Regius Professor of Divinity explained

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.

Professors at Oxford

• Richard Smyth, DD, Fellow of Merton, and Principal of St Alban Hall (1535)
• Peter Martyr, DD, of the University of Padua, Canon of Christ Church (1548)
• Richard Smyth again; Canon of Christ Church (1554)
• Juan de Villagarcia, known as Joannes Fraterculus (a Spanish Dominican), BD, Divinity Reader of Magdalen College (1556)
• Richard Smyth again (1559)
• Lawrence Humphrey, MA, Fellow, afterwards President, of Magdalen; DD (1560)
• Thomas Holland, DD, Fellow of Balliol; Rector of Exeter (1589)
• Robert Abbot, DD, Master of Balliol; afterwards Bishop of Salisbury (1612)
• John Prideaux, DD, Rector of Exeter; afterwards Bishop of Worcester (1615)
• Robert Sanderson, DD, sometime Fellow of Lincoln (1642)
• Robert Crosse, BD, Fellow of Lincoln (1648)
• Joshua Hoyle, DD, Master of University (1648)
• John Conant, DD, Rector of Exeter (1654)
• Robert Sanderson, DD, restored; afterwards Bishop of Lincoln (1660)
• William Creed, DD, sometime Fellow of St John's (1661)
• Richard Allestree, DD, Canon of Christ Church (1663)
• William Jane, DD, Canon of Christ Church (1680)
• John Potter, DD, Fellow of Lincoln; Bishop of Oxford; afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury (1707)
• George Rye, DD, sometime Fellow of Oriel; Archdeacon of Oxford (1737)
• John Fanshawe, DD, Student of Christ Church, and Regius Professor of Greek (1741)
• Edward Bentham, DD, Canon of Christ Church (1763)
• Benjamin Wheeler, DD, Fellow of Magdalen (1776)
• John Randolph, DD, Student of Christ Church, Professor of Poetry, and Regius Professor of Greek; Bishop of London; afterwards Bishop of Bangor, then of London (1783)^[1]
• Charles Henry Hall, DD, Canon of Christ Church; afterwards Dean (1807)
• William Howley, DD, Canon of Christ Church; afterwards Bishop of London, Archbishop of Canterbury (1809)
• William Van Mildert, DD, Queen's; afterwards Bishop of Llandaff and Dean of St Paul's, Bishop of Durham (1813)
• Frodsham Hodson, DD, Principal of Brasenose (1820)
• Charles Lloyd, Student of Christ Church; Bishop of Oxford (1822)
• Edward Burton, DD, Student of Christ Church (1829)
• Renn Dickson Hampden, DD, Principal of St Mary Hall; afterwards Bishop of Hereford (1836)
• William Jacobson, MA, Vice-Principal of Magdalen Hall and Public Orator, sometime Fellow of Exeter; DD, afterwards Bishop of Chester (1848)
• Robert Payne Smith, MA, Pembroke; DD; afterwards Dean of Canterbury (1865)
• James Bowling Mozley, BD, sometime Fellow of Magdalen; DD (1871)
• William Ince, MA, Fellow of Exeter; DD; Canon of Christ Church (1878)
• Henry Scott Holland, MA, Hon DLitt, sometime Student of Christ Church; DD; Canon of Christ Church (1911)
• Arthur Cayley Headlam, DD, sometime Fellow of All Souls; Canon of Christ Church (1918)
• Henry Leighton Goudge, DD, Canon of Christ Church (1923)
• Oliver Chase Quick, MA, Canon of Christ Church; afterwards DD (1939)
• Leonard Hodgson, DD, Canon of Christ Church (1944)
• Henry Chadwick, DD, Canon of Christ Church (MusB, DD Cantab.; Hon DD Glas) (1959)
• Maurice Wiles, DD, Canon of Christ Church (BD, MA Cantab.) (1970)
• Keith Ward, BLitt, MA, DD, Canon of Christ Church (BA Wales; MA Cantab.; DD Oxon.; DD Cantab.; HonDD Glas) (1991)
• Marilyn McCord Adams, AB Illinois; PhD Cornell; Th M Princeton Theological Seminary; Canon of Christ Church (2004)
• Graham Ward Canon of Christ Church (MA, PhD Cantab.) (2012–present)

