, vicar apostolical in England, and the first popish bishop that was
, vicar apostolical in England, and
the first popish bishop that was sent thither after the reformation, was born in 1553, at Brayles in Warwickshire.
He studied in the university of Oxford; Wood thinks,
either in Gloucester-hall (now Worcester college), or in
Lincoln college, the heads of both which were secret favourers of popery from Oxford he went to Rheims and
Rome, and having been sent back to England, as a missionary, he was arrested at Dover, and confined in prison
in London until the end of the year 1584. Being then released, he went to Paris, took his degree of licentiate, and
came again to England in 1591. In two years he returned
to Paris, completed his degree of doctor, and soon after
his arrival in England, a dispute arising among the popish
clergy here, he was sent to Rome with another missionary
to appeal to the pope. In 1612 we find him again in England, and in confinement, on account of the oath of allegiance, to which, however, he was not so averse as many
of his brethren. He had, in fact, written against the bull
of pope Pius V. to prove that the catholics were bound to
be faithful to their sovereigns, and in 1602 he had signed
a declaration of the same principle, without any equivocacation or mental reservation, which gave great offence to
the Jesuits. Out of respect, however, to the authority of
the pope, who had proscribed that oath, he refused to take
it, and was committed to prison. On his release he went
to Paris, and wrote some tracts against those eminent protestant divines, Perkins and Abbot. Since the death of
Watson, bishop of Lincoln, the last of the popish bishops
who outlived the reformation, it had often been intended
to re-establish the episcopal government in England; and
the marriage of the prince Charles, afterwards Charles I.
with the Infanta of Spain, seemed to offer a fair opportunity for carrying this scheme into execution, the hopes of
the catholics being considerably raised by that match. Accordingly, Dr. Bishop was consecrated at Paris, in 1623,
by the title of bishop of Chalcedon, and being sent to England, began his career by forming a chapter, appointing
grand vicars, archdeacons, and rural deans, &c. but did
not enjoy his promotion long, as he died April 16, 1624.
His party speak liberally of his zeal, virtues, and learning,
and he undoubtedly was the more useful to their cause in
England, as he contrived to exercise his functions without giving much offence to government. Dodd and Wood
have given a list of his controversial writings, which are
now in little request, but it must not be forgot that he was
the publisher of Pits’ s very useful work, “De illustribus
Anglic Scriptoribus,
”