RAVIS, Thomas (c.1559-1609)

Described as ‘the most formidable administrator’ of the Jacobean episcopate by Ken Fincham, and as a ‘well favoured lusty man’ by the puritan minister Richard Rogers, Ravis’ origins are obscure.26 K. C. Fincham, ‘Pastoral Roles of the Jacobean Episcopate in Canterbury Province’ (London Univ. Ph.D. thesis, 1985), 258; Two Elizabethan Puritan Diaries ed. M.M. Knappen, 31. He was certainly the maternal half-brother of one William Benson, who died in 1603, and consequently his mother can be identified as Mary Lisle, a member of an armigerous family from Reigate, Surrey. His father was presumably her second husband, identified as Thomas ‘Ranis’ [sic] in the 1623 herald’s visitation of Surrey. The Thomas ‘Ravys’ of Writtle in Essex and his wife Mary, who were party to a couple of deeds dated 1561, were therefore almost certainly his parents, although, according to his funeral monument, Ravis was born in Malden in Surrey.

Ravis received his schooling at Westminster, where he was elected to continue his studies at Christ Church, Oxford in July 1575. He had evidently already caught the attention of the great Elizabethan minister William Cecil^†, 1st Lord Burghley, high steward of Westminster, as he carried a letter of recommendation from Burghley when he went up to Oxford. Nevertheless, Christ Church refused to admit Ravis, claiming that they had received a letter from Elizabeth I recommending another scholar and that they did not have the space to admit Ravis as well. The following January Ravis appealed to Burghley, who intervened successfully on his behalf.27 J. Strype, Annals of the Reformation (1725), ii. 373-4.

According to Wood, Ravis was ordained ‘after he had taken the degrees in arts’ - presumably his MA in 1582 - and subsequently preached in the Oxford area ‘for some time with great liking’.28 Ath. Ox. ii. 849. He remained active in the pulpit throughout his career, although none of his sermons were published.29 Fincham, Prelate as Pastor, 86, 116; Chamberlain Letters ed. N.E. McClure, i. 223, 253. In May 1590 he obtained the reversion of a prebend in Westminster Abbey. A month later he was allowed to defer for a year the sermon he was required to deliver on taking his BD because he was employed by the archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift^†, to dispute with Catholics.30 CPR, 1589-90 ed. L.J. Wilkinson (L. and I. Soc. ccci), 106; Reg. Univ. Oxford, ii. pt. 1, p. 137. (Presumably he was involved in debates with imprisoned Catholic priests, as he is not known to have authored any polemics in defence of the Anglican Church.) In 1592, now one of Whitgift’s chaplains, Ravis was instructed to arrange a conference between the separatist Henry Barrow and the more moderate puritan, Thomas Cartwright.31 Paule, 50. It may have been as a result of this experience that Ravis came to see puritanism as a slippery slope towards radical sectarianism, as Barrow told Ravis that his conclusions were inferred from Cartwright’s arguments.32 Ibid. He was certainly subsequently staunchly anti-puritan. However, he was no anti-Calvinist, for on taking his doctorate of divinity in 1595, he upheld the implicitly Calvinist positions that worldly desire was sinful in the elect, that the elect could not obey the law of God, and that their salvation was entirely due to divine grace.33 Reg. Univ. of Oxford, ii. pt. 1, p. 198. Moreover, after his death it was alleged that he had been on bad terms with John Howson^*, the anti-Calvinist fellow of Christ Church and subsequently bishop of Durham. He was certainly instrumental in rehabilitating George Abbot^*, the Calvinist future archbishop of Canterbury, after the latter fell into disfavour for criticizing the Cheapside Cross.34 ‘John Howson’s Answers to Abp. Abbot’s Acccusations at his ‘Trial’ before James I at Greenwich, 10 June 1615’ ed. N. Cranfield and K. Fincham, Cam. Misc. xxix (Cam. Soc. ser. 4, xxxiv), 330, 335, 339.

In 1596, Ravis was nominated dean of Christ Church, Oxford by Thomas Sackville^*, 1st Lord Buckhurst (subsequently 1st earl of Dorset), chancellor of Oxford University. Although opposed by Robert Devereux^†, 2nd earl of Essex, Ravis obtained the post after Buckhurst secured the support of Robert Cecil^* (subsequently 1st earl of Salisbury), the son of Ravis’s former patron, Burghley.35 HMC Hatfield, vi. 195, 197; P. Williams, ‘Elizabethan Oxf. State, Church and Univ.’, Hist. of the Univ. of Oxf. Vol. III: the Collegiate Univ. ed. J. McConica, 433-4. Once in office, Ravis showed signs of the ruthless administrative efficiency which was to characterize his episcopal career. In February 1597, Dudley Carleton^* (subsequently 1st Viscount Dorchester), then a scholar at Christ Church, accused Ravis of ‘great tyranny’.36 SP12/262/40. In October 1602, Whitgift listed Ravis as one of six suitable candidates to fill the vacant bishopric of Norwich. Though listed last, presumably because he was the youngest of the six, his inclusion suggests that Whitgift had marked him out for further preferment.37 HMC Hatfield, xii. 437-8.

