Stillingfleet, Edward.

PITTS THEOLOGY LIBRARY
ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS DEPT.

STILLINGFLEET, EDWARD, 1635-1699.
Papers, 1660-1695.

MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 004

EXTENT: 3 items.

ACCESS: Unrestricted

REPRODUCTION: All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

CITATION: Edward Stillingfleet Papers, MSS 004, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University.

Biographical Note

Edward Stillingfleet, born April 17, 1635 at Cranborne, Dorset was an English clergyman who rose to the position of Bishop of Worcester in the Church of England. He received his B.A. from St. John's College, Cambridge in 1653 and his M.A. in 1656. Stillingfleet wrote Irenicum in 1659 which suggested a compromise between Episcopacy and Presbyterianism. In 1662 he wrote Origines Sacrae in which he asserted the divine authority of the scriptures. Impressed by Origines Sacrae, Bishop Humphrey Henchman asked Stillingfleet to compose a defense for the Church of England against a charge of schism lodged by the Jesuits. As a result of the brilliance of his writings he received rapid promotion. In 1667 he became Chaplain to Charles II, in 1669 Canon of Canterbury, in 1677 Archdeacon of London, in 1678 Dean of London and in 1689, at the relatively young age of 54, he became Bishop of Worcester. Stillingfleet died at his house in Park Street, Westminster on March 27, 1699.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of three items. The first is a commonplace book (c. 1660) containing numerous extracts in Latin, English and Greek from works by St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, Ptolemy, Boethius, Sozomen, Melanchton, Bellarmine, Lancelot Andrewes and many other authors. The extracts are concerned mainly with the fundamentals of the Christian religion and are related to his Origines Sacrae. The second item consists of notes (c. 1695) about the advice that the Bishops should give the King to preserve the established religion and suppress the growth of popery. The notes are recorded on a single sheet. The third item is a small printed almanac (c. 1695). It is annotated with comments and extracts in several hands. The collection was purchased by the Pitts Theology Library in 1982.

Last Modified: 02/04/2004