Sylvester Norris ('' alias'' Smith and Newton) (1570 or 1572 – 16 March 1630) was an English

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

controversial writer and missionary

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Life

Norris was born 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 ...

. After receiving

minor orders In Christianity, minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders—priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders— acolyt ...

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 1590, Norris went to the

Venerable English College The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English Colleg ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he completed his studies and was ordained priest. In May, 1596, he was sent on the English mission, and was one of the appellant clergy in 1600. In the prosecutions following upon the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...

, Norris was committed to the

Bridewell Bridewell Palace in London was built as a residence of King Henry VIII and was one of his homes early in his reign for eight years. Given to the City of London Corporation by his son King Edward VI in 1553 as Bridewell Hospital for use as a ...

. From his prison he addressed a letter to the

Earl of Salisbury Earl of Salisbury is a title that has been created several times in English and British history. It has a complex history and is now a subsidiary title to the marquessate of Salisbury. Background The title was first created for Patrick de Sa ...

, dated 1 December 1605, in which he protests his innocence, and in proof of his loyalty promises to repair to Rome, and labor so that the pope shall bind all the Catholics of England to be just, true, and loyal subjects, and that hostages shall be sent "for the afferminge of those things". As a result, in 1606 he was freed and

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

d, along with forty-six other priests, went to Rome, and entered the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. He was for some time employed in the

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 ...

colleges on the Continent, but in 1611 returned to the English mission, and in 1621 was made superior of the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

district, where he died.

Publications

*''An Antidote, or Treatise of Thirty Controversies; With a large Discourse of the Church'' (1622); *''An Appendix to the Antidote'' (1621); *''The Pseudo-Scripturist'' (1623); *''A true report of the Private Colloquy between M. Smith, alias Norrice, and M. Walker'' (1624); *''The Christian Vow''; *''Discourse proving that a man who believeth in the Trinity, the Incarnation, etc., and yet believeth not all other inferior Articles, cannot be saved'' (1625).

References

;Attribution * **

Sommervogel Carlos Sommervogel (8 January 1834 – 4 March 1902) was a French Jesuit scholar. He was author of the monumental ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', which served as one of the major references for the editors of the Catholic Encyclo ...

, , V (1808–09) ** Henry Foley, ''Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus'', VI, 184; III, 301; ** George Oliver, ''Collections towards Illustrating the Biography of S.J.'', s. v., **

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.'', V, s. v. {{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Sylvester 1570s births 1630 deaths English religious writers People from Somerset 16th-century English writers 16th-century English male writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 16th-century English Jesuits 17th-century English Jesuits