Richard Sheldon (died 1642?) was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

clergyman, a convert from

Catholicism 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 ...

, known as a polemical writer.

Life

From a Catholic family, and destined for the priesthood, he was sent during the pontificate of

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...

to the English College, Rome. He returned to England, via Spain, and about 1610 he was imprisoned as a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. He then professed himself a

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 ...

, and was released. He was immediately employed by King James, together with

William Warmington William Warmington (c. 1556 – 1627 or later) was an English Roman Catholic priest, who sided with James I of England in the allegiance oath controversy. Life Born in Dorset about 1556, he matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford, on 20 December 1577. T ...

, another convert, to write a book against

Conrad Vorstius Conrad Vorstius (; ; 19 July 1569 – 29 September 1622) was a German-Dutch controversial Remonstrant theologian, successor to Jacobus Arminius in the theology chair at Leiden University, and—as a theologian—second to Johannes Uytenbogaert in ...

. Subsequently he published several works against Catholicism on his own account. For a time Sheldon enjoyed the royal favour. He was appointed a royal chaplain, and received the honorary degree of D.D. from Cambridge University. The negotiations for the

Spanish match The Spanish match was a proposed marriage between Prince Charles I of England, Charles, the son of King James VI & I of Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of England, England, and Infante, Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, the daughter of Philip III of ...

, however, inclined James to tolerance, and Sheldon's views on his old faith became distasteful. In 1622 he preached a sermon against those bearing the

mark of the beast The number of the beast (, ) is associated with the Beast of Revelation in chapter 13, verse 18 of the Book of Revelation. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the beast is six hundr ...

, for which he received a severe reprimand. He never regained his former position, though he endeavoured to propitiate

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

by writing in defence of the royal prerogative. He died soon after 1641.

Works

He published in 1611 ''The Lawfulness of the Oath of Allegiance'', a moderate Catholic work on the

oath of allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...

. Besides sermons, he also published: * 'Motives of R. S. for his Renunciation of Communion with the Bishop of Rome,' London, 1612. *'A Survey of the Miracles of the Church of Rome,' London, 1616. *'Man's Last End, or the Glorious Vision and Fruition of God,' London, 1634.

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Richard Year of birth missing 1641 deaths 17th-century English Jesuits 17th-century English Anglican priests Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers English Roman Catholic writers Former Jesuits