Richard Sheldon was a Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 clergyman, a convert from Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

, known as a polemical writer.

Life

From a Catholic family, and destined for the priesthood, he was sent during the pontificate of Pope Clement VIII

Pope Clement VIII

Pope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January 1592 to 3 March 1605.-Cardinal:...

 to the English College, Rome. He returned to England, via Spain, and about 1610 he was imprisoned as a Jesuit. He then professed himself a Protestant, and was released. He was immediately employed by King James

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

, together with William Warmington, another convert, to write a book against Conrad Vorstius

Conrad Vorstius

Conrad Vorstius was a German-Dutch Protestant Remonstrant theologian, and successor to Jacobus Arminius in the theology chair at Leiden.-Early life:...

. Subsequently he published several works against Catholicism on his own account.

For a time Sheldon enjoyed the royal favour. He was appointed a royal chaplain, and received the honorary degree of D.D. from Cambridge University. The negotiations for the Spanish match

Spanish Match

The Spanish Match was a proposed marriage between Prince Charles, the son of King James I of England, and Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, the daughter of Philip III of Spain...

, however, inclined James to tolerance, and Sheldon's views on his old faith became distasteful. In 1622 he preached a sermon against those bearing the mark of the beast, for which he received a severe reprimand. He never regained his former position, though he endeavoured to propitiate Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 by writing in defence of the royal prerogative. He died soon after 1641.

Works

He published in 1611 The Lawfulness of the Oath of Allegiance, a moderate Catholic work on the oath of allegiance.

Besides sermons, he also published:

• 'Motives of R. S. for his Renunciation of Communion with the Bishop of Rome,' London, 1612.
• 'A Survey of the Miracles of the Church of Rome,' London, 1616.
• 'Man's Last End, or the Glorious Vision and Fruition of God,' London, 1634.