Christopher Love
Encyclopedia
Christopher Love was a Welsh
Protestant
preacher and advocate of Presbyterianism
at the time of the English Civil War
. In 1651 he was executed by the government, after it was discovered that he had been in correspondence with the exiled Stuart court. He went to his death as a hero and martyr of the Presbyterian faction which had petitioned in vain for his pardon.
, in Glamorganshire, Wales
, the youngest son of Christopher Love, and at fourteen years of age was converted by William Erbury, the independent. The father disapproved, and apprenticed him in London, but Erbury and his mother sent him to the University of Oxford
. He entered as a poor scholar of New Inn Hall under Doctor Christopher Rogers in June 1636, and graduated B.A. 3 May 1639. After taking the master's degree he was obliged to leave Oxford for refusing to subscribe to Archbishop William Laud
's new canons of 1640.
He became domestic chaplain to John Warner, the sheriff of London. There he met his future wife Mary, daughter of Matthew Stone, formerly a merchant in London, who was the sheriff's ward. Love received an invitation to become lecturer at St. Ann's, Aldersgate, but was for three years refused his allowance by William Juxon
, the bishop of London
; Laud had warned Juxon to keep an eye on Love. Declining episcopal ordination, he went to Scotland to seek it at the hands of the presbytery; but the Scottish Church had decreed to ordain only those who settled among them. On his return to England, about 1641, he preached at Newcastle
before the mayor and aldermen, when he expressed himself so freely against the Book of Common Prayer
, that he was committed to gaol. He was subsequently removed to London on a writ of Habeas Corpus
, was tried in the king's bench
, and was acquitted. Around the outbreak of the First English Civil War
, bout the outbreak of the civil war he preached as a lecturer at Tenterden
, Kent
, on the lawfulness of a defensive war, and was accused of treason
; but he was acquitted and recovered his costs. Shortly afterwards he was made chaplain to Colonel John Venn's regiment, and became preacher to the garrison of Windsor Castle
.
He was one of the first to receive presbyterian ordination, under the new organization, on 23 January 1644 at Aldermanbury, London, from Thomas Horton
; and became pastor of St Lawrence Jewry
. Love was a superadded member of the Westminster Assembly
, according to the history of the Assembly by William Maxwell Hetherington
. This has also been questioned, by Alexander Ferrier Mitchell
, for lack of evidence.
He preached an inflammatory sermon in Uxbridge
on 31 January 1645, the day on which the commissioners for the Treaty of Uxbridge
arrived. He asserted in his Vindication that his preaching there was accidental; he was sent for by the House of Commons and confined to the house during the negotiations. On 25 November 1645 he preached before the Commons, and was not accorded the customary vote of thanks. He offended the Independents; and when they gained the ascendency he was committed to custody; he was twice subsequently cited before the committee for plundered ministers, and although he was discharged, his movements were watched.
. Love, with many others, was arrested on 7 May 1651. Others caught up included: John Angier
and other Manchester presbyterians, imprisoned in Liverpool
; Thomas Cawton
the elder; Arthur Jackson
; William Jenkyn
; Ralph Robinson; Thomas Watson
.
A Colonel Silius Titus
had been commissioned by certain presbyterians to carry letters to Henrietta Maria in France; the queen's replies were conveyed by Colonel Ashworth, and were read in Love's house in London. On 18 December 1650 a pass was obtained for Love's wife to enable her to proceed to Amsterdam
. Further, Love had received letters from Scottish presbyterians who were friendly to Charles II, and consultations had been held in his house (among other places) regarding the demands made on the English presbyterians by Argyll and others for money for the purchase of arms.
Love was ordered to be arrested on 14 May 1651, and was committed close prisoner to the Tower of London
for high treason
. He was tried before the high court of justice
in late June, and 5 July, defended by Matthew Hale
; presiding at the trial was Richard Keble
. He was condemned to be executed on 16 July. Robert Hammond
then wrote to Oliver Cromwell
asking for leniency for Love. He was subsequently reprieved for a month, and then again for a week. To the last of Love's petitions to the parliament, 16 August, he appended a narrative of the whole plot, in which he virtually acknowledges all the charges made against him at the trial.
, 23 August 1651, attended by Simeon Ashe
and Edmund Calamy
. He was privately buried, 25 August, at St. Lawrence Church. His funeral sermon was preached by Thomas Manton
. Robert Wilde wrote a poem The Tragedy of Mr. Christopher Love at Tower Hill (1651).Love condemned himself by refusal to agree not to continue to commit reason against the Republic, but, as true Presyterian, he wanted royalty restored.
Love had five children, one of whom was born after his death.
, William Taylor, and Allan Geare). The most important of his works are:
Short and plaine Animadversions on some Passages in Mr. Dels' Sermon (1646) was a reply to William Dell
. A modest and clear Vindication of the ... ministers of London from the scandalous aspersions of John Price (1649) (attributed to Love) replied to the Clerico-classicum of John Price
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
preacher and advocate of Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
at the time of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. In 1651 he was executed by the government, after it was discovered that he had been in correspondence with the exiled Stuart court. He went to his death as a hero and martyr of the Presbyterian faction which had petitioned in vain for his pardon.