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

• See also: Theology Faculty of the University of Oxford

Professors at Cambridge

• Edward Wigan, alias Guy (1540)
• John Madew (c.1545)
• Martin Bucer (1550)
  • In 1553 Archbishop Thomas Cranmer offered the Regius Chair to Philip Melanchthon, who declined the offer
• John Young (1555)
• Thomas Sedgwick (1557)
• James Pilkington (1559)
• Leonard Pilkington (1561)
• Matthew Hutton (1562)
• John Whitgift (1567)
• William Chaderton (1569)
• William Whitaker (1580)
• John Overall (1596)
• John Richardson (1607)^[2]
• Samuel Collins (1617)
• John Arrowsmith (1651)
• Anthony Tuckney (1656)
• Peter Gunning (1661)
• Joseph Beaumont (1674)
• Henry James (1700)
• Richard Bentley (1717)
• John Whalley (1742)
• John Green (?)
• Thomas Rutherforth (1745)
• Richard Watson (1771)
• John Kaye (1816)
• Thomas Turton (1827)
• Alfred Ollivant (1843)
• James Amiraux Jeremie (1850)
• Brooke Foss Westcott (1870)
• Henry Barclay Swete (1890)
• Vincent Henry Stanton (1916)
• Alexander Nairne (1922)
• Charles Earle Raven (1932)
• Arthur Michael Ramsey (1950)^[3]
• John Burnaby (1952)
• Edward Craddock Ratcliffe (1958)
• Dennis Eric Nineham (1964)^[4]
• Geoffrey Hugo Lampe (1971)
• Henry Chadwick (1979)^[5]
• Stephen Sykes (1985)^[6]
• David Frank Ford (1991)
• Ian Alexander McFarland (2015)^[7]
• David Fergusson (2021)^[8]

Professors at Dublin

The Regius Professor of Divinity at Trinity College Dublin was established in 1607 as the "Professor of Theological Controversies". The endowment was increased in 1674 by letters patent of Charles II. The title "Regius Professor" was specified in 1761 by letters patent of George III.^[9] The School of Divinity was founded in the late 18th century with the Regius Professor as its head.^[10] 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. The debate became dormant after 1911 letters patent altered the School's governance.^{[11] [12]} It reignited in the 1960s, after which vacancies in the School of Divinity went unfilled, including the Regius Professorship in 1982.^[13] 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.^{[12] [13] [14]}

Professors were:^[15]

Professors of Divinity

• 1: 1591– (Luke Challoner)^[16]
• 2: 1607–21 James Ussher^[17]
• 3: 1621–23 (Samuel Ward)
• 4: 1623–48 Joshua Hoyle^[18]
• 5: 1662–70 Richard Lingard
• 6: 1670–78 Michael Ward
• 7: 1678–92 William Palliser
• 8: 1693–99 George Browne
• 9: 1699– Owen Lloyd
• 10: 1714– Richard Baldwin
• 11: 1722– Claudius Gilbert
• 12: 1743– Henry Clarke
• 13: 1746– John Pellisier
• 14: 1753– John Lawson
• 15: 1759– Brabazon Disney

Regius Professors of Divinity

• 15: 1761– Brabazon Disney
• 16: 1790–1819 James Drought
• 17: 1819–29 Richard Graves, D.D. Dean of Ardagh^{[19] [20]}
• 18: 1829–50 Charles Richard Elrington^{[21] [22]}
• 19: 1850–62 Joseph Henderson Singer
• 20: 1852–66 Samuel Butcher^[23]
• 21: 1866–88 George Salmon
• 22: 1888–1917 John Gwynn^[24]
• 23: 1917–30 Alan Hugh McNeile^[25]
• 24: 1930–35 Newport John Davis White^[26]
• 25: 1935–57 John Ernest Leonard Oulton^{[27] [28] [29]}
• 26: 1957–62 Richard Randall Hartford
• 27: 1964–82 Hugh Frederic Woodhouse^[30]

See also

• Regius Professor

References

Sources

• Book: Dixon, W. Macneile. William Macneile Dixon. 1902. Trinity College, Dublin. College Histories. London. F. E. Robinson & Co.. B000J2LZNK. 02021239. 2572402. 1091957W. 22 August 2015.

