John Sprint (died 1623) was an English clergyman and theologian, as well as a writer in favor of conformity, despite earlier Puritan views that had led him into conflict with the authorities.
His grandfather John Sprint was an apothecary in Gloucestershire; his father, also John Sprint (d. 1590), was appointed dean of Bristol in 1571, archdeacon of Wiltshire 1578, and treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral in 1584.
John Sprint the younger was born in or near Bristol, and was elected a student of Christ Church, Oxford in 1592. He graduated B.A. on 6 March 1596, and earned his M.A. on 21 May 1599. [1] Having been ordained, he attached himself to the puritan party, and took occasion, when preaching at the university church, to inveigh strongly against the ceremonies and discipline of the English church. On being called to account by John Howson, the vice-chancellor, he defied his authority, and was sent to prison. The matter was referred to the queen and council; a commission was appointed, and Sprint was compelled to read his submission in convocation.
In 1610 Sprint was appointed vicar of Thornbury in Gloucestershire, where he continued for some time to hold views adverse to those of the established church; but he was induced to conform by the persuasion of Samuel Burton, archdeacon of Gloucester. Sprint died in 1623, and was buried in St. Anne's, Blackfriars, leaving two sons, John (d. 1692) and Samuel. Both took holy orders, and were among the ejected ministers of 1662, John being ejected from the living of Hampstead, Middlesex, and Samuel from that of South Tidworth, Hampshire.
He published Cassander Anglicanus: shewing the necessity of conformity to the prescribed Ceremonies of our Church in Case of Deprivation (London, 1618), which had considerable effect on beneficed clergy of puritan tendencies. It provoked an anonymous reply entitled A brief and plain Answer to Master Sprints discourse, to which Sprint made a rejoinder entitled A Reply to the answer of my first Reason. Both are printed with the 1618 edition of Cassander Anglicanus. In his defense of conformity Sprint argues that the rites are non-essential, and that no minister of the gospel is justified in abandoning his ministry because they are enjoined upon him. James Ussher argued in this way to Robert Blair; Blair countered with points made by James Sempill in his reply Cassander Scotiana to Cassander Anglicanus. [2]
He was the author of:
To Sprint is also ascribed A true, modest, and just Defence of the Petition for Reformation exhibited to the King's Majestie. Containing an Answere to the Confutation published under the Names of some of the Universitie of Oxford, 1618. Some early verses of his are prefixed to Thomas Storer's Life and Death of Wolsey, 1599.
Henry Ainsworth (1571–1622) was an English Nonconformist clergyman and scholar. He led the Ancient Church, a Brownist or English Separatist congregation in Amsterdam alongside Francis Johnson from 1597, and after their split led his own congregation. His translations of and commentaries on the Hebrew scriptures were influential for centuries.
James Ussher was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his identification of the genuine letters of the church father, Ignatius of Antioch, and for his chronology that sought to establish the time and date of the creation as "the entrance of the night preceding the 23rd day of October... the year before Christ 4004"; that is, around 6 pm on 22 October 4004 BC, per the proleptic Julian calendar.
Samuel Harsnett, born Samuel Halsnoth, was an English writer on religion and Archbishop of York from 1629.
John Bramhall was an Archbishop of Armagh, and an Anglican theologian and apologist. He was a noted controversialist who doggedly defended the English Church from both Puritan and Roman Catholic accusations, as well as the materialism of Thomas Hobbes.
Samuel Ward (1572–1643) was an English academic and a master at the University of Cambridge. He served as one of the delegates from the Church of England to the Synod of Dort.
John Overall (1559–1619) was the 38th bishop of the see of Norwich from 1618 until his death one year later. He had previously served as Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, as Dean of St Paul's Cathedral from 1601, as Master of Catharine Hall from 1598, and as Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University from 1596. He also served on the Court of High Commission and as a Translator of the King James Version of the Bible.
Edmund Calamy was an English Nonconformist churchman and historian.
John Thornborough (1551–1641) was an English bishop.
William Piers was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University from 1621 to 1624, Bishop of Peterborough from 1630 to 1632 and Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1632 to his death in 1670.
Anthony Wotton was an English clergyman and controversialist, of Puritan views. He was the first Gresham Professor of Divinity. Christopher Hill describes him as a Modernist and Ramist.
John Downame (Downham) (1571–1652) was an English Puritan clergyman and theologian in London, who came to prominence in the 1640s, when he worked closely with the Westminster Assembly. He is now remembered for his writings.
Samuel Ward (1577–1640) was an English Puritan minister of Ipswich.
John Collinges (1623–1690) was an English Presbyterian theologian, and prolific writer. He lived and worked in Norwich for more than forty years where he played a major role in reviving and administering the City Library. He was one of the representatives of the Presbyterians in the Savoy Conference, but was later forced to resign his livings.
Francis Mason (c.1566–1621) was an English churchman, archdeacon of Norfolk and author of Of the Consecration of the Bishops in the Church of England (1613), a defence of the Church of England and the first serious rebuttal of the Nag's Head Fable put about as denigration of Matthew Parker and Anglican orders.
John Darrell was an Anglican clergyman noted for his Puritan views and his practice as an exorcist.
Richard Cheyney was an English churchman, bishop of Gloucester from 1562. Opposed to Calvinism, he was an isolated and embattled bishop of the reign of Elizabeth, though able to keep his see.
Sir Humphrey Lynde (1579–1636) was an English lay Puritan controversialist and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1626.
The reign of King James I of England (1603-25) saw the continued rise of the Puritan movement in England, that began during reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603), and the continued clash with the authorities of the Church of England. This eventually led to the further alienation of Anglicans and Puritans from one another in the 17th century during the reign of King Charles I (1625-49), that eventually brought about the English Civil War (1642-51), the brief rule of the Puritan Lord Protector of England Oliver Cromwell (1653-58), the English Commonwealth (1649-60), and as a result the political, religious, and civil liberty that is celebrated today in all English speaking countries.
John Bryan, D.D., was an English clergyman, an ejected minister of 1662.
Sir Richard Berkeley of Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire was MP for Gloucestershire in 1604. He had previously served as Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1564, and as Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1568. In 1595 he was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London. In 1599 he was appointed custodian of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who was kept under house arrest at Essex House in London. He died in 1604, whilst serving as MP, and was buried in The Gaunts Chapel, Bristol, where exists an effigy of him, which chapel had been founded in 1220 by Maurice de Gaunt, a member of the Berkeley family.