The accession of James I in 1603 was followed by renewed puritan agitation, most notably in the form of the Millenary Petition. In October of that year Ravis helped investigate criticism, reportedly voiced at Corpus Christi, of Oxford University’s official answer to the petition.38 N. Tyacke, ‘Religious Controversy’, Hist. of the Univ. of Oxf. Vol. IV: Seventeenth-Century Oxf. ed. N. Tyacke, iv. 574; Add. 28571, ff. 181, 182. Ravis also attended the Hampton Court Conference of January 1604, convened by James in response to the agitation, and was among those who supplied notes later used by William Barlow^* (subsequently bishop of Lincoln), in his anti-puritan account of the proceedings.39 W. Barlow, Summe and Substance of the Conference (1604), sig. A3v; p. 1. He was also involved in the one significant reform which arose from the conference, the new translation of the Bible, being one of the Oxford scholars appointed to work on the New Testament, which suggests that he was highly regarded as a Greek scholar.40 Recs. of the English Bible ed. A.W. Pollard, 52.

The following March Ravis was appointed prolocutor, or Speaker, of the lower house of Convocation. In this capacity, Richard Bancroft*, the bishop of London (subsequently archbishop of Canterbury), delivered to him on 2 May a draft of what became the 1604 Canons, ‘desiring him to take to him a committee … to consider of them’.41 Recs. of Convocation, viii. 5. Shortly thereafter, Ravis complained that he had been served with two subpoenas, despite his privilege as a member of Convocation. This may have been an attempt by puritans to obstruct the passage of the Canons. If so, it failed as the parties responsible were arrested at the king’s orders and forced to beg the pardon of Ravis and Convocation.42 Ibid. 6-7; R.G. Usher, Reconstruction of the English Church, i. 347. At around the same time, the lower house of Convocation challenged the jurisdiction of the House of Commons in matters of religion. This may have prompted Ravis’ interest in reviving the representation of the lower clergy in Parliament. He corrected a paper, originally drafted for Elizabeth I but intended to be presented to James, which argued that if the Commons were to deal with ecclesiastical issues then it was essential for the lower clergy to be represented there.43 CJ, i. 235a, 1000b; G. Burnet, Hist. of the Reformation of the Church of England, ed. N. Pocock (1865), ii. 104-5; v. 174-6.

Ravis was nominated for the vacant see of Gloucester in the autumn of 1604, possibly as reward for his services in Convocation. Although Whitgift had died earlier in the year, Buckhurst (by now lord treasurer and earl of Dorset) was certainly in a position to support Ravis, who was consecrated in May 1605. It is likely, too, that his appointment had the approval of Cecil and of Bancroft, soon to be archbishop of Canterbury. However, according to Sir John Harington, Ravis was reluctant to take up the position.44 J. Harington, Briefe view of the state of the Church of England (1653), 32. He initially insisted on being allowed to hold the deanery of Christ Church alongside his new bishopric, despite the protests of Howson and other Christ Church fellows, although in the event he relinquished the former on taking up his see. However, he kept his prebend at Westminster, presumably because it afforded him residence in Westminster, which his diocese lacked.45 HMC Hatfield, xvi. 309; CSP Dom. 1603-10, p. 196; Fincham, Prelate as Pastor, 42.

Ravis arrived at his diocese in August 1605 and proceeded to conduct a thorough visitation. He was particularly concerned to ensure clerical subscription to the ceremonies of the Church, ejecting three nonconformists. He was also keen to combat non-residence and promote the furnishings and fabric of parochial churches. As well as pursuing the problems revealed by the visitation, he vigorously administered ecclesiastical justice, rarely missing sittings of the diocesan ecclesiastical commission or consistory court except when Parliament was sitting.46 Fincham ‘Pastoral Roles’, 69, 108; Idem, Prelate as Pastor, 138, 169, 289. In addition, he endeared himself to his diocese by his generous hospitality and spent considerable amounts on the repair of the bishop’s official residences, neglected by his predecessors.47 B. Willis, Survey of the Cathedrals (1742), i. 723.

