James Brooks (or Brookes) (May 1512 – 7 September 1558) was an English Catholic clergyman and Bishop of Gloucester.[1]


James Brooks
Bishop of Gloucester
ChurchRoman Catholic
Installed6 July 1554
Term ended1558
PredecessorJohn Hooper
SuccessorRichard Cheyney
Orders
Consecration1 April 1554
by Edmund Bonner
Personal details
BornMay 1512
Died7 September 1558
BuriedGloucester Cathedral

Life

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Born in May 1512, in Hampshire, southern England, Brooks became a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1532, took the B.A. that same year and in 1546 the D.D. He was Master of Balliol College, Oxford in the years 1547–1555.[2] He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford during 1552–3.[3][4]

Widely known as an eloquent preacher, with the deprivation of John Hooper on the accession of Queen Mary, Brooks succeeded him as Bishop of Gloucester by papal provision in 1554 and was consecrated on 1 April.

In 1555, Brooks was one of the papal sub-delegates in the Royal Commission for the trial of the Oxford Martyrs, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley. Brooks was a man not only of learning but also of integrity. He refused to degrade Ridley, probably on the ground that Ridley's consecration in 1547 had been according to the invalid form which was established by law very soon after that date. If, as the Protestant polemicist John Foxe asserts, Brooks refused to degrade Latimer as well, his position may have been based upon the fact that Latimer had lived for several years as a simple clergyman.

Brooks died in July or August 1558.[1] He was buried in Gloucester Cathedral, but without a monument.

References

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  1. ^ a b Litzenberger, Caroline. "Brooks, James". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3565. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Salter, H. E.; Lobel, Mary D., eds. (1954). "Balliol College". A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3: The University of Oxford. Victoria County History. pp. 82–95. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Previous Vice-Chancellors". University of Oxford, UK. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  4. ^ University of Oxford (1888). "Vice-Chancellors". The Historical Register of the University of Oxford. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 21–27. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
Attribution

  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainHerbermann, Charles, ed. (1907). "James Brookes". Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Academic offices
Preceded by Master of Balliol College, Oxford
1547–1555
Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University
1552–1553
Succeeded by
Church of England titles
Preceded by Bishop of Gloucester
1554–1558
Succeeded by