Stephen Bateman
Stephen Bateman was a prominent scholar and cleric from Bruton, Somersetshire, born no later than 1543. He is often recognized for his contributions to literature and scholarship, particularly during the Elizabethan era. Despite not holding a university degree, Bateman served as the chaplain to Matthew Parker, the Archbishop of Canterbury, while also managing the archbishop's extensive library. He was instrumental in updating the first British Encyclopedia, which was originally compiled in the 13th century, making it a relevant reference for his time. His works, such as The Trauayled Pylgrime and The Golden Booke of the Leaden Goddes, reflect a blend of antiquarian interest and Christian allegory, tackling themes like Greek mythology from a Protestant perspective. His most widely known publication, The Doome Warning All Men to the Judgemente, was a translation that addressed omens and their interpretations. Bateman's scholarly pursuits were closely tied to the Protestant Reformation and aimed at enhancing English learning during a transformative period in history. He continued his work in academia and literature even after Parker's death in 1575, leaving a lasting impact on the intellectual landscape of his time.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Stephen Bateman
Nonfiction Writer
- Born: c. 1510
- Birthplace: Bruton, Somersetshire, England
- Died: 1584
Biography
Stephen Bateman undoubtedly pronounced his name “Bateman” and some modern sources spell it that way for the sake of phonetic clarity, but he always signed himself “Dr. Stephen (or Stephan) Bateman,” sometimes adding “professor of divinitie” to emphasize the fact that he was a scholar rather than a mere clergyman. He was born no later than 1543 in Bruton, Somersetshire, the eldest son of Henry Bateman, formerly known as Henry Bruer, an immigrant from the Netherlands. His mother, the former Elizabeth Whithorne, went on to bear ten more children.
There is no record of Bateman having obtained a university degree. He appears to have been resident in Leeds before marrying Sybil Baker of Middlesex, eventually settling in London in the late 1560’s. In 1570, he was installed at the rectory of St. Mary in Newington Butts, a short walk from Lambeth Palace, where he was attached to the household of Matthew Parker, the archbishop of Canterbury. He was listed in records as the archbishop’s chaplain, but his principal job seems to have been to assist Parker in gathering his vast library of sixty-seven hundred volumes, which was later to form the basis of Corpus Christi College library. Bateman was given the living of Merstham in Surrey in 1571 to assist in the support of his family.
Parker, one of England’s leading Protestants, had been deprived of his position during Queen Mary’s reign (1553-1558), but by 1570, he was one of the most powerful men in England. He may well have employed Bateman because of the reputation he had gained as an antiquary, supported by the endeavors of his first important scholarly task: the updating of new editions of the first British Encyclopedia, based on a text originally compiled by the thirteenth century Franciscan friar Bartolomæus Anglicus. This had been printed for the first time by Wynkyn de Worde in 1533 but was well out of date by then. Bateman took on the task of revitalizing its function as a reference book for the Elizabethan era, augmenting it in order to fill in the history of the intervening three centuries. William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser both used the 1582 edition—the most extensive of those augmented by Bateman—as a source.
Bateman continued to parade his extensive learning in several other texts, most notably the allegorical romance The Trauayled Pylgrime, Bringing Newes from All Partes of the Worlde, Such Like Scarce Harde of Before. Bateman also wrote a book that tackled the subject of Greek mythology in a tentative manner that seems odd to the modern reader but must have seemed apt to an early Protestants dealing with pagan beliefs: The Golden Booke of the Leaden Goddes. He attempted to reconstruct Greek myth as Christian allegory in The New Arrival of the Three Gracis into Anglia, but his other works were more explicitly pietistic. A Christall Glasse of Christian Reformation is a collation. His most widely reprinted work, The Doome Warning All Men to the Judgemente, was a translation of a book of “prodigies”—exceptional occurrences construed as omens—by Conradus Lycosthenes. He survived Parker—who died in 1575—by nine years, carrying forward his patron’s quest to restore the condition of English learning within the framework of Protestantism.