Rowland Taylor

Rowland Taylor (October 6, 1510 - February 9, 1555) was a Protestant martyr of the Tudor period.

Taylor's religious career

• In the late 1530's Taylor served as Hugh Latimer's chaplain and commissary general of the Diocese of Winchester.
• In March of 1538 Taylor was collated by Latimer to the parish church of Hanbury.
• When Hugh Latimer resigned, Taylor was taken under the wing of Thomas Cranmer, living with him and (1539) serving as his chaplain. He was ordained by Cranmer and admitted to the parish church of St. Swithins in Worcester, England. He was thus given his license to preach and did so in the diocese of London.
• On April 16, 1544 he was presented to the living of Hadleigh, Suffolk, thus becoming their spiritual leader and Rector.
• In 1543 the English Parliament banned Tyndale's English version and all public reading of the Bible by laymen. Religious persecution of Protestant clergy, especially by Roman Catholics, intensified in Britain at this time.
• In 1546 the Council of Trent, an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, decreed that the Latin Vulgate was the authoritative version of the Bible.
• In the Summer of 1547 Rowland Taylor was employed as a preacher for the royal visitation within the dioceses of Lincoln, Oxford, Lichfield and Coventry.
• On August 15 1547 he became canon of Rochester, the same King Henry the VIII died, January.
• 1548, Taylor was appointed Archdeacon of Bury St. Edmunds and preached at the request of the Lord Mayor at Whitsuntide or Pentecost.
• Edward VI, who reigned from 1547-1553, followed Henry VIII and in 1549 the Book of Common Prayer became the uniform Protestant liturgical guide in England.
• In 1550, Taylor was called to serve on a commission against Anabaptists. The same year he also helped to administer the vacant diocese of Norwich.
• In 1551, at age 41, Taylor was made Archdeacon of Cornwall in the Diocese of Exeter, was also appointed one of six preachers of Canterbury, Kent and was appointed chancellor to Bishop Nicholas Ridley. His leadership was expanded by serving on a commission to revise the ecclesiastical laws.
• In 1552, he helped administer the vacant Diocese of Worcester, England.