Life
Love was born at CardiffCardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, in Glamorganshire, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the youngest son of Christopher Love, and at fourteen years of age was converted by William Erbury, the independent. The father disapproved, and apprenticed him in London, but Erbury and his mother sent him to the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. He entered as a poor scholar of New Inn Hall under Doctor Christopher Rogers in June 1636, and graduated B.A. 3 May 1639. After taking the master's degree he was obliged to leave Oxford for refusing to subscribe to Archbishop William Laud
William Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
's new canons of 1640.
He became domestic chaplain to John Warner, the sheriff of London. There he met his future wife Mary, daughter of Matthew Stone, formerly a merchant in London, who was the sheriff's ward. Love received an invitation to become lecturer at St. Ann's, Aldersgate, but was for three years refused his allowance by William Juxon
William Juxon
William Juxon was an English churchman, Bishop of London from 1633 to 1649 and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1660 until his death.-Life:...
, the bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
; Laud had warned Juxon to keep an eye on Love. Declining episcopal ordination, he went to Scotland to seek it at the hands of the presbytery; but the Scottish Church had decreed to ordain only those who settled among them. On his return to England, about 1641, he preached at Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
before the mayor and aldermen, when he expressed himself so freely against the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
, that he was committed to gaol. He was subsequently removed to London on a writ of Habeas Corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
, was tried in the king's bench
King's Bench
The Queen's Bench is the superior court in a number of jurisdictions within some of the Commonwealth realms...
, and was acquitted. Around the outbreak of the First English Civil War
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...
, bout the outbreak of the civil war he preached as a lecturer at Tenterden
Tenterden
Tenterden is a Cinque Port town in the Ashford District of Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, on the lawfulness of a defensive war, and was accused of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
; but he was acquitted and recovered his costs. Shortly afterwards he was made chaplain to Colonel John Venn's regiment, and became preacher to the garrison of Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
.
He was one of the first to receive presbyterian ordination, under the new organization, on 23 January 1644 at Aldermanbury, London, from Thomas Horton
Thomas Horton (Gresham College)
Thomas Horton D.D. was an English clergyman, Professor of Divinity at Gresham College in London, and President of Queens' College, Cambridge.-Life:...
; and became pastor of St Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence Jewry is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to the Guildhall.-History:The church was originally built in the twelfth century and dedicated to St Lawrence The church is near the former medieval Jewish ghetto, which was centred...
. Love was a superadded member of the Westminster Assembly
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. It also included representatives of religious leaders from Scotland...
, according to the history of the Assembly by William Maxwell Hetherington
William Maxwell Hetherington
William Maxwell Hetherington was a Scottish minister, poet and church historian.-Life:He was born in the parish of Troqueer, near Dumfries...
. This has also been questioned, by Alexander Ferrier Mitchell
Alexander Ferrier Mitchell
Alexander Ferrier Mitchell was a Scottish ecclesiastical historian and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.-Life:...
, for lack of evidence.
He preached an inflammatory sermon in Uxbridge
Uxbridge
Uxbridge is a large town located in north west London, England and is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. It forms part of the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is located west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres...
on 31 January 1645, the day on which the commissioners for the Treaty of Uxbridge
Treaty of Uxbridge
The Treaty of Uxbridge of early 1645 was a significant but abortive negotiation to try to end the First English Civil War.-Background:Parliament drew up 27 articles in November 1644 and presented them to Charles I of England at Oxford. Much input into these Propositions of Uxbridge was from...
arrived. He asserted in his Vindication that his preaching there was accidental; he was sent for by the House of Commons and confined to the house during the negotiations. On 25 November 1645 he preached before the Commons, and was not accorded the customary vote of thanks. He offended the Independents; and when they gained the ascendency he was committed to custody; he was twice subsequently cited before the committee for plundered ministers, and although he was discharged, his movements were watched.
Love's plot
He became involved in a treasonable correspondence with the Presbyterians of Scotland to restore Charles IICharles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. Love, with many others, was arrested on 7 May 1651. Others caught up included: John Angier
John Angier
-Early life:Angier was from Dedham, in Essex, where he was baptised 8 October 1605. At his own desire was brought up to be a preacher. At the age of twelve he was a grave child; but during his stay at Cambridge University as an undergraduate of Emmanuel College 'he fell off to vain company and...
and other Manchester presbyterians, imprisoned in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
; Thomas Cawton
Thomas Cawton
Thomas Cawton, the elder was an English clergyman of presbyterian and royalist views. After the discovery of the plot of Christopher Love, he went into exile in the Netherlands.-Life:...
the elder; Arthur Jackson
Arthur Jackson (minister)
Arthur Jackson was an English clergyman of strong Presbyterian and royalist views. He was imprisoned in 1651 for suspected complicity in the ‘presbyterian plot’ of Christopher Love, and ejected after the Act of Uniformity 1662.-Life:...
; William Jenkyn
William Jenkyn
William Jenkyn was an English clergyman, imprisoned during the Interregnum for his part in the ‘presbyterian plot’ of Christopher Love, ejected minister in 1662, and imprisoned at the end of his life for nonconformity.-Life:...
