Ralph Cudworth (; 1617 – 26 June 1688) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian Hebraist, classicist, theologian and philosopher, and a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists who became 11th Regius Professor of Hebrew (1645–1688), 26th Master of Clare Hall (1645–1654), and 14th Master of Christ's College (1654–1688).J.A. Passmore, Ralph Cudworth: An Interpretation (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1951) A leading opponent of Hobbes's political and philosophical views, his magnum opus was his The True Intellectual System of the Universe (1678).D.A. Pailin, 'Cudworth, Ralph (1617–88)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).
Family background Cudworth's family reputedly originated in Cudworth (near Barnsley), Yorkshire, moving to Lancashire with the marriage (1377) of John de Cudworth (died 1384) and Margery (died 1384), daughter of Richard de Oldham (living 1354), lord of the manor of Werneth, Oldham. The Cudworths of Werneth Hall, Oldham, were lords of the manor of Werneth/Oldham, until 1683. Ralph Cudworth (the philosopher)'s father, Ralph Cudworth (Snr), was the posthumous-born second son of Ralph Cudworth (d.1572) of Werneth Hall, Oldham.Edwin Butterworth, Historical Sketches of Oldham (John Hirst: Oldham, 1856), pp. 22–23 (Google)
The philosopher's father, Ralph Cudworth (1572/73–1624), was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a BA in 1592/93 and an MA in 1596. Emmanuel College (founded by Sir Walter Mildmay (1584), and under the direction of its first Master, Laurence Chaderton) was, from its inception, a stronghold of Reformist, Puritan and Calvinist teaching, which shaped the development of Puritan ministry, and contributed largely to the emigrant ministry in America.'History of the College' Emmanuel College website ; S. Bendell, C. Brooke, and P. Collinson, A History of Emmanuel College (Boydell Press: Woodbridge 1999). Ordained in 1599 and elected to a college fellowship by 1600,S. Bush Jnr and C.J. Rasmussen, The Library of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 1584–1637 (Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 77–79 and p. 210 (Google). Cudworth Snr was much influenced by William Perkins, whom he succeeded, in 1602, as Lecturer of the Parish Church of St Andrew the Great, Cambridge.B. Carter, 'The standing of Ralph Cudworth as a Philosopher' in G.A.J. Rogers, T. Sorell, and J. Kraye (eds), Insiders and Outsiders in Seventeenth Century Philosophy (Routledge: London, 2009), at p. 100 (see note 4). He was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1603.Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses i(1), p. 431. He edited Perkins's Commentary on St Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (1604),H.C. Porter, Reformation and Reaction in Tudor Cambridge (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1958), pp. 264–66 (Google) with a dedication to Robert, 3rd Lord Rich (later 1st Earl of Warwick), adding a commentary of his own with dedication to Sir Bassingbourn Gawdy.A Commentarie or Exposition, upon the Five First Chapters of the Epistle to the Galatians: penned by the godly, learned, and iudiciall divine, Mr. W. Perkins. Now published for the benefit of the Church, and continued with a supplement upon the sixt chapter, by Rafe Cudworth Bachelour of Divinitie (John Legat: London, 1604). Lord Rich presented him to the Vicariate of Coggeshall, Essex (1606) to replace the deprived minister Thomas Stoughton, but he resigned this position (March 1608), and was licensed to preach from the pulpit by the Chancellor and Scholars of the University of Cambridge (November 1609).Church of England clergy database, CCEd Records ID: 193711 (Vacancy) He then applied for the rectorate of Aller, Somerset (an Emmanuel College living)R.W. Dunning (ed.), 'Parishes: Aller ', A History of the County of Somerset, iii (1974), pp. 61–71 (British History Online). and, resigning his fellowship, was appointed to it in 1610.CCEd Appointment Evidence Record ID: 178651, as 30 August 1610.
His marriage (1611) to Mary Machell, (who had been "nutrix" – wet nurse, or preceptor – to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales)J.L. v. Mosheim, Radulphi Cudworthi Systema intellectuale hujus universi (sumtu viduae Meyer: Jena, 1733), i, 'Praefatio Moshemii' (34 sides, unpaginated), side 19. The information was from Edward Chandler. brought important connections. Cudworth Snr was appointed as one of James I's chaplains.Mosheim, as cited above. Mary's mother (or aunt) was the sister of Sir Edward Lewknor, a central figure (with the Jermyn and Heigham families) among the Puritan East Anglian gentry, whose children had attended Emmanuel College.P. Collinson, '17: Magistracy and Ministry – A Suffolk Miniature', in Godly People. Essays on English Protestantism and Puritanism (Hambledon Press: London, 1983), pp. 445–66. Mary's Lewknor and Machell connections with the Rich family included her first cousins Sir Nathaniel Rich and his sister Dame Margaret Wroth, wife of Sir Thomas Wroth of Petherton Park near Bridgwater, Somerset, influential promoters of colonial enterprise (and later of nonconformist emigration) in New England. Aller was immediately within their sphere.
