Richard Bernard (1568–1641) was an English

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 ...

clergyman and writer.

Life

Bernard was born in Epworth and received his education at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, where he matriculated in 1592, obtained his BA in 1595, and an MA in 1598. His university education was paid for by Frances and Isabel Darcy who were supporters of radical protestants. He was married in 1601 and had six children. From 1612 to 1641 he lived in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and preached in Batcombe. Bernard was a

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 ...

, but a moderate one. Bernard advocated a joyful approach to life, instead of the more serious and pious disposition that was encouraged at the time. Bernard wrote: He flirted with nonconformity with 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 ...

when he was first preaching. He lost his job over his

dissent Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located south of Doncaster, south-east of Sheffield and north of Nottingham. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbys ...

on 15 March 1605. He formed his own congregation of about 100 in 1606 in a separatist church, but then returned to his parish post in Worksop in 1607. He still refused to make the sign of the cross during baptisms, however. This led to him being brought before church courts again in 1608 and 1611. When he was at Worksop he associated with well-known Puritans William Brewster (1567–1644), a passenger on the

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

, and John Robinson (1575–1625), who organised the

voyage. Bernard wrote an influential handbook for ministers entitled ', which was published in 1607 and 1621. His most popular book was ''The Isle of Man'' (1627) which went through 16 printings by 1683. He led his generation in his advocacy for the imprisoned, the poor, and the Jews, the latter argument was made in an essay titled "." within the book, '.Grosart, Alexander Balloch. "Bernard, Richard" ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. London: Oxford University Press. 1921. v.2, pp. 386-7. He frequently wrote against Separation, which put him in conflict with Robinson and the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

churches. His daughter Mary married

Roger Williams Roger Williams (March 1683) was an English-born New England minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Pl ...

, co-founder of the state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, in 1629. Roger and Mary Williams emigrated to the New World in 1631. His predecessor at Batcombe was Philip Bisse; he was succeeded as preacher there by the Puritan theologian Richard Alleine.

Published work

* ' 1602, 1607, 1612 * ', 1607 * ', 1608 (Also ''?'' – no copies exist) * ', 1609 * ', 1609 * ', 1610 * ', 1610 * ', 1612, 1629 * ', 1613 * ', 1616, 1628, 1650? (') * ', 1616 * ', 1616 * ', 1617 * ', 1619 * ', 1621 * ', 1621 * ', 1623, 1624 * ', 1626 *' 1627, 1628, 1629, 1630, 1640, 1632, 1634, 1635, 1648, 1658, 1659, 1668, 1674, 1677, 1683; 1719, 1778, 1997 * '' A Guide to Grand-Jury Men, '', 1627, 1629, 1630 * ''Ruth's Recompense'', 1628 * ', 1629 * ', 1630, 1631, 1632, 1635, 1640 * ''Christian See To Thy Conscience Or A Treatise Of The Nature, The Kinds And Manifold Differences Of Conscience'', 1631 * ''The Ready Way to Good Works'', 1635 * ', 1641 * ', 1641 * ', Richard Bernard; John Bernard, ondon : s.n. 1641, 1661 * ', 1641 * ', 1642 * ''An Epistle Directed To All Justices Of Peace In England And Wales'', 1642 * ', 1644 * ', 1661, 1664 *Collected works in Latin and English, 1598 (?), 1607, 1614, 1629 and 1641. *Bernard's first publication was a translation of the Latin poet

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...

, which had at least six editions.

Notes

References

''Richard Bernard Puritan''
Gary Brady.

Life

Published work

See also

Notes

References

Further reading