Thomas Fuller

Thomas Fuller 1608-61, English clergyman and author. He was an able preacher and a noted wit. He adhered to the royalist cause during the civil war and the Commonwealth and served briefly as a royal chaplain. He is best known for his posthumously published Worthies of England (1662), an invaluable store of antiquarian information.

Fuller, Thomas (1608–61), became, after the Restoration, ‘chaplain in extraordinary’ to the king. He published The Historie of the Holy Warre (i.e. of the Crusades) in 1639; The Holy State and the Profane State (1642); Good Thoughts in Bad Times (1645); A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine (1650), a topographical and historical work; and The Church-History of Britain; with the History of the University of Cambridge (1655). The History of the Worthies of England (1662) is his best-known and most characteristic work. His writings are marked by a lively and eccentric curiosity, by ‘fantastic caprices’ ( L. Stephen), and by a fondness for aphorisms.

Fuller, Thomas (1608–61), Anglican historian. He held various benefices and managed to escape deprivation under O. Cromwell. His witty and popular style won him a wide reputation. His bestknown works are his Church-History of Britain (1655) and his Worthies of England (1662).