Robert Ferrar
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Robert Ferrar (born in King Henry VII's reign - 30 March 1555) was a Bishop of St David's in Wales and Protestant Martyr.
He was prior of the monastery of St. Oswald's, embraced the Reformation, and was made Bishop of St. David's by Edward VI. He suffered martyrdom under Queen Mary of England.
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[edit] Images For Reference
[http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/images/nrpAH/AHCARMARTH0088.jpg ]-a picture of the mark memorializing Ferrar's martyrdom
[http://www.corkfpc.com/ferrar.jpg ]-a picture of Ferrar himself
[edit] Early Life
There is no specific information expositing the exact date and place of Robert Ferrar’s birth. Robert Ferrar did state to Bishop Gardiner he was born in the reign of King Henry VII. It’s assumed he was born in Yorkshire because of his later connections with that county. Yorkshire is where he first joined the Augustinian priory (Brown 8). He was found first living at St. Oswalds at Nostell in Yorkshire in the 1520’s. On May 24, 1524, Ferrar was ordained successively as acolyte and subdeacon. On September 24, 4 months later he was ordained as deacon. After being ordained as a deacon all students participated in a profession which is a promise to lead a life of poverty, chastity and obedience. Ferrar argued that to live chaste did entail a life of celibacy (Brown 9). From among all the canons of Nostell he alone was chosen to receive the benefit of a university education sponsered by Nostell Priory. From c.1525 – 1534 Ferrar was a student at the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford where he received a Bachelor in Theology(Brown 10).
[edit] Influences
In 1526 while Ferrar was in Cambridge a number of students took an interest in the teachings of the German Reformer, Martin Luther, and were later to become prominent as reformers and martyrs of the English church. These included Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimor, Thomas Bilney and Robert Barnes. It’s likely Ferrar was acquainted with their views. They were bold enough to preach new doctrines publicly. The students were accused of heresy and forced to conform with the traditional teaching’ (Brown 11). Also in ‘1528 the prior of St. Mary’s college at Oxford was John Ramsey. Among his books was a copy of Erasmus’ Enchiridion Militus Christiani or “Handbook of the Christian Soldier” This illustrates the esteem for Erasmus and how new ways of thinking influenced members of the college’ (Brown 13). The reformation had spread through Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland fueled by the writings of Luther, Melanchton, Zwingli and Erasmus. Their books were exported to England which students eagerly purchased among them the William Tyndale Bible. Along with continental influences there had been outbreaks of the homegrown variety of reformist activity known as Lollardy.
[edit] First Arrest
One of the main influences on Ferrar’s intellectual life was the relevance of the possibility of Ferrar’s contact with a group of scholars from New Cardinal College. These scholars drunk deeply of the new wine of the reformed teachings which they spread among the Oxford students. Because Lutheranism was suspected within the college a purge and search was ordered where illegal reformist books were found. Ferrar was on John Foxe's list as possessing forbidden books which led to his first arrest’ (Brown 17). Ferrar formally applied for his degree in Theology in May 1533 which was granted’ (Brown 24). After receiving his license, Ferrar preached in the towns and villages there were within the priory of St.Oswalds of Nostell, Yorkshire where he was based. In June 1538 Thomas Cromwell appoints Ferrar as Prior of St. Oswald. Ferrar left priorship by 1539 and drops from sight for the next seven years. He, according to sources, did not preach during this time. When Henry VIII passed the “Act of Six Articles” Ferrar was a target for attack by those who sought to enforce the it. Robert Ferrar was summoned September 10, 1540 to the safety of his soul and heretical views. When he failed to appear he was excommunicated. At this time he disappeared for seven years but surfaced to buy land in 1545 for agricultural and business purposes (Brown 80).
[edit] Ferrar As Bishop
In 1547, after Edward VI takes the throne following Henry VIII’s death, Ferrar is released from prison after the abolishing of the Six Articles Act. He was then appointed as a preacher to represent Edward during the Royal Visitation of 1547 (Brown 82-84). Ferrar worked to bring reforms, such as the addition of the English Bible, the expolsion of idolatry, and other “superstitious” activities, throughout several dioceses in England and Wales during these visitations. Soon after, Ferrar was appointed as the Bishop of St. David’s diocese and consecrated by Edward VI on Sunday, September 9th 1548. It is unclear why, but it was several months between Ferrar’s consecration and his arrival at St. David’s (Brown 86). Upon his arrival, however, he moved for serious reforms and this radical restructuring led to conflict between he and his clergy. A blame game ensued between them, Ferrar accused them of accepting bribes while his clergy claimed praemunire. This would eventually lead to his downfall when his clergy developed witness accounts of these deceitful accusations against Ferrar. Ferrar was directed to religious reform in his short term as bishop through parliamentary legislation, administration of ecclesiastical property, control over cathedral chapter, supervision of clergy, enforcing discipline through court, and direct approaches to congregation through biblical preaching. (Brown 120).
[edit] Ferrar’s Decline From Bishop
Trouble arouse for Ferrar when his canons at St. David’s put together an indictment with 56 articles against him (Brown 186). The accusations against him were under the categories of: 1.Abuse of the Authority to him commited, 2.Maintenance of Superstition contrary to the Kings Ordinances and Injunctions, 3. Wilful Negligence, and 4.Folly, (Foxe 4-8). Under the first category, it was accused that when he first became Bishop, he “appointed his chancellor by his letter of commission,” completely ignoring the king’s style and authority. In the second condition, he was accused because he didn’t rebuke people who prayed with beads in their hands when he met with them, even knowing that it was superstitious (Foxe 6). He was also accused of not speaking about enough godly things, instead it was said that he spoke of worldly things such as: “ baking , brewing,” (Foxe 7). In addition, under category four he was accused that his church wasn’t paraphrased in English and some of his churches did not have English bibles, (Foxe 14).