; Ralph Robinson; Thomas Watson
Thomas Watson (Puritan)
Thomas Watson was an English, non-conformist, Puritan preacher and author.He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was noted for remarkably intense study. In 1646 he commenced a sixteen year pastorate at St. Stephen's, Walbrook...
.
A Colonel Silius Titus
Silius Titus
Silius or Silas Titus , of Bushey, was an English politician, captain of Deal Castle, and Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King Charles II.-Early Life:He was born in London, the son of Silas Titus, a salter and Constatia Colley...
had been commissioned by certain presbyterians to carry letters to Henrietta Maria in France; the queen's replies were conveyed by Colonel Ashworth, and were read in Love's house in London. On 18 December 1650 a pass was obtained for Love's wife to enable her to proceed to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. Further, Love had received letters from Scottish presbyterians who were friendly to Charles II, and consultations had been held in his house (among other places) regarding the demands made on the English presbyterians by Argyll and others for money for the purchase of arms.
Love was ordered to be arrested on 14 May 1651, and was committed close prisoner to the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
for high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
. He was tried before the high court of justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
in late June, and 5 July, defended by Matthew Hale
Matthew Hale (jurist)
Sir Matthew Hale SL was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise Historia Placitorum Coronæ, or The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Born to a barrister and his wife, who had both died by the time he was 5, Hale was raised by his father's relative, a strict...
; presiding at the trial was Richard Keble
Richard Keble
Richard Keble , was a supporter of the Parliamentarian cause during the English Civil War. He was a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and a bencher of Gray's Inn. From 1648 until 1654 Keble, along with Bulstrode Whitelocke and John Lisle, was a Parliamentary appointee as Lord Commissioner of the...
. He was condemned to be executed on 16 July. Robert Hammond
Robert Hammond (English army officer)
Robert Hammond was an officer in the New Model Army under Oliver Cromwell during the First English Civil War and a politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654. He is best known for his year-long role in keeping Charles I of England in custody.-Early life:Hammond was the second son of...
then wrote to Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
asking for leniency for Love. He was subsequently reprieved for a month, and then again for a week. To the last of Love's petitions to the parliament, 16 August, he appended a narrative of the whole plot, in which he virtually acknowledges all the charges made against him at the trial.
Death
He was chosen to make an example of, to check Presbyterian agitation. He was finally executed on Tower HillTower Hill
Tower Hill is an elevated spot northwest of the Tower of London, just outside the limits of the City of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Formerly it was part of the Tower Liberty under the direct administrative control of Tower...
, 23 August 1651, attended by Simeon Ashe
Simeon Ashe
Simeon Ashe or Ash was an English nonconformist clergyman, a member of the Westminster Assembly and chaplain to the Parliamentary leader Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester.-Life:He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge...
and Edmund Calamy
Edmund Calamy the Elder
Edmund Calamy was an English Presbyterian church leader and divine. Known as "the elder", he was the first of four generations of nonconformist ministers bearing the same name.-Early life:...
. He was privately buried, 25 August, at St. Lawrence Church. His funeral sermon was preached by Thomas Manton
Thomas Manton
Thomas Manton was an English Puritan clergyman.-Life:Thomas Manton was baptized March 31, 1620 at Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, a remote southwestern portion of England. His grammar school education was possibly at Blundell's School, in Tiverton, Devon...
. Robert Wilde wrote a poem The Tragedy of Mr. Christopher Love at Tower Hill (1651).Love condemned himself by refusal to agree not to continue to commit reason against the Republic, but, as true Presyterian, he wanted royalty restored.
Love had five children, one of whom was born after his death.
Works
His sermons were published, after his death, by leading Presbyterians of London (Edmund Calamy, Simeon Ashe, Jeremiah WhitakerJeremiah Whitaker
Jeremiah Whitaker was an English Puritan clergyman, and important member of the Westminster Assembly.-Life:He was born at Wakefield, Yorkshire, in 1599. After being educated at the grammar school there under the Rev. Philip Jack, he entered Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, as a sizar in 1615, two...
, William Taylor, and Allan Geare). The most important of his works are:
- Grace, the Truth and Growth, and different Degrees thereof (226 pp., London, 1652);
- Heaven's Glory, Hell's Terror (350 pp., 1653);
- Combate between the Flesh and the Spirit (292 pp., 1654);
- Treatise of Effectual Calling (218 pp.,1658);
- The Natural Man's Case Stated (8vo, 280 pp., 1658);
- Select Works (8vo, Glasgow, 1806–07, 2 vols.).
Short and plaine Animadversions on some Passages in Mr. Dels' Sermon (1646) was a reply to William Dell
William Dell
William Dell was an English clergyman, Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge from 1649 to 1660, and prominent radical Parliamentarian.-Biography:...
. A modest and clear Vindication of the ... ministers of London from the scandalous aspersions of John Price (1649) (attributed to Love) replied to the Clerico-classicum of John Price
John Price
John Price is a former English cricketer, who played in fifteen Tests for England from 1964 to 1972....
.