Christopher Cartwright
1602–1658
York Hebraist and rabbinics scholar; minor royalist sympathies.
Biography
Of Peterhouse Cambridge, then a Yorkshire ministry at All Saints North Street York. Cartwright was a learned Hebraist and rabbinics scholar of the same generation as Lightfoot and Selden, though without their public profile — Electa Thargumico-Rabbinica (1648) draws on Targumic and rabbinic sources for biblical exegesis, and Mellificium Hebraicum (posthum. 1660) is a substantial collection of Jewish learning. Named to the Assembly but he attended rarely; his sympathies were moderate-royalist and he opposed both the Erastians and the more aggressive Presbyterian wing. He continued at York through the Commonwealth and died there in 1658.
Principal works
- Electa Thargumico-Rabbinica (1648)
- Doctrine of Faith Plainly Discovered (1649)
- Mellificium Hebraicum (posthum. 1660)
Named in the ordinance
The 1643 ordinance that summoned the Assembly named some 121 divines. A number — chiefly episcopalians and royalists who heeded the King's proclamation forbidding the Assembly — never took their seats or sat only briefly; a few were later expelled. They are listed here for completeness as part of the originally-summoned roster.