Ferrar responded twice to the charges made against him at Carmarthen (Stephens 1245). Foxe's Book of Martyrs contains a response, by an unknown writer, to the accusations made against Ferrar in 1551. This response is written in the style of a legal document, and was likely presented in 1552. An excerpt from this document reads, “The said bishop allegeth that he hath not…used any superstitions of papistry, as it is untruly surmised against him; but hath and doth, to the uttermost of his power, wit, and cunning, set forth, preach, and teach, the true doctrine of the Gospel” (Brown 191). The articles presented against Ferrar in 1551 were inconclusive, so the Privy Council requested to examine a commission of witnesses (Brown 196). The examination of commission of witnesses took place from May 3rd to May 7th 1552 (Brown 197). Ferrar was kept in London while the witnesses were being interviewed, so he would not affect how people answered the questions (Stephens 1245). Around 124 witnesses were interviewed (Brown 197).
The witness examinations were supposed to take place by three commissioners: Thomas Jones, John Wogan, and David Vaughan. Because so many witnesses were interviewed over such a short period of time, the process of the commission was suspicious (Brown 198). In November of 1552, Ferrar was able to present objections concerning witness testimony. Ferrar believed that certain witnesses were biased, because they were people who had shown hostility towards him in the past. Witnesses that may have been biased in their accusations against Ferrar include Roger Barlow, Griffith Dwnn, Thomas John Thomas, and John Evans (Brown 211).
About half the witness’ testimony included statements concerning how Ferrar was aware of the crimes committed by his officers and friends, but failed to punish them. Brown sees this as “a concerted attempt to blacken Ferrar’s name through attacking the character of his supporters.” On the other hand, there were witnesses that denied the charges made against Ferrar. Roger Owen, a commissary of Ferrar denied a few of the 56 articles (Brown 199). Ferrar was sent to Bench Prison in Southwark when Queen Mary took the throne in 1553. He was imprisoned with other bishops, including Hooper of Gloucester and Coverdale of Exeter (Gairdner 276). On February 14, 1554 Bishop Gardiner charged Ferrar with violation of chastity. ‘He was required to answer whether he believed in the lawfulness of clerical matrimony and in transubstantiation. For some time Ferrar refused to answer. At another sitting Morgan pronounced him contumacious, and condemned him.’ In March 1554, Ferrar officially lost his position as a bishop (Stephens 1245).
[edit] Death
Robert Ferrar’s desire was to die as a “true bearer of the cross of Christ” (Brown 45). The martyrdom of Ferrar took place on March 30, 1555. He received this secular execution publicly as an example to any who were wishing to conform to Robert’s doctrines. His doctrines were deemed inadequate and brought many accusations upon him. "On 30 he was burnt on the south side of the market cross, if he (the audience) saw him once to stir in the pains of his burning, he should then give no credit to his doctrine. Ferrar never moved, but stood firm, holding up his burned hands. So he continued till one Richard Graveli, with a staff, dashed him upon the head and so struck him down" (Brown 245).
[edit] Progeny
Ferrar's son, Samuel obtained preferment in the diocese of St. David's. His daughter married Lewis Williams, rector of Narberth.
[edit] Timeline of Ferrar's Life
-1485-1509: Ferrar is born sometime under the reign of Henry VII
-1520’s: Ferrar lives in St. Oswald’s Monastery
-24 May 1524: Ordained acolyte and subdeacon at St. Oswald’s
-25 September 1524: Ordained as deacon at St. Oswald’s
-1525-1534: Studies at Cambridge and Oxford acquiring a Bachelors degree in Theology
-1538-1539: Acts as Prior of St. Oswald’s
-1540: Ferrar is summoned under for heresy under The Six Articles Act
-1547: Edward VI takes rule after Henry VIII dies; Ferrar is appointed preacher to represent Edward during the Royal Visitation of 1547 to spread reforms
-Sometime in 1548: Ferrar is married to his wife, Elizabeth
-9 September 1548: Ferrar is consecrated as Bishop of St. David’s, he had been appointed by Edward VI
-24 November 1548 - 14 March 1549: Ferrar attends House of Lords and plays role in the passing of the Uniformity Act, instituting mandatory English prayer books
-1549: spends time traveling throughout his diocese preaching and spreading reforms under Edward VI
-1550: 1st born son Samuel
-1551: 2nd born Griffith
-Autumn 1551: 56 Articles presented to Privy Council
-1552: Statements are made on Ferrar’s behalf that he, “preached and taught the true doctrine of the Gospel”
-May 1552: Commission of Witnesses interviewed
-November 1552: Ferrar presents objections to Witness testimony
-1553: Queen Mary takes throne and Ferrar is sent to Bench Prison in Southwark
-1553: 3rd born Sage
-February 1554: Bishop Gardiner charges Ferrar with violation of chastity
-March 1554: Ferrar officially loses his position as Bishop
-13 March 1555: Ferrar is sentenced to death for his crimes
-30 March 1555: Ferrar is martyred
[edit] Bibliography
Brown, Andrew (1997). Robert Ferrar. Yorkshire Monk, Reformation Bishop, and Martyr in Wales. London: Inscriptor Imprints.
Gairdner, James (1902). The English Church 4. New York: AMS Printing, 276-359.
Stephen, Leslie; Sidney Lee (1882). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1244-1246.
Foxe, John (1965). Acts and Monuments 7. New York: AMS Printing, 3-28.
[edit] External links
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
