BARNES, ROBERT (1495-1540)

This article appears in Volume V03, Page 413 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BAI-BAR

BARNES, ROBERT (1495-1540) , English reformer and

martyr

MARTYR (Gr. pimp or µaprvs)

, born about 1495, was educated at

Cambridge

, where he was a member, and afterwards prior of the convent of Austin Friars, and graduated D.D. in 1523. He was apparently one of the

Cambridge

men who were wont to gather at the White Horse Tavern for Bible-reading and theological discussion early in the third decade of the 16th century. In 1526, he was brought before the vice-chancellor for preaching a heterodox sermon, and was subsequently examined by Wolsey and four other bishops. He was condemned to abjure or be burnt; and preferring the former alternative, was committed to the

Fleet

FLEET

prison and afterwards to the Austin Friars in London. He escaped thence to Antwerp in 1528, and also visited Wittenberg, where he made Luther's acquaintance. He also came across Stephen Vaughan, an agent of Thomas Cromwell and an advanced reformer, who recommended him to Cromwell: " Look well," he wrote, " upon Dr Barnes' book. It is such a piece of work as I have not yet seen any like it. I think he shall seal it with his blood " (Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. v. 593). In 1531 Barnes returned to England, and became one of the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

intermediaries between the English government and Lutheran Germany. In 1535 he was sent to Germany, in the hope of inducing Lutheran divines to approve of Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and four years later he was employed in negotiations connected with Anne of Cleves's

marriage

MARRIAGE

. The policy was Cromwell's, but Henry VIII. had already in 1538 refused to adopt Lutheran theology, and the statute of Six Articles (1539), followed by the king's disgust with Anne of Cleves (1540), brought the agents of that policy to ruin. An attack upon Bishop Gardiner by Barnes in a sermon at St Paul's Cross was the signal for a bitter struggle between the Protestant and reactionary parties in Henry's council, which raged during the

spring

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

of 1540. Barnes was forced to apologize and recant; and Gardiner delivered a

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of sermons at St Paul's Cross to counteract Barnes' invective. But a month or so later Cromwell was made

earl

EARL

of Essex, Gardiner's friend, Bishop

Sampson

SAMPSON, WILLIAM THOMAS (1840–1902)

, was sent to the Tower, and Barnes reverted to Lutheranism. It was a delusive victory. In July, Cromwell was attainted, Anne of Cleves was divorced and Barnes was burnt (3oth July 1J40). He also had an act of attainder passed against him, a somewhat novel distinction for a heretic, which illustrates the way in which Henry VIII. employed secular machinery for ecclesiastical purposes, and regarded heresy as an offence against the state rather than against the church. Barnes was one of six executed on the same day: two, William Jerome and Thomas Gerrard, were, like himself, burnt for heresy under the Six Articles; three, Thomas Abel, Richard Fetherstone and Edward Powell, were hanged for treason in denying the royal supremacy. Both Lutherans and Catholic] on the continent were shocked. Luther published Barnes'

confession

CONFESSION (Lat. confessio, from confiteor, acknowledge, confess)

with a preface of his own as Bekenntnis des Glaubens (1540), which is included in Walch's edition of Luther's Werke xxi. 186.
See Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. vols. iv.-xv. passim; Wriothesley's Chronicle; Foxe's Acts and Monuments, ed. G. Town-send. Burnet's Hist, of the Ref., ed. Pocock; Dixon's Hist. of the

End of Article: BARNES, ROBERT (1495-1540)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/BAI_BAR/BARNES_ROBERT_1495_1540_.html">
BARNES, ROBERT (1495-1540)
</a>

(Previous)
BARNES, JOSHUA (1654-1712)

(Next)
BARNES, SIR EDWARD (1776-1838)

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email