William Bishop (bishop)
|
The Right Reverend William Bishop |
|
|---|---|
| Vicar Apostolic of England | |
| Appointed | 15 March 1623 |
| Term ended | 13 April 1624 |
| Predecessor | new post |
| Successor | Richard Smith |
| Other posts | Titular Bishop of Chalcedon |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1581 |
| Consecration | 4 June 1623 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1553 Brailes, England |
| Died | 13 April 1624 (aged 70–71) |
| Nationality | English |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
William Bishop (c. 1553 – 13 April, 1624) was the first Roman Catholic bishop after the English Reformation. Officially, he was the titular bishop of Chalcedon, his territory included all of England, Wales and Scotland.
Roman Catholicism had been banned in England in 1559. William Bishop was appointed bishop over the whole of England, Wales and Scotland in 1623. As Roman Catholicism was officially illegal in England at the time, his title was bishop of Chalcedon. He arrived in England secretly on 31 July 1623 at age 70 and had to walk 12 miles to find refuge. He identified and selected 20 archdeacons to take charge over geographical districts. He is not the only recorded .
The son of John Bishop, who died in 1601 at the age of 92, he was born at Brailes in Warwickshire in or about 1554. He was sent to the University of Oxford aged 16 around 1570. After remaining there three or four years he settled his paternal estate, which was considerable, on his younger brother, and went over to the English College at Rheims, where he began his theological studies; he then spent time at Rome. He then returned to Rheims, was ordained priest at Laon in May 1583, and was sent on the English mission.
Arrested on his landing, he was taken before secretary Francis Walsingham and was imprisoned in the Marshalsea with other priests. Towards the close of the year 1584 he was released, and went to Paris, where he studied for several years, and was made a licentiate of divinity. He returned to England on the mission, 15 May 1591; after about two years he returned to Paris to complete the degree of D.D., and then came back to England.
Bishop was drawn into the Archpriest Controversy. When a dispute arose between George Blackwell, the archpriest, and a number of his clergy, who appealed against him for maladministration and exceeding his commission, Bishop and John Charnock were sent to Rome by their brethren to remonstrate against him. On their arrival they were both taken into custody by order of Cardinal Henry Cajetan, the protector of the English nation, who had been informed that they were turbulent persons and the head of a factious party. They were confined in the English College, Rome under the inspection of Robert Parsons, a Jesuit. After a time they regained their liberty and returned to England.
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Wikipedia