Regius Professor of Divinity

The Regius Professorships of Divinity are amongst the oldest professorships at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. A third chair existed for a period at Trinity College Dublin.

The Oxford and Cambridge chairs were founded by Henry VIII. The chair at Cambridge originally had a stipend of £40 per year (which is still paid to the incumbent by Trinity College), later increased by James I with the rectory of Somersham, Cambridgeshire.[citation needed]

Professors at Oxford

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(Sources: Oxford Historical Register 1200-1900 and supplements; and the Oxford University Calendar)

Professors at Cambridge

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Official coat of arms

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According to a grant of 1590, the office of Regius Professor of "Devinity" at Cambridge has a coat of arms with the following blazon:[21]

Coat of arms of Regius Professor of Divinity
Crest
On a wreath "silver and gules," a dove volant argent, with an olive-branch vert in his beak.
Escutcheon
Gules, on a cross ermine, between four doves argent, a book of the first, the leaves or, charged in the midst with the Greek letter θ (Theta) sable.

Professors at Dublin

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The Regius Professor of Divinity at Trinity College Dublin was established in 1607 as the "Professor of Theological Controversies".[22][23] The endowment was increased in 1674 by letters patent of Charles II.[23] The title "Regius Professor" was specified in 1761 by letters patent of George III.[23][24] The School of Divinity was founded in the late 18th century with the Regius Professor as its head.[25] The School's link to the Church of Ireland was controversial after the Irish Church Act 1869 disestablished the church and the University of Dublin Tests Act 1873 allowed non-Anglican fellows.[26] The debate became dormant after 1911 letters patent altered the School's governance.[26][27] It reignited in the 1960s, after which vacancies in the School of Divinity went unfilled,[26][27] including the Regius Professorship in 1982.[28] The School of Divinity was replaced in 1978–81 by a non-denominational School of Hebrew, Biblical and Theological Studies (renamed the Department of Religions and Theology in 2004) although the statutes mandating a School and Regius Professor of Divinity remain unrepealed.[27][28][29]

Professors were:[23]

Professors of Divinity

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Regius Professors of Divinity

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See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ "Randolph, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23120. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ "No. 64530". The London Gazette. 2 October 2024. p. 19142.
  3. ^ "Wigan, Edward (WGN508E)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  4. ^ "Madew, John (MDW529J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. ^ "Bucer, Martin (BCR550M)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  6. ^ "Young, John (YN535J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  7. ^ "Sedgwick, Thomas (SGWK529T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  8. ^ "Pilkington, James (PLKN538J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  9. ^ "Pilkington, Leonard (PLKN544L)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  10. ^ "Hutton, Matthew (HTN546M)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  11. ^ "Whitgift, John (WHTT550J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  12. ^ "Chaderton, William (CHDN555W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  13. ^ "Whitaker, William (WHTR564W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  14. ^ Cooper, Thompson (1896). "Richardson, John (d.1625)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 48. pp. 227–228.
  15. ^ "Ramsey, (Arthur) Michael, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40002. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  16. ^ Harvey, Anthony (27 May 2016). "The Revd Professor Dennis Eric Nineham". Obituary. Church Times. London. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  17. ^ Williams, Rowan (19 June 2008). "Henry Chadwick". Obituary. The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  18. ^ Thompson, David (24 October 2014). "The Rt Revd Stephen Whitefield Sykes". Obituary. Church Times. London. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  19. ^ "Elections, appointments, reappointments, and grants of title". Cambridge University Reporter (6382): 454. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  20. ^ "Professor David Fergusson OBE, DD, FRSE, FBA". 24 March 2021.
  21. ^ A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (1909), pp. 587-588.
  22. ^ a b Dixon 1902, p.24
  23. ^ a b c d "Regius Professor of Divinity". The Dublin University Calendar. 1867. pp. 247–249.
  24. ^ MacDonnell, Hercules Henry Graves (1844). Chartæ et statuta collegii Sacrosanctæ et individuæ Trinitatis reginæ Elizabethæ juxta Dublin. [Edited by H. H. G. Mac Donnell.] (in Latin). M.H. Gill. p. 147. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  25. ^ Dixon 1902, p.186
  26. ^ a b c Hanily, Sean (1 October 2016). "Church of Ireland Divinity Hostel – A Summary of RCBL MS1043". Archive of the Month. Church of Ireland. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  27. ^ a b c Webb, David (1993). "Appendix 1 – Divinity School Council Prefatory Note" (PDF). Consolidated Statutes. Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  28. ^ a b "The Gospel and CITC; A brief historical survey". Reform Ireland. 1 December 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  29. ^ "About Us". Department of Religions and Theology. Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  30. ^ Commissioners to inquire into certain matters relating to the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin (1878). Report. Command papers. Vol. C.2045. Dublin: HMSO. p. 6. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  31. ^ Gordon, Alexander (1899). "Ussher, James" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 58. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  32. ^ Curry, William, jun. The picture of Dublin: or, Stranger's guide to the Irish metropolis 1835- Page 34 "The Divinity School consists of the Regius Professor of Divinity, and Archbishop King's Lecturer, each of whom has his assistants."
  33. ^ Dublin University magazine: a literary and political journal 1841- Volume 17 - Page 634 "The whole Works of Richard Graves, D.D. late Dean of Ardagh, and Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Dublin, now first collected, with a Memoir of his Life and Writings, by his son, Richard Hastings Graves, D.D., Rector of Brigown ..."
  34. ^ The Dublin university magazine 1834 - Volume 4 - Page 352 "C. R. ELRINGTON, Regius Professor of Divinity."
  35. ^ The Irish Archaeological Society - Irish Archaeological Society 1841- Volume 1 - Page 118 "Rev. Charles R. Elrington, D.D., M.R.I.A., Regius Professor of Divinity, Dublin."
  36. ^ Howard, Joseph Jackson & Crisp, Frederick Arthur (1898). Visitation of Ireland. Vol. II. Privately printed. p. 69.
  37. ^ Comerford, Patrick (19 September 2013). "The Revd Professor RM Gwynn (1877-1962)". patrickcomerford.com. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  38. ^ "About". Trinity Centre for Biblical Studies. Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  39. ^ "Prizes and other Awards" (PDF). Calendar 2006–07. Trinity College Dublin. Newport White Prize. Retrieved 22 March 2017. This prize was founded in 1935 by a gift from N. J. D. White, Regius Professor of Divinity 1930–35
  40. ^ "Obituary: John Ernest Leonard Oulton" (PDF). Trinity News. Trinity College Dublin. 7 February 1957. p. 2. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  41. ^ a b "Academic who modernised the study of theology at Trinity". The Irish Times. 22 April 2000. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  42. ^ "J. E. L. Oulton". Harvard University Press. Harvard University. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  43. ^ Semple, Patrick (2007). The Rector who Wouldn't Pray for Rain. Mercier Press Ltd. p. 89. ISBN 9781856355605. Retrieved 22 March 2017.

Sources

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