JOHN

See also:

• JOHN LAMBERT [alias NICHOLSON] (d. 1538)
• LAMBERT, DANIEL (1770-1809)
• LAMBERT, FRANCIS (c 1486-153o)
• LAMBERT, JOHANN HEINRICH (1728–1777)
• LAMBERT, JOHN (1619-1694)

LAMBERT [

See also:

• ALIAS (Lat. for " at another time ")

alias

See also:

• NICHOLSON, HENRY ALLEYNE (1844-1899)
• NICHOLSON, JOHN (1822-18J7)
• NICHOLSON, WILLIAM (1753-1815)
• NICHOLSON, WILLIAM (1784-1844)

NICHOLSON] (d. 1538)  , English Protestant martyr, was born at Norwich and educated at Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. and was admitted in 1521 a fellow of Queen's College on the nomination of Catherine of Aragon . After acting for some years as a " mass-priest," his views were unsettled by the arguments of Bilney and Arthur; and episcopal persecution compelled him, according to his own account, to assume the name Lambert instead of Nicholson . He likewise removed to Antwerp, where he became chaplain to the English factory, and formed a friendship with Frith and Tyndale . Returning to England in 1531, he came under the notice of Archbishop Warham, who questioned him closely on his religious beliefs . Warham's death in August 1532 relieved Lambert from immediate danger, and he earned a living for some years by teaching Latin and Greek near the Stocks Market in London . The duke of Norfolk and other reactionaries accused him of heresy in 1536, but reforming tendencies were still in the ascendant, and Lambert escaped . In 1538, however, the reaction had begun, and Lambert was its first victim . He singled himself out for persecution by denying the Real Presence: and Henry VIII., who had just rejected the Lutheran proposals for a theological union, was in no mood to tolerate worse heresies . Lambert had challenged some views expressed by Dr John Taylor, afterwards bishop of Lincoln; and Cranmer as arch-bishop condemned Lambert's opinions . He appealed to the king as supreme head of the Church, and on the 16th of November Henry heard the case in person before a large assembly of spiritual and temporal peers . For five hours Lambert disputed with the king and ten bishops; and then, as he boldly denied that the Eucharist was the body of Christ, he was condemned to death by Cromwell as vicegerent . Henry's condescension and patience produced a great impression on his Catholic subjects; but Cromwell is said by Foxe to have asked Lambert's pardon before his execution, and Cranmer eventually adopted the views he condemned in Lambert .

Lambert was burnt at Smithfield on the 22nd of November . See Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.; Foxe's Acts and Monuments;

Froude, History; Dixon, Church History; Gairdner, Lollardy and the Reformation, Dict. of Nat . Biog. and authorities there cited . (A . F .