- Ralph Baines
Ralph Baines [Bayne, Baynes, Banes; Rudolphus, Rudolph, Rodolph, Rodolphus Baynus.] (
Knowsthorpe ,Yorkshire , ca. 1504 —Islington ,18 November 1559 ) was the last English Catholic Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry.Early life
Educated at
St. John's College, Cambridge , he was ordained priest atEly in 1519. He came out againstHugh Latimer , and opposedHenry VIII 's divorce fromCatherine of Aragon , being incited to the latter byJohn Fisher [Richard Rex, "The Theology of John Fisher" (1991), p. 176.] .He was
rector ofHardwick, Cambridgeshire , until 1544 [ [http://www.hardwick-cambs.org.uk/history/read/from_beginnings_to_the_19th_century History - Hardwick village ] ] ; but he left the country by 1538 [Peter Marshall, "Religious Identities In Henry VIII's England" (2006), p. 232.] .Hebraist
He was a Hebraist, being a college lecturer in Hebrew at St John's. He went to
Paris and became professor ofHebrew at theCollège de France , professor of the Hebrew language 1549 from 1554 [ [http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/278.htm The Circulation of Knowledge in Humanist Europe - CNRS Web site - CNRS ] ] .He was the author of the work "Compendium Michlol" (also with the Hebrew title, "Ḳiẓẓur ha-Ḥeleḳ Rishon ha-Miklol"), containing a Latin abstract of the first part of
David Ḳimḥi 's Hebrew grammar, and dealing methodically with the letters, reading, nouns, regular and irregular verbs, prefixes and suffixes (Paris, 1554).Bishop
In 1554 he returned to England and was consecrated Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, 18 November, 1554.
He vigorously opposed the Protestant Reformers, and features largely in "
Foxe's Book of Martyrs " [http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/johnfoxe/apparatus/person_glossaryB.html, under Ralph Bayne.] , conducting many examinations with his Chancellor,Anthony Draycot [ [http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/johnfoxe/apparatus/person_glossaryD.html John Foxe's Book of Martyrs ] ] . He was one of the eight defenders of Catholic doctrine at theWestminster Conference of 1558-59.On the accession of
Elizabeth I of England , he was deprived of his bishopric (21 June, 1559) [ [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34733 Bishops | British History Online ] ] and committed to the care ofEdmund Grindal , the ProtestantBishop of London , becoming one of eleven imprisoned bishops. Researches of G. Philips support the theory that, though nominally a guest, he was in fact a strict prisoner. His captivity lasted until 18 November, 1559, when, as Pitts writes, he "died an illustrious Confessor of the Lord".Works
*"Prima Rudimenta in linguam Hebraicam" (Paris, 1550)
*"Compendium Michol, hoc est absolutissimæ grammatices Davidis Chimhi" (Paris, 1554)
*"In Proverbia Salomonis" (Paris, 1555).References
*
Nicholas Sanders , "Report to Cardinal Moroni", 1561 (Cath. Record Soc. Pubs., 1905), I
*John Pitts , "De Angl. Script." (1623)
*Charles Dodd , "Church History" (1688), Pt. III, ii, art. 3
*Charles Henry Cooper , "Athenæ Cantabrigienses", 1,202
*Joseph Gillow , "Bibl. Dict. Eng. Cath." (London, 1885)
*Thomas Edward Bridgett andThomas Francis Knox , "Q. Eliz. and the Cath. Hierarchy" (London, 1889)
*G. E. Phillips, "Extinction of the Ancient Hierarchy" (London, 1905)
*Johann Christoph Wolf , "Bibliotheca Hebrœa", i. 308.Notes
External links
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02208a.htm Ralph Baines] , article in the
Catholic Encyclopedia
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=444&letter=B Source, "Jewish Encyclopedia"]
*worldcat id|lccn-nr94-43223
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
