Nicholas Sanders
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Sanders (circa 1530 – 1581) was an English
Roman Catholic priest and polemicist.
), Surrey
, the son of William Sanders, once sheriff of Surrey, who was descended from the Sanders of Sanderstead. Sanders was educated at Winchester College
and New College, Oxford
, where he was elected fellow in 1548 and graduated B.C.L. in 1551. The family had strong Roman Catholic leanings, and two of his elder sisters became nuns of Sion convent before its dissolution. Sanders was selected to deliver the oration at the reception of Cardinal Pole's visitors by the university in 1557.
Afer Elizabeth
's accession he went to Rome
, where he was befriended by Pole's confidant, Cardinal Morone
.
's hat. During the following years he was employed by Cardinal Hosius, the learned Polish prelate, in his efforts to check the spread of heresy
in Poland
, Lithuania
and Prussia
.
In 1565, like many other English exiles, he made his headquarters at Louvain
, and after a visit to the Imperial Diet at Augsburg
in 1566 (in attendance upon Commendone, who had been largely instrumental in the reconciliation of England with Rome during the reign of Queen Mary
), he threw himself into the literary controversy between Bishops John Jewel
and Thomas Harding
.
Sanders' De visibili Monarchia Ecclesiae, provided the first narrative of the sufferings of the English Roman Catholics. It was published in 1571. The rest of his life was spent in the struggle to procure the deposition of Elizabeth and the restoration of Roman Catholicism.
, where he was granted a pension of 300 ducat
s. Attempting to embroil King Philip II
in his struggle, he wrote that the state of Christendom
depended upon the stout assailing of England, but in his zeal Sanders was sorely tried by the king's sense of caution. Sanders worked with James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald
to launch a papal invasion of Ireland
. The first of these, Sir Thomas Stukley
's projected 1578 Irish expedition, which Sanders was to have accompanied with the blessings and assistance of the pope, was diverted to Morocco
during an ill-devised campaign by King Sebastian of Portugal
, where Stukley was killed at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir
in 1578.
In the following year, Sanders and Fitzmaurce landed a force of some 600 Spanish
and Italian
troops under papal authority at Smerwick
harbour in Ireland, which launched the Second Desmond Rebellion
. Sanders paraded the papal banner with some ceremony at Dingle
, before repairing to the hinterland to meet with Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond
and others who might help the cause. But the crown authorities at Dublin Castle
reacted quickly: the invasion fleet was immediately captured by Sir William Winter
, and in 1580 the troops at Smerwick were slaughtered without quarter by the English forces under Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton
in the Siege of Smerwick and Sanders' assistance was cut off. After spending almost two years as a fugitive in the south-west of Ireland, he is believed to have died of cold and starvation in the spring of 1581.
. The most important was his De Origine ac Progressu schismatis Anglicani, which was continued after 1558 by Edward Rishton
, and printed at Cologne
in 1585; it has been often re-edited and translated, the best English edition being that by David Lewis
(London, 1877). Its statements earned Sanders the nickname of Dr Slanders in England; but a considerable number of his assertions have been confirmed by corroborative evidence, while some were outright falsehoods, e.g. that Anne Boleyn
was Henry VIII's own daughter.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Roman Catholic priest and polemicist.
Early life
Sanders was born at Chariwood (or Charlwood Place, probably CharlwoodCharlwood
Charlwood is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is immediately northwest of London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, close west of Horley and north of Crawley. The historic county boundary between Surrey and Sussex ran to the south of Gatwick Airport...
), Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, the son of William Sanders, once sheriff of Surrey, who was descended from the Sanders of Sanderstead. Sanders was educated at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, where he was elected fellow in 1548 and graduated B.C.L. in 1551. The family had strong Roman Catholic leanings, and two of his elder sisters became nuns of Sion convent before its dissolution. Sanders was selected to deliver the oration at the reception of Cardinal Pole's visitors by the university in 1557.
Afer Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
's accession he went to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where he was befriended by Pole's confidant, Cardinal Morone
Giovanni Morone
Giovanni Morone was an Italian cardinal. He was named Bishop of Modena in 1529 and was created Cardinal in 1542 by Pope Paul III...
.
Priesthood
Sanders was ordained a priest in Rome, and even before the end of 1550 had been mentioned as a likely candidate for the cardinalCardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
's hat. During the following years he was employed by Cardinal Hosius, the learned Polish prelate, in his efforts to check the spread of heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
.
In 1565, like many other English exiles, he made his headquarters at Louvain
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, and after a visit to the Imperial Diet at Augsburg
Diet of Augsburg
The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire in the German city of Augsburg. There were many such sessions, but the three meetings during the Reformation and the ensuing religious wars between the Roman Catholic emperor Charles V and the Protestant...
in 1566 (in attendance upon Commendone, who had been largely instrumental in the reconciliation of England with Rome during the reign of Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
), he threw himself into the literary controversy between Bishops John Jewel
John Jewel
John Jewel was an English bishop of Salisbury.-Life:He was the son of John Jewel of Buden, Devon, was educated under his uncle John Bellamy, rector of Hampton, and other private tutors until his matriculation at Merton College, Oxford, in July 1535.There he was taught by John Parkhurst,...
and Thomas Harding
Thomas Harding (1516-1572)
Thomas Harding was an English Roman Catholic priest and controversialist.-Life:...
