Thomas Fuller
1608–1661
Church historian; "*Worthies of England*"; chaplain to Hopton’s army.
Biography
Of Queens' Cambridge and (later) Sidney Sussex Cambridge, Fuller was the great church historian and biographer of the period. Named to the Assembly, he attended only the earliest sessions (summer 1643) before withdrawing to the royalist side. He served as chaplain to Sir Ralph Hopton's army through the western campaigns and accompanied the king to Exeter. His prolific output — The Holy and Profane State (1642), The Church-History of Britain (1655) which is the first substantial English narrative of the English church from Augustine of Canterbury, and the posthumous History of the Worthies of England (1662) which gathered county-by-county biographies of every notable figure — is the genial royalist counterpart to the more polemical histories of the Civil War years. He conformed at the Restoration but died of fever in August 1661, before he could receive promotion.
Principal works
- The Holy and Profane State (1642)
- Church-History of Britain (1655)
- Worthies of England (1662)
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.