Prideaux’s Circle

This chapter discusses Prideaux’s relations with his family, his College colleagues, and his allies in the church, that is, his circle. It sets out the background to, and evidence for, his two marriages, to Anne Goodwin, daughter of the dean of Christ Church, and to Mary Reynell, member of a Devon gentry family, and the children which the first marriage produced, noting the extent to which the children became the focus of literary attention. Stress is laid on Prideaux’s strong family affections, which also extended to his natal family in Devon. The chapter then outlines the careers of those colleagues to whom he was closest and enlarges on the qualities as tutors, college officers, and scholars which commended them to Prideaux: men such as Nathanael Carpenter and Henry Tozer. Lastly, his relations with a number of leading Calvinist churchmen, including Daniel Featley and James Ussher, are analysed. The degree to which they shared common opinions and interests, largely in opposition to the growing strength of Arminianism within the church, is a central theme.