FITZHERBERT
86
FITZRALPH
of the king's ecclesiastical polity, particularly the
suppression of the monasteries and he bound his
children under oath never to accept or purchase any
abbey lands. In 1534 he brought out "that exact
work, exquisitely penned" (Coke, Reports X, Pref.),
"La Novelle Natura Brevium", which remained one
of the classical English law books until the end of the
eighteenth century. His last works were the con-
stantly reprinted "L'Office et Auctoryt6 des jus-
tices de peas" (1538), the first complete treatise on
the subject, and "L'Office de Viconts Bailiffes, Es-
cheators, Constables, Coroners". Sir Anthony was
twice married, first to Dorothy Willoughby who died
without issue, and secondly to Matilda Cotton by
whom he had a large family. His descendants have
always kept the Faith and still own his estate of Nor-
bury as well as the family seat at Swynnerton.
State Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of Henry VIII, III, ii, 889; IV, iii, 272; VI, 263; VII, 545, 581; Pitts, De Illust. Anglice Scriploribus (Paris, 1623), 707; Dodd, Ch. Hist. (Brus- sels, 1737), I; Burke, History of the Commoners of Great Britain (London, 1834), I, 78 sqq.; Foss, The Judges of England (Lon- don, 1848-1864); Idem, .4 Biog. Diet, of the Judges of England (London. 1870); Burke, Landed Gentry (London. 1882); Gil- low, Bibl. Diet. Eng. Calh. (London, 1886), s. v.; Rigg in Diet. Nat. Biog. (London, 1889), s. v. — For Sir Anthony's descend- ants see pedigree in Foley, Records of the Eng. Prov. S. J. (London, 1878), HI, 792.
Edwin Burton.
Fitzherbert, Thomas, b. 1552, at Swynnerton, Staffs, England; d. 17 Aug., 1040, at Rome. His father having died whilst Thomas was an infant, he was, even as a child, the head of an important family and the first heir born at Swynnerton, where his de- scendants have since flourished and still remain Catholics. He was trained to piety and firmness in his religion by his mother, and when sent to Oxford in his si.xteenth year he confessed his faith with a courage that grew with the various trials, of which he has left us an interesting memoir (Foley, " Records of English Provinces. J.", II, 210). At last he was forced to keep in hiding, and in 1572 he suffered imprisonment. In 15S0 he married and had issue, but he did not give up his works of zeal. When Campion and Person? com- menced their memoraljle mission, Fitzherbert put himself at their service, and helped Campion in the preparation of his "Decern Rationes" by verifying quotations and copying passages from the Fathers in various libraries, to which it would have been impos- sible for the Jesuit to obtain admission. Unable at last to maintain his position in face of the ever-growing persecution, he left England in 1582, and took up his residence in the north of France. Here, as a lay Catholic of birth, means, and unexceptionable char- acter, he was much trusted by the Catholic leaders, and as sedulously watched by Walsingham's emis- saries, whose letters contain frequent insinuations against his intentions and ulterior objects (see Foley, " Records of English Provinces. J.", II, 220-228). His wife died in 1588, and he soon afterwards took a vow of celibacy. He is ne.xt found in the household of the young Duke of Feria, whose mother was Lady Anne Dormer. With him or in his service he lived in Flanders, Spain, Milan, Naples, and Rome for some twenty years, until the duke died in 1607, on the point of setting out for a diplomatic mission to Germany, on which Fitzherbert was to have accompanied him. It was during this period that he was charged in 1598 by Squire with having tempted him to murder Queen Elizabeth; in 1.505 a charge of contradictory implica- tion had been preferred against him to the Spanish Government, viz. that he was an agent of Elizabeth. Both charges led to the enhancement of his reputation. An interesting series of 200 letters from the duke to him is preserved in the archives of the Archdiocese of Westminster. In 1601, while in Spain, he felt moved to take a vow to offer himself for the priesthood, and he was ordained in Rome 24 March, 1(302. After this he acted as Roman agent for the archpriest Harrison
