William Downham

William Downham (1511–1577) was bishop of Chester.

Under Mary of England, he was chaplain to her sister Princess Elizabeth.[1] He became bishop of Chester in 1561, shortly after Elizabeth's accession.[2]

As bishop, he was considered rather ineffectual against the Roman Catholics, preferring not to offend the gentry.[3] The reformer Christopher Goodman attacked him in 1571, as supine, on a pretext of the continuing Whitsun plays.[4]

He had further problems with the diocesan finances, being dependent on rents that could prove hard to collect.[5] He also had very few university graduates among his candidates for ordination.[6]

Family

George Downame and John Downame were his sons.[7]

Notes

  1. ↑ Andrew Pettegree, The Reformation: Critical Concepts in Historical Studies (2004), p. 337.
  2. ↑ https://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=35844
  3. ↑ Christopher Haigh, Reformation and Resistance in Tudor Lancashire (1975), p. 210.
  4. ↑ https://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=57329
  5. ↑ Christopher Haigh, Reformation and Resistance in Tudor Lancashire (1975), p. 225.
  6. ↑ Richard L. Graves, Society and Religion in Elizabethan England (1981), p. 78.
  7. ↑ Benjamin Brook, The Lives of the Puritans (1813), p. 496.
Church of England titles
Preceded by
Cuthbert Scott		 Bishop of Chester
1561–1577 		Succeeded by
William Chaderton
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.