Richard Turner (died 1565?) was an English Protestant reformer and Marian exile during the reign of Mary I.

Life

Born in Staffordshire, he was educated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, of which he became a Fellow. He graduated B.A. on 19 July 1524, M.A. on 12 July 1529, and B.D. on 27 January 1536, and supplicated for D.D. in 1552. On 25 January 1536 he was elected to a perpetual chantry in the king's college at Windsor. He was appointed by Ralph Morice,

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a theologian, leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a Oxford Martyrs, martyr ...

's secretary, to be rector of Chartham, Kent, where he neglected Catholic rites.Alec Ryrie, 'Turner, Richard (d. in or before 1565)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, January 200

retrieved 13 February 2010. He was a staunch supporter of royal supremacy, and was able to avoid the dangers besetting an ecclesiastic under Henry VIII. In 1543 a bill of accusation was presented against him and others of Cranmer's chaplains and preachers at the sessions for not complying with the statute of the Six Articles (1539), Six Articles; this attack was aimed at Cranmer himself, who however possessed the favour of the king, and the indictments in consequence came to nothing. Turner was at that time living in the family of Ralph Morice. On 1 July 1545 Turner was instituted to the vicarage of St. Stephen's-by-Saltash in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

; he has been doubtfully identified with the Richard Turner who was appointed rector of Chipping Ongar in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in 1544, and vicar of

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

in 1545. In July 1549, during popular unrest in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

against the reformers, Turner went to the rioters' camp and preached against them, narrowly escaping being hanged. Turner suggested to John Marbeck, organist at Windsor, the compilation of his concordance of the English Bible which appeared in July 1550. He had been appointed one of the Six Preachers in

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

in 1550.Derek Ingram Hill, ''The Six Preachers of Canterbury Cathedral'', Canterbury: K. H. McIntosh (1982) 19–20. On 24 December 1551 he was appointed to a prebend at Windsor, and he also about this time obtained the vicarage of

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

in Kent. In the following year he was recommended by Cranmer for the archbishopric of Armagh, but declined, chiefly on the grounds of his ignorance of the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

. On the accession of Mary I of England he went into exile. In 1555, while at

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, he joined with other English refugees in publicly repudiating

John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...

's principles on civil government. They took exception to several passages in Knox's ''Faythfull Admonition unto the professours of Gods Truthe in England'', assailing Queen Mary,

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

, and the Emperor Charles V. They drew the attention of the town authorities to Knox's views, and he was in consequence expelled. In

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

he delivered lectures on the epistles to the Hebrews and to the Ephesians, and on the general epistle of St. James, which were 'fit for the press,' according to Anthony Wood, in 1558, but were not published. Turner returned to England on the accession of Elizabeth I, and in 1559 was restored to the vicarage of Dartford. In the following year he was selected by Matthew Parker as a visitor to reform abuses in the two Kentish dioceses. He probably died in 1565, when he was succeeded as vicar by John Appelbie.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Richard Year of birth missing 1565 deaths Clergy from Staffordshire 16th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford English Protestants 16th-century Protestants English chaplains Marian exiles