Ravis took his seat in the upper House on 5 Nov. 1605, the first day of the 1605-6 session, and attended 78 of the session’s 85 sittings, 92 per cent of the total. On 19 May he found time to attend both the Lords and a meeting of the chapter of Westminster Abbey.48 Acts of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, ii. 217. Although he made no recorded speeches, he was named to 23 of the 72 committees appointed by the House during the session, of which three were for conferences with the Commons; the remainder were legislative. Unsurprisingly, two of the conferences Ravis was appointed to attend concerned religion: to discuss strengthening the laws for protection of the Church in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot and the Commons’ ecclesiastical grievances.49 LJ, ii. 367b, 411a. Ravis was also appointed to consider two bills against recusants.50 Ibid. 419b. His former connection with Oxford University may explain why he was apparently named in his absence to the committee for a measure concerning Oriel College.51 Ibid. 429a. Some of his other committee appointments concerned Gloucestershire, including a private bill relating to the estates of Gray Brydges^*, 5th Lord Chandos, one of the county’s major landowners, although he was again not recorded as present when that measure was committed.52 Ibid. 386a. In addition, he was named to the committee for the measure to exempt Gloucestershire and other English counties from the jurisdiction of the council in the Marches, of which body, as bishop, he was probably an ex officio member.53 Ibid. 406b.

Ravis was one of the bishops appointed on 29 Nov. 1606 to preside over Convocation, which met at the same time as Parliament re-assembled for its third session.54 Recs. of Convocation, viii. 136. He remained an assiduous attender of the upper House, being recorded as present at 90 per cent of the sittings (95 out of 106). He also held two proxies, albeit jointly with others: those of Francis Godwin^*, bishop of Llandaff (a neighbouring diocese to that of Gloucester), and William James^*, bishop of Durham, who had also studied at Christ Church.55 LJ, ii. 449a. Once again he made no recorded speeches, although he preached the accession day sermon before both Houses at Westminster Abbey on 24 Mar. 1607.56 CJ, i. 354b. He was nominated to 27 of the session’s 41 committees. Twenty-six were legislative; the remaining committee was to attend a conference with the Commons on the Union, held on 25 November.57 LJ, ii. 453a. Ravis was presumably strongly opposed to the bill to prevent the enforcement of Canons that had been introduced without statutory authority, which he was appointed to help consider on 30 April.58 Ibid. 503a. His other committee nominations relating to the Church included measures to confirm an exchange of property between the archbishop of Canterbury and the crown, and to assign a manor and prebend in Devon to support a preaching minister and free school.59 Ibid. 489a, 503b.

Towards the end of the session, Ravis was promoted to the bishopric of London. Enthroned on 2 June 1607, he attended the Lords the same day. His new diocese may explain his appointment to consider a bill to confirm a fifteenth-century charter granted to Southampton, which was opposed by the London corporation.60 Ibid. 522b, 526a. However, he was not then present in the chamber. Another committee to which he was apparently named in absentia concerned an Oxford College, on this occasion All Souls.61 Ibid. 468a.

Ravis may have owed his promotion to the bishopric of London to the vigour with which he had enforced clerical conformity at Gloucester. One puritan diarist recorded that, on taking up his new appointment, he had sworn that ‘by the help of Jesu I will not leave one preacher in my diocese that doth not subscribe and conform’. His initial visitation, held in the autumn of 1607, detected a large number of nonconformists, the most stubborn of whom were referred to High Commission. In total five lecturers were suspended and five beneficed clergymen deprived of their livings. He was also concerned to promote a learned, preaching ministry, using the visitation to assess the abilities of the clergy of his diocese and referring at least a dozen to their archdeacons for additional tuition. In May 1608 he ordered the corporation of Colchester to replace their lecturership, then vacant but usually held by a puritan, with 22 local ministers, including his brother-in-law Robert Tinley, who were to preach in rotation. This was intended both to encourage conformity and to augment the income of the nearby parochial clergy. However, the Colchester authorities refused to comply. Nonetheless, they did not elect a new lecturer, the radical puritan William Ames, until after Ravis had died.62 Fincham, Prelate as Pastor, 138, 201, 217; Two Elizabethan Puritan Diaries, 31; T. Webster, Godly Clergy in Early Stuart Eng. 40-1; O.U. Kalu, ‘Jacobean Church and Essex Puritans’ (Toronto Univ. Ph.D. thesis, 1973), 416-17.

Ravis attended the prorogation meeting of Parliament on 27 October 1608.63 LJ, ii. 542a. On 2 Nov. 1609 he informed the earl of Salisbury that he was unwell, but hoped to be able to visit him when he had recovered.64 HMC Hatfield, xxi. 155. Ten days later he made his will, ‘confidently believing’ that he was saved and destined ‘to enjoy eternal life among the saints and holy elect’. On the 30th the English agent in Brussels was informed that Ravis’ recovery was doubtful. The bishop died a fortnight later at London House, his episcopal residence next to St Paul’s Cathedral. In accordance with his wishes, he was buried privately in the cathedral without ceremony. He bequeathed his entire estate to his ‘dear and most well beloved … and most loving and virtuous’ wife, who was appointed sole executrix and who, within a year, had married Sir John Borlase, lord justice of Ireland in the 1640s.65 HMC Downshire, ii. 195, 204, 376; J. Schofield, St Paul’s Cathedral Before Wren, 194; PROB 11/115, f. 60v; Oxford DNB, vi. 662.