Richard Bristow (1538 at

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

– 1581 at

Harrow on the Hill Harrow on the Hill or Harrow-on-the-Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) ...

in London, UK) was an English Catholic controversialist and Biblical scholar.

Life

Richard Bristow was born in 1538 in

Worcester, England Worcester ( ) is a cathedral city in Worcestershire, England, of which it is the county town. It is south-west of Birmingham, north of Gloucester and north-east of Hereford. The population was 103,872 in the 2021 census. The River Severn f ...

. At the age of 17, he studied at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, possibly at Exeter College. In 1559, he gained his bachelor's degree. He continued his studies at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and gained his MA in 1562. In 1566, he and

Edmund Campion Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...

were chosen to hold a public disputation before Queen

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. After studying theology, Sir

William Petre Sir William Petre (c. 1505 – 1572) (pronounced ''Peter'') was Secretary of State to three successive Tudor monarchs, namely Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Mary I. He also deputised for the Secretary of State to Elizabeth I. Educated ...

recommended him for a Fellowship at Exeter College; he became a Fellow in 1567. At this time the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

had taken hold in England and the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Queen Elizabeth I had reigned for almost ten years. England had previously been a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

country, but many people were changing their religious ideas; Bristow was one of these people. While he stayed loyal to his Catholic faith, he saw the need for changes in the religion. Two years after his appointment to the fellowship, he left Oxford for

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, where he met William Allen. Allen appointed him as the first Prefect of Studies at the new

English College, Douai The English College ( French: ''College des Grands Anglais'') was a Catholic seminary in Douai, France (also previously spelled Douay, and in English Doway), associated with the University of Douai. It was established in 1568, and was suppresse ...

. He was Allen's "right hand upon all occasions", acting as rector when he was absent. The college moved to

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

in 1578. Bristow is well known as an earnest student, a powerful controversial writer and, with Allen, William Reynolds and

Thomas Worthington Thomas or Tom Worthington may refer to: *Thomas Worthington (Douai) (1549–1627), English Catholic priest and third President of Douai College *Thomas Worthington (Dominican) (1671–1754), English Dominican friar and writer *Thomas Worthington (g ...

, as one of the revisers of the Douay-Rheims Bible for Catholic readers. His health began to fail and he was obliged to relinquish his work in 1581. In May of that year, he went to

Spa, Belgium Spa (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for spa, mineral baths with supposed curative properties. It is ...

but his health did not improve and he was advised to return to England. He arrived in London in September with Jerome Bellamy, and stayed until his death. Richard Bristow died at the early age of 43 on 18 October 1581. The Douay-Rheims edition of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

was published the year after his death. The full Douay-Rheims Bible was published in 1610.

Writings

*''A Briefe Treatise of diuerse and sure wayes to finde out the truthe in this doubtful and dangerous time of Heresie: conteyning sundry worthy Motives to the Catholic faith, or considerations to moue a man to beleue the Catholikes and not the Heretikes'' (Third edition entitled ''Motives inducing to the Catholike Faith''.) *''Tabula in Summam Theologicam S. Thomae Aquinatis'' *''A Reply to Will. Fulke'' *''Demandes to be proponed of Catholikes to the Heretikes'' *''A Defence of the Bull of Pope Pius V'' *''Annotations on the Rheims translation of the New Testament'' *''Carmina Diversa'' *''Motiva Omnibus Catholicae Doctrinae Orthodoxis Cultoribus pernecessaria'' :(The last two being left in manuscript.)

External References

, ''Compendium Vitae Auctoris'' (prefixed to Motiva) *''Records of the English Catholics, I, II'' *

Charles Dodd Hugh Tootell (1671/72 – 27 February 1743) was an English Catholic historian. He is commonly known under his pseudonym Charles Dodd. Life Tootell was born in Lancashire. He was tutored by his uncle, Christopher Tootle, before studying wi ...

, ''Church History of England'', ed. Tierney (London, 1843) *

Joseph Gillow Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850, Preston, Lancashire – 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale, Cheshire) was an English Roman Catholic antiquary, historian and bio-bibliographer, "the Plutarch of the English Catholics". Biography Born in Frenchwood Ho ...

, Bibl. Dict. Eng. Cath. * Anthony Wood, ''Athenae Oxonienses'' * John Pitts, ''De Angliae Scriptoribus''

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bristow, Richard 1538 births 1581 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Writers from Worcester, England English religious writers English biblical scholars English Roman Catholics 16th-century English writers 16th-century English male writers 16th-century Roman Catholics Roman Catholic biblical scholars Translators of the Bible into English