Richard Hooker: Architect of the Anglican Via Media

Richard Hooker

A Church of England clergyman and theologian. As one of the premier English theologians of the late 16th century, he authored Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. Emphasizing reason, tradition, and experience alongside scriptural revelation, he defended the ecclesiastical structure and faith of the Church of England. While historically regarded as a pioneer of the "Anglican Via Media"—a middle way between Protestantism and Catholicism—recent scholarship often highlights the need to understand his thought within the context of the Reformed theology of his era.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Richard Hooker
1554	Birth of Richard Hooker (Period: March 25, 1554, Location: Exeter, Devon (Heavitree, in present-day Exeter))
1569	Education at Exeter Grammar School (Richard Hooker, Age: 14 years old, Period: c. 1554–1569, Location: Exeter, Devon)
1577	Admission to Corpus Christi College, Oxford (Richard Hooker, Age: 22 years old, Period: c. 1569–1577, Location: Oxford)
1579	Ordination as a Clergyman (Richard Hooker, Age: 25 years old, Period: August 14, 1579, Location: London)
1580	Conflict Over the Election of the President of Corpus Christi College (Richard Hooker, Age: 25 years old, Period: c. 1580, Location: Oxford, Corpus Christi College)
1581	Religious Controversy Over the St Paul's Cross Sermon (Age: 26 years old, Period: c. 1581, Location: London, St Paul's Cross) Sermon at St Paul's Cross (Richard Hooker, Age: 26 years old, Period: 1581, Location: London, St Paul's Cross)
1584	Appointment as Rector of Drayton Beauchamp (Richard Hooker, Age: 29 years old, Period: 1584, Location: Drayton Beauchamp, Buckinghamshire)
1585	Appointment as Master of the Temple (Richard Hooker, Age: 30 years old, Period: 1585, Location: London, Temple Church)
1588	Marriage (Richard Hooker, Joan Churchman, Age: 33 years old, Period: 1580s. Sources suggest 1584, while others state 1588, Location: Presumed London, specific marriage location unknown)
1590	Beginning of Writing Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (Richard Hooker, Age: 35 years old, Period: Late 1580s–1590s, Location: London, etc.)
1591	Obtaining a Prebend at St Andrew's Church (Richard Hooker, Age: 36 years old, Period: 1591, Location: Boscombe, Wiltshire)
1593	Publication of Books I–IV of Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (Age: 38 years old, Period: 1593, Location: London)
1595	Appointment as Rector of Bishopsbourne (Richard Hooker, Age: 40 years old, Period: 1595, Location: Bishopsbourne, Kent)
1597	Publication of Book V of Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (Age: 42 years old, Period: 1597, Location: England)
1600	Death of Richard Hooker (Age: 46 years old, Period: November 2, 1600 (aged 46))
Unknown	Dispute with Walter Travers at the Temple Church (Period: c. 1585–c. 1586, Location: London, Temple Church)

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Europe World

Group	List
The English royal family	Henry Tudor Edward Tudor Mary Tudor Elizabeth Tudor
The English Reformation	Thomas Cranmer William Tyndale Thomas More John Fisher Hugh Latimer John Foxe John Jewel Richard Hooker
Renaissance science	Nicolaus Copernicus Andries van Wesel Gerard de Kremer John Napier Filippo Bruno Galileo Galilei
Renaissance Art	Leonardo da Vinci Benvenuto Cellini Andrea Palladio Philibert de l'Orme Pierre Lescot Jean Goujon

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Richard Hooker: Architect of the Anglican Via Media

Richard Hooker

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