John Rainolds

reynolds) (1549-1607. Moderate Puritan theologian. Born at Pinhoe in Devon, he was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where after graduation he became a tutor and lecturer in Greek. One of his students was Richard Hooker,* Rainolds's lectures brought him fame in the university, but after some controversy in his college, he moved in 1586 to Queen's College; he also held at this time a lectureship “for the confutation of popish tenets.” When Queen Elizabeth visited the university in 1592, it is said, she advised him to proceed in religion with moderation. In December 1593 he was made dean of Lincoln in order to facilitate his subsequent promotion to the presidency of Corpus Christi. He was well known as a moderate Puritan and a convinced Calvinist. He used the Book of Common Prayer, but objected to certain ceremonies—e.g., the churching of women and use of the sign of the cross. At the Hampton Court Conference* in 1604 he represented the Puritan interest, and afterward took a major part in the translation of the Bible (King James Version).