Richard Broughton

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Richard Broughton, alias Rouse, (ca. 1558, Great Stukeley, Huntingdonshire—January 18, 1634) was a Catholic priest and antiquarian. Broughton claimed descent form the Broughtons of Lancashire. He was ordained at Reims, May 4, 1593, and soon after returned to England. John Pitts, a contemporary, says that he "gathered a most abundant harvest of souls into the granary of Christ" and eulogizes his attainments in being "no less familiar with literature than learned in Greek and Hebrew". Broughton became an assistant to the archpriest, a canon of the chapter, and vicar-general to Richard Smith, Bishop of Chalcedon. He also claims recognition for his influence on the study of antiquity; having earned, partly by his work and partly through controversy, the right to honourable mention with Henry Spelman, Edward Reyner, William Dugdale, and other well-known antiquarians.

Broughton's chief works are:

  • An Apologicall Epistle, serving as preface to a Resolution of Religion, signed R. B. (Antwerp, 1601)
  • The first part of the Resolution of Religion By R. B. (Antwerp, 1603), often mistaken for Robert Persons' Resolution
  • A New Manuall of old Christian Catholick Meditations (1617), dedicated to Anne of Denmark
  • The Judgment of the Apostles (Douai, 1632), dedicated to Queen Henrietta Maria and directed against Rogers on the Thirty-nine Articles
  • Ecclesiasticall Historie of Great Britaine (Douai, 1633), dedicated to the Duchess of Buckingham and the Countess of Rutland
  • A True Memorial (London, 1650), published by G. S. P(riest) after Broughton's death. The 1654 edition is entitled Monasticon Britannicum

Broughton also wrote on the antiquity of the world, Sterlingorum (Hearne, II, 318, 381); on the alleged conversion (1621) of John King, Bishop of London; and A Relation of the Martyrdom of Nicholas Garlick.

He died according to Anthony à Wood, 15 Kal. Feb. 1634 (i.e. 18 January 1634).

[edit] Bibliography

  • Wood, Anthony à, Fasti, ed. Bliss (London, 1815), I, 428
  • Dodd, Charles, Church History, ed. Tierney (Brussels, 1742), III, 87
  • Pitts, John, De Rebus Anglicis, 815
  • Foley, Henry, The Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus (London, 1880), VI, 181
  • Hurter, Hugo von, Nomenclator litterarius theolgiae catholicae (Innsbruck, 1871), I, 657
  • Gillow, Joseph, Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics (London, 1885), I, 318
  • Groves in Dictionary of National Biography, VI, 462.

This article incorporates text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article "Richard Broughton" by Patrick Ryan, a publication now in the public domain.