Home > Alexander Nowell

He was educated at Middleton, Lancashire, and at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he is said to have shared rooms with John Foxe the martyrologist . He was elected fellow of Brasenose in 1526. In 1543 he was appointed master of Westminster School, and in December 1551 prebendary of Westminster. He was elected in September 1553 member of parliament for Looe in Cornwall in Queen Mary's first parliament, but in October 1553 a committee of the house reported that, having as prebendary of Westminster a seat in convocation, he could not sit in the House of Commons.

He was also deprived of his prebend, probably as being a married man, before May 1554, and sought refuge at Strassburg and Frankfort, where he developed puritan and almost presbyterian views. He submitted, however, to the Elizabethan settlement of religion, and was rewarded with the archdeaconry of Middlesex, a canonry at CanterburyCanterbury is the name of various places in the world, including: the city of Canterbury in England which: is home to Canterbury Cathedral. gave its name to the music genre, the Canterbury Scene. the city of Canterbury in New South Wales, Australia the re and in 1560Events February 27 The Treaty of Berhick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland The first tulip bulb was brought from Turkey to the Netherlands. July 6 Treaty of Edinburgh between England, France with the deanery of St Paul's.

His sermons occasionally created some stir, and on one occasion ElizabethElizabeth I ( September 7, 1533 March 24, 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from November 17, 1558 until her death. Sometimes referred to as The Virgin Queen or Good Queen Bess Elizabeth I was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty, interrupted his sermon, telling him to stick to his text and cease slighting the crucifix. He held the deanery of St Paul's for forty-two years, surviving until the 13th of February 1602. Nowell is believed to have composed the Catechism inserted before the Order of Confirmation in the Prayer Book of 1549, which was supplemented in 1604 and is still in use; but the evidence is not conclusive.

Early in Elizabeth's reign, however, he wrote a larger catechism, to serve as a statement of Protestant principles; it was printed in 1570, and in the same year appeared his "middle" catechism, designed it would seem for the instruction of "simple curates." Nowell also established a free school at Middleton and made other benefactions for educational purposes. He was twice married, but left no children. He was the brother of Lawrence NowellLawrence Nowell (c. 1520-1576) was a scholar of Old English and a churchman. He led the sixteenth-century revival of the study of Old English language and literature. Nowell was born at Read Hall, Whalley, Lancashire. He received his B. from Christ Church.

See Ralph Churton, Life of Alexander Nowell (Oxford, 1809); Gilbert BurnetGilbert Burnet ( September 18, 1643- March 17, 1715) was a Scottish divine and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch and French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Gilbert was respected as a cleric, a preacher, and an academic, as well as a wr, History of the Reformation (new ed., Oxford, 1865); and RW DixonRichard Watson Dixon ( May 5, 1833 January 23, 1900), English poet and divine, son of Dr James Dixon, a Wesleyan minister. He was educated at King Edward's school, Birmingham, and on proceeding to Pembroke College, Oxford, became one of the famous "Birmin, History of the Church of England. Also the Works of John StrypeJohn Strype ( November 1, 1643 December 11, 1737) was an English historian and biographer. Born in Houndsditch, London, he was the son of John Strype, or van Stryp, a member of a Brabant family who, to escape religious persecution, had settled in London.; the Publications of the Parker Society; the Calendar of State Papers, Domestic; and the Dict. Nat. Biog., vol. iv.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911 Britannica