Spoleto, and from 1537–40 he was prior of San Piero ad Aram in
Naples. His sojourn in Naples proved formative, for there he became
part of the circle of Juan de Valdés and Marcantonio Flaminio.^63 If
Martyr had never encountered Protestantism before, it is certain that he
did in Naples. Not only was de Valdés a humanist, but it is clear that he
embraced Luther’s notion of justification by faith alone, although with
some added, even Erasmian, overtones.^64 It was also in Naples while in
de Valdés’ circle that Martyr met Bernardino Ochino, the Master
General of the Capuchins, who like Martyr also apostatized in 1542. In
1541 Martyr became prior of San Ferdiano in Lucca, establishing
himself as a Reformer, creating an academy and beginning to lecture on
St Paul’s epistles and the Psalms. But having soon fallen under suspicion
of heresy, when summoned by the Inquisition, Martyr fled Italy. Martyr
first went to Zurich, but soon went to Strasbourg, where in October
1542 he took up teaching the Old Testament, establishing himself within
the orbit of the Reformed side of Protestantism. With the defeat of the
Schmalkaldic League in April 1547, Martyr’s safe existence in the
Empire, given his apostasy, at best was tenuous, so in October 1547,
accompanied by his compatriot Bernardino Ochino, he again took flight,
this time to England.^65
Cranmer conferred on Martyr the position at Oxford of the Regius
Professor of Divinity, the post Henry VIII established; and whose sole
previous appointment, the aforementioned Richard Smith, three years
Martyr’s junior, remained resident at Oxford while Martyr was there.^66
Martyr became for Jewel a spiritual father, as Jewel would address him
in his later correspondence.^67 But Martyr was much more than that: his
22 JOHN JEWEL AND THE ENGLISH NATIONAL CHURCH
(^63) For Martyr’s life in Italy see Philip J.M. McNair, Peter Martyr in Italy: An Anatomy
of Apostasy(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967). For Martyr’s association with de Valdés see
Frank A. James, ‘Juan de Valdés before and after Peter Martyr Vermigli: The Reception of
theGemina Praedestinatioin Valdés’ Later Thought’, Archiv für Reformationsgeschicte.
83 (1992), pp. 180–208.
(^64) James, ‘de Valdés’, pp. 186–88.
(^65) The last 30 years have seen an increase in interest in Martyr. His collected writings
are now being translated by the Peter Martyr Society, in conjunction with Sixteenth
Century Studies, and Truman State University Press, and much of the bibliography on
Martyr is incorporated into the bibliography of this present volume. More importantly, Fr
John Patrick Donnelly edited the Bibliography of the Works of Peter Martyr Vermigli
(Kirksville, MO, 1999) in which Marvin Anderson included a fairly comprehensive
bibliography of the secondary literature. Jason Zuidema’s forthcoming dissertation
(McGill University) on Martyr and Augustine shall also contain a more up-to-date
bibliography on Martyr.
(^66) For Martyr at Oxford see Philip M.J. McNair, ‘Peter Martyr in England’, in Peter
Martyr and Italian Reform, ed. Joseph C. McLelland (Waterloo, ON, 1980), pp. 65–84.
(^67) Humphrey notes that Parkhurst as well held Martyr in high regard, that ‘he cared for
Peter Martyr as a father, he loved Jewel as a son’, Vita Iuelli, p. 31.
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