Cole, Henry, Dd

Cole, Henry, D.D., an English Romanist divine, and opponent of the Reformation, was born at Godshill, Isle of Wight, and was educated at Winchester School and New College, Oxford, where he became fellow in 1523. In 1540 he became rector of Chelmsford; in 1542, warden of New College. On the accession of Edward VI, Dr. Cole inclined to the Reformation, but afterwards returned to his original views, and after Queen Mary's accession he became a zealous Romanist. 'When Cranmer was burnt, Cole preached a violent sermon at the execution. In 1557 he was made "vicar-general of spiritualities" under Cardinal Pole. He was prominent in "all the proceedings against Protestants in those dreadful times." In the first year of Elizabeth he was fined 1000 marks "for contempt of the queen's majesty," and in May, 1560, he was sent to the Tower, where he did not remain long. He died in London in 1579. Among his writings are, Disputation with Cranmer and Ridley, 1554; Funeral Sermon at the burning of Cranmer (both in Fox's Arts and Monuments); Letters to Bishop Jewell, Lond. 1560, 8vo. — Strype, Annals; Burnet, History of the Reformation; Hook, Ecclesiastes Biography, 4:126.