William Roper (biographer)
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The Right Honourable William Roper |
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| High Sheriff of Kent | |
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In office 1554–1555 |
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| Monarch | Mary I |
| Preceded by | Robert Southwell |
| Succeeded by | Sir Thomas Kempe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1496 |
| Died | 4 January 1578 |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret More (m. 1521) |
| Children | Elizabeth Margaret Thomas Mary Anthony |
| Alma mater | Lincoln's Inn |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
William Roper (c. 1496 – 4 January 1578) was an English lawyer and member of Parliament. The son of a Kentish gentleman, he married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas More. He wrote a highly regarded biography of his father-in-law.
William Roper the second was the eldest son of John Roper (d. 1524), Attorney-General to Henry VIII, and his wife Jane (died c.1544), daughter and coheir of Sir John Fyneux, Chief Justice of King's Bench. The Ropers were an ancient Kentish family, owners of the manor of St Dunstan outside the West Gate of Canterbury, since known as the Roper Gate. He was educated at one of the English universities and the studied law at Lincoln's Inn, being called to the bar in 1525. He was appointed Clerk of the Pleas in the Court of King's Bench, a post previously held by his father, holding the post until shortly before his death. Aged about twenty-three it is thought he joined the household of Sir Thomas More, marrying Margaret, More's eldest daughter, in 1521.
Erasmus, who knew More and his family well, described Roper as a young man "who is wealthy, of excellent and modest character and not unacquainted with literature". Roper became a convert to the Lutheran doctrine of Justification by Faith and spoke so freely of his belief that he was summoned to appear before Cardinal Wolsey on an accusation of heresy. More often disputed with Roper over his belief. He said to his daughter,
Meg, I have borne a long time with thy husband; I have reasoned and argued with him in these points of religion, and still given to him my poor fatherly counsel, but I perceive none of all this able to call him home; and therefore, Meg, I will no longer dispute with him, but will clean give him over and get me to God and pray for him.
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