Thomas Vavasour (born about 1536–7 – died at

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

, 2 May 1585) was an English Roman Catholic physician, and pensioner of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

Life

On 25 June 1549, at the disputations held before the king's commissioners at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Vavasour was one of the disputants in favour of

Transubstantiation Transubstantiation (; Greek language, Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of sacramental bread, bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and ...

and the Sacrifice of the Mass. He subsequently went to Venice, where he took the degree of

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

, and on 20 November 1556, he received a licence from the

College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of p ...

to practise for two years. His house was "by the common school house" in the city of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

; there Mass was said in 1570. In 1572 he was accused of having entertained

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 ...

. In Nov. 1574, after he had been confined to his own house in the city of York for nearly nine months, he was sent into solitary confinement in

Hull Castle Hull Castle was an artillery fort in Kingston upon Hull in England. Together with two supporting blockhouses, it defended the eastern side of the River Hull, and was constructed by King Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII to protect against attac ...

Edmund Grindal Edmund Grindal ( 15196 July 1583) was Bishop of London, Archbishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth I. Though born far from the centres of political and religious power, he had risen rapidly in the church durin ...

describes him as "sophistical, disdainful, and illuding arguments with irrision, when he was not able to solute the same by learning", and adds that "his great anchor-hold was in urging the literal sense of ''hoc est corpus meum'', thereby to prove transubstantiation". By June 1579, he was back again in his house, where Mass was again said. Later on, he was in the

Gatehouse, Westminster Gatehouse Prison was a prison in Westminster, built in 1370 as the gatehouse of Westminster Abbey. It was first used as a prison by the Abbot, a powerful churchman who held considerable power over the precincts and sanctuary. It was one of the pr ...

, from which he was released on submitting to acknowledge the

royal supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the En ...

in religious matters; but he was again imprisoned as a

recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

in Hull Castle, York where he died. His wife, Dorothy, died in the New Counter, Ousebridge, York, 26 October 1587.

References

* * The entry cites: * Strype, Cranmer, I (Oxford, 1840), 290; *____, Parker, II (Oxford, 1821), 167; *____, Grindal (Oxford, 1821), 273, 535; *Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (London, 1905), II, 219; V, 193; * Henry Foley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, III (London, 1877), 245–9, 809; *DASENT, Acts of the Privy Council, XII (London, 1890–1907), 108; *Calendar S. P. Dom. 1581-90 (London, 1865), 145; *Calendar S. P. Dom. Add. 1566-79 (London, 1871), 224, 369; *MUNK, Royal College of Physicians, I (London, 1878), 56. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vavasour, Thomas 1530s births 1585 deaths 16th-century English medical doctors 16th-century Roman Catholics Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English Roman Catholics

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...