Notes and References

1. 23120. Randolph, John.
2. Richardson, John (d.1625) . Cooper . Thompson . Thompson Cooper . 48 . 227-228 . 1.
3. 40002. Ramsey, (Arthur) Michael, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury.
4. News: Harvey . Anthony . 27 May 2016 . The Revd Professor Dennis Eric Nineham . Obituary . . London . 10 September 2019.
5. News: Williams . Rowan . Rowan Williams . 19 June 2008 . Henry Chadwick . Obituary . . London . 10 September 2019.
6. News: Thompson . David . 24 October 2014 . The Rt Revd Stephen Whitefield Sykes . Obituary . . London . 10 September 2019.
7. Elections, appointments, reappointments, and grants of title . . 6382 . 15 April 2015 . 454 . 5 September 2019.
8. Web site: Professor David Fergusson OBE, DD, FRSE, FBA. 24 March 2021.
9. Book: MacDonnell, Hercules Henry Graves. Chartæ et statuta collegii Sacrosanctæ et individuæ Trinitatis reginæ Elizabethæ juxta Dublin. [Edited by H. H. G. Mac Donnell.]]. 23 March 2017. 1844. M.H. Gill. la. 147.
10. https://archive.org/stream/trinitycollegedu00dixouoft#page/186 Dixon 1902, p.186
11. Web site: Church of Ireland Divinity Hostel – A Summary of RCBL MS1043. Hanily. Sean. 1 October 2016. Archive of the Month. Church of Ireland. 22 March 2017.
12. Web site: https://www.tcd.ie/registrar/assets/documents/statutes/64-Appendices_Divinity_School_CouncilPDF[67.2KB.pdf Appendix 1 – Divinity School Council Prefatory Note]. Webb. David. 1993. Consolidated Statutes. Trinity College Dublin. 22 March 2017.
13. Web site: The Gospel and CITC; A brief historical survey.. 1 December 2004. Reform Ireland. 22 March 2017.
14. Web site: About Us. Department of Religions and Theology. Trinity College Dublin. 22 March 2017.
15. Book: The Dublin University Calendar. https://books.google.com/books?id=6m0tAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA247. 1867. 247–249. Regius Professor of Divinity.
16. Book: Report . Commissioners to inquire into certain matters relating to the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin . Command papers . 1878 . HMSO . Dublin . C.2045 . 6. 23 March 2017.
17. Ussher, James. 58. Alexander. Gordon.
18. https://archive.org/stream/trinitycollegedu00dixouoft#page/186 Dixon 1902, p.24
19. 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."
20. 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 ..."
21. The Dublin university magazine 1834 - Volume 4 - Page 352 "C. R. ELRINGTON, Regius Professor of Divinity."
22. 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."
23. Book: Howard . Joseph Jackson . Crisp . Frederick Arthur . Visitation of Ireland . II . 69 . Privately printed . 1898 . amp .
24. Web site: The Revd Professor RM Gwynn (1877-1962) . Patrick . Comerford . patrickcomerford.com . 19 September 2013 . 5 October 2013.
25. Web site: About. Trinity Centre for Biblical Studies. Trinity College Dublin. 22 March 2017.
26. Web site: Prizes and other Awards. PDF. Calendar 2006–07. Trinity College Dublin. Newport White Prize . y. This prize was founded in 1935 by a gift from N. J. D. White, Regius Professor of Divinity 1930–35 . 22 March 2017.
27. News: Obituary: John Ernest Leonard Oulton. 7 February 1957. Trinity News. Trinity College Dublin. 2. 23 March 2017.
28. News: Academic who modernised the study of theology at Trinity. 22 April 2000. The Irish Times. 22 March 2017.
29. Web site: J. E. L. Oulton. Harvard University Press. Harvard University. 22 March 2017.
30. Book: Semple, Patrick. The Rector who Wouldn't Pray for Rain. 22 March 2017. 2007. Mercier Press Ltd. 9781856355605. 89.