Renniger, Michael

, or, as Wood says, commonly called Rhanger, a learned divine and Latin poet, was born | in Hampshire, in 1529, and educated at Magdalen college, Oxford. Here he took his bachelor’s degree, in March 1545; was chosen fellow in 1547, and afterwards completed his master’s degree. In king Edward’s reign, he was much esteemed as a pious preacher, and learned man; but as he had embraced the reformed religion, he was obliged to leave the kingdom on the accession of queen Mary, and lived mostly with some other English exiles at Strasburgh. When queen Elizabeth came to the throne, he was made one of her chaplains, and proved a zealous champion for the reformation. Wood says he refused several preferments, accepting only a prebend in the church of Winchester, and about the same time the rectory of Crawley near that city*. In 1567 he was installed precentor and prebendary of Empingham in the church of Lincoln. In 1573, he took his degrees in divinity, and in 1575 was made archdeacon of Winchester. In 1583, he had the prebend of Reculverland, in the church of St. Paul, London, bestowed on him. He died Aug. 26, 1609, aged eighty-nine, and was buried in the church of Crawley, under the communion table.

His works are, 1. “Carolina in mortem duonim fratrum Suffolciensium, Henrici et Caroli Brandon,” Lond. 1552, 4to. A specimen from this rare volume is given in Mr. Bliss’s edition of the “Athense,” from a copy in the Bodleian. 2. “De Pii V. et Gregorii XIII. furoribus contra Elizabetham Reginam Angliae,” ibid. 1582, 8vo. 3. “An Exhortation to true love, loyalty, and fidelity to her majesty,” ibid. 1587, 8vo, to which is added a treatise against Treasons; and 4. “Syntagma hortationum ad Jacobuui Regem Anglise,” ibid. 1604, 8vo. He also translated from Latin into English, bishop Poynet’s “Apology or Defence of Priests’ marriages.” Bale, who gives Dr. Renniger a high character, attributes other works to him, but without specifying whether in ms. or print; and there are, if we mistake not, some of his Mss. in Bene’t college library. ¹