until he was .succeeded, in 1609, by the future bishop,
Richard Smith. But in 1606 he had made a third
vow, namely, to enter the Society of Jesus, which he
did about the year 1613. He was soon given the im-
portant post of superior in Flanders, 1616 to 1618,
afterwards recalled and made rector of the English
College, Rome, from 1618 to 1639. He died there,
closing, at the age of eighty-eight years, a life that had
been filled with an unusual variety of important
duties. His principal works are: "A Defence of the
Catholycke Cause, By T. F., with an Apology of his
innocence in a fayned conspiracy of Edward Squire"
(St-Omer, 1602); "A Treatise concerning Policy and
Religion" (Douai, 1606-10, 1615), translated into
Latin in 1630. This work was highly valued for its
sound and broad-minded criticism of the lax political
principles professed in those days. He also wrote
books in the controversy that grew out of King
James's Oath of Allegiance: " A Supplement to [Father
Persons's] the Discussion of M. D. Barlow" (St-Omer,
1613); "A Confutation of certaine Absurdities uttered
by M. D. Andrews " (St-Omer, 1613) ; " Of the Oath of
Fidelity" (St-Omer, 1614); "The Obmutesce of F. T.
totheEpphataofD. Collins" (St-Omer, 1621). We
have also from his pen a translation of Turcellini's
"Life of St. Francis Xavier" (Paris, 1632).
Foley, Records of English Province S.J., II, 198-230, VII, 258; Cooper in Diet. Nat. Biog., s. v. J. H. PoLLEN.
Fitz Maurice, John. See Erie, Diocese of.
Fitzpatrick, John Bernard. See Boston, Dio- cese OF.
Fitzpatrick, William John, historian, b. in Dub- lin, Ireland, 31 Aug., 1830; d. there 24 Dec, 1895. The son of a rich merchant, he had ample means to indulge his peculiar tastes, and these were for biogra- phy, and especially for seeking out what was hitherto unknown and not always desirable to publish about great men. Educated partly at a Protestant school, partly at Clongowes Wood College, he early took to writing and in 1855 published his first work — "The Life, Times and Correspondence of Lord Cloncurry". The same year he wrote a series of letters to " Notes and Queries" charging Sir Walter Scott with plagiar- ism in his Waverley novels, and attributing the chief credit of having written these novels to Sir Walter's brother Thomas. The latter was dead, but his daugh- ters repudiated Fitzpatrick's advocacy and their father's supposed claims, and the matter ended there. In 1859 Fitzpatrick published " The Friends, Foes and Adventures of Lady Morgan ". From that date to his death, his pen was never idle. His research was great, his industry a marvel, his patience and care immense, nor is he ever consciously unjust. For these reasons, though his style is unattractive, his works are valuable, especially to the Irish historical student. Notable examples are "The Sham Squire" (1866), "Ireland before the Union" (1867), "The Correspondence of Daniel O'Connell" (1888), "Secret Service under Pitt" (1892). Fitzpatrick also wrote works dealing with Archbishop Whately, Charles Lever, Rev. Dr. Lanigan, Father Tom Burke, O.P., and Father James Healy of Bray. In 1876 he was appointed professor of history by the Hibernian Academy of Arts. Fitz- patrick's painstaking research as well as his spirit of fair play are specially to be commended and have earned words of praise from two men differing in many other things — Lecky and Gladstone.
Falkiner in Diet. Nat. Biog., supplement, II, s. v.; Free- man's Journal (Dublin, 26 Dec, 1895).
E. A. D'Alton.
Fitzralph, Richard, Archbishop of Armagh, b. at Dundalk, Ireland, about 1295; d.at Avignon, 16 Dec, 1300. He st\idipd in ()xford, where we first find mention of him in 1325 as an ex-fellow Mild teaclicrof Halliol Col- lege. He was madcdoctordf theology before 1331, and was chancellor of Oxford University in 1333. In 1334
