William Harrison (18 April 1534 - 24 April 1593) was an English clergyman, whose
Description of England was produced as part of the publishing venture of a group of
London stationersThe Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was founded in 1403; it received a Royal Charter in 1557...
who produced
Raphael HolinshedRaphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
's
Chronicles (London 1577). His contribution to Holinshed's work drew heavily on the earlier work of John Leland.
William Harrison was born in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, in the
parishA parish is a territorial unit that was usually historically served by a local church. This administrative unit is typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches...
of St. Thomas the Apostle, to John and Anne Harrison.
William Harrison (18 April 1534 - 24 April 1593) was an English clergyman, whose
Description of England was produced as part of the publishing venture of a group of
London stationersThe Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was founded in 1403; it received a Royal Charter in 1557...
who produced
Raphael HolinshedRaphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
's
Chronicles (London 1577). His contribution to Holinshed's work drew heavily on the earlier work of John Leland.
Early Life and Education
William Harrison was born in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, in the
parishA parish is a territorial unit that was usually historically served by a local church. This administrative unit is typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches...
of St. Thomas the Apostle, to John and Anne Harrison. As a boy, Harrison attended St Paul's School and the
Westminster SchoolThe Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools,, with the highest Oxbridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college...
of
Alexander NowellAlexander Nowell was an English Puritan theologian and clergyman, who served as dean of St Paul's during much of Elizabeth I's reign....
. Raised in Protestant circles, Harrison entered
Christ Church, OxfordThis article is about the Oxford college. For other uses, see Christ Church or Christchurch .Christ Church , is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
and in 1560 was awarded his Batchelor's degree. During the reign of
Queen Mary IMary I , was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. She was the oldest daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived...
, Christ Church became a centre of
CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
support, and Harrison converted to Catholicism. Harrison claimed that he returned to Protestant belief before Mary's death in 1558 after hearing the words of
CranmerThomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from union with the Holy See...
,
RidleyNicholas Ridley was an English Bishop of London. During the English Reformation, he was burned at the stake. He died among the Oxford Martyrs during the Marian Persecutions for his teachings and his support of Lady Jane Grey on 16 October 1555 in Oxford...
, and
LatimerHugh Latimer was the bishop of Worcester, and by his death he became a famous martyr among Protestants and the Church of England.-Life:...
, three Protestant
martyrA martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce a belief, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s burned at the stake in Oxford.
Adulthood
On 15 Feb 1559, prior to the award of his Batchelor's degree at Oxford, Harrison was instituted as the
rectorThe word rector has a number of different meanings; they indicate an academic, religious or political administrator...
of
Radwinter in
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
, by the appointment of
Lord CobhamWilliam Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and a Member of Parliament for Hythe. Although he was viewed by some as a religious radical during the Somerset protectorate, he entertained Elizabeth at Cobham Hall in 1559, signalling his acceptance of the moderate regime.His...
, who owned the right, and to whom he was also household chaplain. The living brought with it an income of £40 a year. Despise being well known to posterity for his description of England, at this time he had only travelled within a small compass in the south of England.
Harrison married Marion Isebrand, the daughter of
FlemishThe Flemish people , the Flemings or the Flemish are the over six million people of Flanders, the northern region of the country Belgium — and the majority of all Belgians....
immigrants. Continuing his theological studies at
CambridgeThe University of Cambridge , located in the City of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world and the fourth oldest in Europe...
, Harrison took the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1571. In the same year he was instituted vicar of Wimbish in Essex. Harrison also held positions at another two London parishes. Near the end of his life, Harrison received a prestigious appointment as a
canonA canon is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
at St. George's Chapel at
WindsorWindsor Castle, in Windsor in the English country of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, is the oldest in continuous occupation...
. Harrison was buried at Windsor following his death in 1593.
Works
Harrison has principally been known for his
Description of England, first published in 1577 as part of
HolinshedRaphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
's
Chronicle. This work enumerated England's geographic, economic, social, religious and political features and represents an important source for historians interested in life in Elizabethan England. He gathered his facts from books, letters, maps, the notes of John Leland, and conversations with antiquaries and local historians like his friends
John StowJohn Stow , was an English historian and antiquarian.-Early life:The son of Thomas Stow, a tallow-chandler, he was born about 1525 in London, in the parish of St Michael, Cornhill. His father's whole rent for his house and garden was only 6s. 6d. a year, and Stow in his youth fetched milk every...
and
William CamdenWilliam Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, and officer of arms. He wrote the first topographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
. He also used his own observation, experience and wit, and wrote in a conversational tone without pedantry, which has made the work a classic. The result is a compendium of Elizabethan England during the youth of
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. "No work of the time contains so vivid and picturesque a sketch," was the assessment of
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature.
Harrison also wrote a number of unpublished manuscripts, including
The Great English Chronologie. This work traced fortunes of the
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
church in history, stretching from creation to his own time. In the
Chronologie, Harrison revealed his sympathy with the Calvinist perspective of those seeking to reform the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches...
. At the same time, Harrison also indicated his distrust of the political intentions of England's
PuritanA Puritan of 16th and 17th-century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group piety. Puritans felt that the English Reformation had not gone far enough, and that the Church of England was tolerant...
s and his ultimate loyalty to England's ecclesiastical authorities.
External links
Further reading
- G. J. R. Parry; Maurice Cowling; G. R. Elton; J. R. Pole, A Protestant Vision: William Harrison and the Reformation of Elizabethan England.