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Back to article: RICHARD STERNE (c. 15gb-1683)

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STERNE, RICHARD (c. 15gb-1683), English divine, arch-bishop of York, was born at Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and was educe ted at the free-school in that town and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was elected fellow of Corpus Christi College in 1620; in 1633 he became chaplain to Archbishop Laud and in 1634 master of Jesus College, Cambridge, and rector of Yelverton, Somerset. For his zeal in helping the royalist cause with college plate he suffered imprisonment at the order of parliament and lost his appointments. He attended Laud at his execution, and during the Commonwealth kept a school at Stevenage, Hertfordshire. At the Restoration he was rein-stated as master of Jesus College and soon after was made bishop of Carlisle. With George Griffith, bishop of St Asaph, and Brian Walton, bishop of Chester, he was appointed by Convocation to revise the Prayer Book. In 1664 he was raised to the arch-bishopric of York. He had impoverished Carlisle, and in his new see, according to Burnet (who calls him " a sour ill-tempered man "), " minded chiefly the enriching of his family." For his regard to the duke of York's interests he was suspected of leaning towards Roman Catholicism. He died on the loth of June 1683.
He helped Brian Walton with the Polyglot Bible and wrote a book on logic, Summa logicae (London, 1685).
He has also been credited with The Whole Duty of Man, which must, however, be assigned to the royalist divine Richard Allestree (1619-1681), provost of Eton College, whose original was consider-ably altered by his literary executor, John Fell (1625-1686), bishop of Oxford.