.
Sanders' De visibili Monarchia Ecclesiae, provided the first narrative of the sufferings of the English Roman Catholics. It was published in 1571. The rest of his life was spent in the struggle to procure the deposition of Elizabeth and the restoration of Roman Catholicism.
Irish expedition
Sanders' expectations of the cardinalate were disappointed upon the death of Pius V in 1572, and he passed the following years at MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, where he was granted a pension of 300 ducat
Ducat
The ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade coin throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, actual gold weight...
s. Attempting to embroil King Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
in his struggle, he wrote that the state of Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
depended upon the stout assailing of England, but in his zeal Sanders was sorely tried by the king's sense of caution. Sanders worked with James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald
James FitzMaurice FitzGerald
James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald was a member of the 16th century ruling Geraldine dynasty in the province of Munster in Ireland. He rebelled against the crown authority of Queen Elizabeth I of England in response to the onset of the Tudor conquest of Ireland and was deemed an archtraitor...
to launch a papal invasion of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The first of these, Sir Thomas Stukley
Thomas Stukley
Thomas Stukley was an English mercenary who served in combat in France, Ireland, and at the Battle of Lepanto, before his death at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir. It was alleged that he was an illegitimate son of Henry VIII of England...
's projected 1578 Irish expedition, which Sanders was to have accompanied with the blessings and assistance of the pope, was diverted to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
during an ill-devised campaign by King Sebastian of Portugal
Sebastian of Portugal
Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
, where Stukley was killed at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir
Battle of Alcácer Quibir
The Battle of Ksar El Kebir, also known as Battle of Three Kings, or "Battle of Oued El Makhazeen" in Morocco, and Battle of Alcácer Quibir in Portugal , was fought in northern Morocco, near the town of Ksar-el-Kebir and Larache, on 4 August 1578...
in 1578.
In the following year, Sanders and Fitzmaurce landed a force of some 600 Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
troops under papal authority at Smerwick
Ard na Caithne
Ard na Caithne , meaning height of the arbutus or strawberry tree, known as Smerwick in English, in the heart of the Kerry Gaeltacht is one of the principal bays of Corca Dhuibhne. It is nestled at the foot of An Triúr Deirfiúr and Cnoc Bhréanainn, which at is the highest mountain in the Brandon...
harbour in Ireland, which launched the Second Desmond Rebellion
Second Desmond Rebellion
The Second Desmond rebellion was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions launched by the FitzGerald dynasty of Desmond in Munster, Ireland, against English rule in Ireland...
. Sanders paraded the papal banner with some ceremony at Dingle
Dingle
Dingle is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about 49 kilometres southwest of Tralee and 71 kilometres northwest of Killarney....
, before repairing to the hinterland to meet with Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond
Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond
Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond was an Irish nobleman and leader of the Desmond Rebellions of 1579.-Life:...
and others who might help the cause. But the crown authorities at Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
reacted quickly: the invasion fleet was immediately captured by Sir William Winter
William Winter (admiral)
Sir William Wynter was an admiral under Queen Elizabeth I of England and served the crown during the Anglo-Spanish War ....
, and in 1580 the troops at Smerwick were slaughtered without quarter by the English forces under Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton
Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton
Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton was a baron in the Peerage of England, remembered mainly for his memoir of his father, and for participating in the last defence of Calais.-Life:...
in the Siege of Smerwick and Sanders' assistance was cut off. After spending almost two years as a fugitive in the south-west of Ireland, he is believed to have died of cold and starvation in the spring of 1581.
Legacy
The English exiles on the continent were disgusted at the waste of such material: "Our Sanders", they exclaimed, "is more to us than the whole of Ireland". But Sanders was part of a long line of missionaries sent to Ireland from the continent to combat the spread of Protestantism. His writings have been the basis of all Roman Catholic histories of the English ReformationEnglish Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
. The most important was his De Origine ac Progressu schismatis Anglicani, which was continued after 1558 by Edward Rishton
Edward Rishton
Edward Rishton was an English Roman Catholic priest.-Life:He was probably a younger son of John Rishton of Dunkenhalgh and Dorothy Southworth. He studied at the University of Oxford from 1568 to 1572, when he proceeded B.A. probably from Brasenose College...
, and printed at Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
in 1585; it has been often re-edited and translated, the best English edition being that by David Lewis
David Lewis (priest)
David Lewis was a Welsh Anglican priest and academic who converted to Roman Catholicism under the influence of John Henry Newman.-Life:...
(London, 1877). Its statements earned Sanders the nickname of Dr Slanders in England; but a considerable number of his assertions have been confirmed by corroborative evidence, while some were outright falsehoods, e.g. that Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
was Henry VIII's own daughter.