Richard Neile
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Richard Neile (or Neale; 1562 – 31 October 1640) was an English churchman, bishop successively of six English dioceses, more than any other man, including the Archdiocese of York from 1631 until his death. He was involved in the last burning at the stake for heresy in England, that of the Arian Edward Wightman in 1612.
Early life
Neile was born in Westminster, and baptised on 11 March 1562 at St Margaret's, Westminster.[1]
He was son of a tallow-chandler, though his grandfather had been a courtier and official under
Ordained deacon and priest at Peterborough in 1589,[1] he continued to enjoy the patronage of the Burghley family, residing in their household, and became chaplain to Lord Burghley, and later to his son Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury.[2]
He preached before
Bishop
He held successively the bishoprics of Rochester (1608), Lichfield and Coventry (1610), Lincoln (1614), Durham (1617), and Winchester (1628), and the archbishopric of York (1631).
While at Rochester he appointed William Laud as his chaplain and gave him several valuable preferments. His political activity while bishop of Durham was rewarded with a privy councillorship in 1627. Neile sat regularly in the courts of Star Chamber and High Commission. His correspondence with Laud and with Sir Dudley Carleton and Sir Francis Windebank (Charles I's secretaries of state) are valuable sources for the history of the time.
Oliver Cromwell made only one speech during his first stint as a Member of Parliament for Huntingdon in the Parliament of 1628–1629, a poorly received attack against Neile, possibly over disagreement with his form of Arminianism.[4]
Family
Neile was the father of Sir Paul Neile, astronomer and politician, and grandfather of William Neile, mathematician.[5] His brother, another William Neile (1560–1624), was a book-collector who left 880 books to his children at his death.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d "Neale, Richard (NL580R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ a b c Hutton, W. H. (1894). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 40. London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- ISBN 9780521590464. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
- ^ Morrill, pp.25–26.
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- ^ Westminster Archives, Commissary Court of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster wills, Camden 27.
- ISBN 0-582-01675-4.
Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Neile, Richard". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Neile, Richard". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 350. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the