The children of Ralph Cudworth Snr and Mary (née Machell) Cudworth were:
General James Cudworth (1612–82) was Assistant Governor (1756–1758, 1674–1680) and Deputy Governor (1681–82) of Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, and four-times Commissioner of the United Colonies (1657–1681),Samuel Deane, 'Gen. James Cudworth' in History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1831 (James Loring: Boston, 1831), pp. 245–51; also Scituate Historical Society whose descendants form an extensive family of American Cudworths. Elizabeth Cudworth (1615–1654) married (1636) Josias Beacham of Broughton, Northamptonshire (Rector of Seaton, Rutland (1627–1676)), by whom she had several children. Beacham was ejected from his living by the Puritans (1653), but reinstated (by 1662).Josias Beacham's first wife was Maria Sheffield (died 1634): S.H.C., 'Extracts from the Parish register of Seton, Co. Rutland, relative to the family of Sheffield', Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica I (J.B. Nichols & Son: London, 1834), pp. 171–73.; Will of Josias Beacham, Rector of Seaton (Rutland) (P.C.C. 1675/76). London Marriage Allegations, 28 April 1636 (St Mary Aldermanbury). Foster, Index Ecclesiasticus. Beacham was a graduate of Brasenose College, Oxford Ralph Cudworth (Jnr) Mary Cudworth John Cudworth (1622–1675) of London and Bentley, Suffolk, Alderman of London, and Master of the Worshipful Company of Girdlers (1667–68).W. Dumville Smythe, An Historical Account of the Worshipful Company of Girdlers, London (Chiswick Press: London, 1905), pp. 109–10.; Will of John Cudworth, Girdler of London (P.C.C. 1675). On his death, John left four orphans of whom both Thomas Cudworth (1661–1726)J. Peile, Biographical Register of Christ's College, 1505–1905: II: 1666–1905 (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1913), p. 64 (Internet Archive). and Benjamin Cudworth (1670–15 Sept. 1725) attended Christ's College, Cambridge.J. Peile, Biographical Register, ii, p. 111. Benjamin Cudworth's black memorial slab is in St. Margaret's parish church, Southolt, Suffolk. Jane/Joan(?) Cudworth (born c.1624; fl. unmarried, 1647) may have been Ralph's sister.D. Richardson, Jewels of the Crown, 4 (2009), citing references to Jane Cudworth in the Will of John Machell of Wonersh (P.C.C. 1647).
Career Education The second son, and third of five (probably six) children, Ralph Cudworth (Jnr) was born at Aller, Somerset, where he was baptised (13 July 1617). Following the death of his father, Ralph Cudworth Snr (1624), John Stoughton (1593–1639), (son of Thomas Stoughton of Coggeshall; also a Fellow of Emmanuel College), succeeded as Rector of Aller, and married the widow Mary (née Machell) Cudworth.J.C. Whitebrook, 'Dr. John Stoughton the Elder', Transactions of the Congregational Historical Society, 6(2), (1913), pp. 89–107; and 6(3), (1914), pp. 177–87 (Internet Archive). Dr Stoughton paid careful attention to his stepchildren's education, which Ralph later described as a "diet of Calvinism".F.J. Powicke, The Cambridge Platonists: A Study (J.M. Dent & Co.: London, 1926), p. 111. Letters, to Stoughton, by both brothers James and Ralph Cudworth make this plain; and, when Ralph matriculated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (1632),. See Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses i(1), p. 431. Stoughton thought him "as wel grounded in Scho[o]l-Learning as any Boy of his Age that went to the University".Mosheim, Radulphi Cudworthi Systema Intellectuale (1733), i, 'Praefatio Moshemii' (34 sides, unpaginated) 19th side, note. Stoughton was appointed Curate and Preacher at St Mary Aldermanbury, London (1632),Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses, i(4), p. 171. and the family left Aller. Ralph's elder brother, James Cudworth, married and emigrated to Scituate, Plymouth Colony, New England (1634).'Letter of James Cudworth of Scituate, 1634', (to Stoughton), in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 14 (1860), pp. 101–04. Mary Machell Cudworth Stoughton died during summer 1634,Whitebrook, 'Dr John Stoughton the Elder', p. 94 (Internet Archive). and Dr Stoughton married a daughter of John Browne of Frampton and Dorchester.Marriage at St Mary Aldermanbury, 18 January 1635/6; J.P. Ferris, Browne, John II (1580–1659), of Dorchester and Frampton, Dorset, History of Parliament online, 1604–29.
Pensioner, Student and Fellow of Emmanuel College (1630–1645)
From a family background embedded in the early nonconformity and a diligent student, Cudworth was admitted (as a pensioner) to his father's old college, Emmanuel College, Cambridge (1630), matriculated (1632), and graduated (BA (1635/36); MA (1639)). After some misgivings (which he confided in his stepfather),T. Solly, The Will Divine and Human (Deighton Bell & Co.: Cambridge/Bell & Daldy: London, 1856), pp. 287–91. he was elected a Fellow of Emmanuel (1639), and became a successful tutor, delivering the Rede Lecture (1641). He published a tract entitled The Union of Christ and the Church, in a Shadow (1642),R. Cudworth, The Union of Christ and the Church, in a Shadow (Richard Bishop: London, 1642) (Umich/eebo). and another, A Discourse concerning the True Notion of the Lord's Supper (1642),R. Cudworth, A Discourse concerning the True Notion of the Lord's Supper (2nd edn, J. Flesher for R. Royston: London, 1670) (Google). in which his readings of Karaite manuscripts (stimulated by meetings with Johann Stephan Rittangel) were influential.D.J. Lasker, 'Karaism and Christian Hebraism: a New Document', Renaissance Quarterly, 59(4), (2006), pp. 1089–1116.
11th Regius Professor of Hebrew (1645) and 26th Master of Clare Hall (1645–1654)