 July 1549, and fellow 25 March 1553; being, however, ejected in the following year, he did not commence M.A. until 1558. In 1561 he was elected a minor fellow of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

; in 1562 he was elected a senior fellow, and successively filled the offices of senior bursar (1562-3) and vice-master (1564-8) on the same foundation. On 14 November 1561 he was appointed one of the university preachers. He proceeded B.D. in 1568, and was admitted Master of St John's 17 December 1569. He was admitted archdeacon of Northampton in 1571; but his tenure of the mastership was cut short, for reasons that remain partly obscure, and he left the position in 1574. Subsequent proceedings and articles preferred against him appear to point to non-residence as the only charge that was actually substantiated; there was a later college tradition that he had tried to enrich himself by college business; and there may also have been religious tensions, since according to

John Strype John Strype (1 November 1643 – 11 December 1737) was an English clergyman, historian and biographer from London. He became a merchant when settling in Petticoat Lane Market, Petticoat Lane. In his twenties, he became perpetual curate of Theydo ...

he was brought into the mastership by the party which supported

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 ...

, and Thomas Baker points to the discontinuation of the Genevan psalters during his tenure. But Strype adduces evidence suggesting at a later time his views were more Calvinist or puritan.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Nicholas Year of birth missing 1587 deaths Masters of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Archdeacons of Northampton 16th-century English scholars 16th-century English educators