Repington, Philip

REPINGTON (REPYNGDON), PHILIP: Bishop of Lincoln, cardinal, and formerly a follower of Wyclif; d. some time before Aug. 1, 1424. He was possibly a native of Wales though coming of English ancestry; he received his education at Broadgates Hall, Oxford, where in early manhood he preached in accordance with Wyclif's doctrine on the sacrament of the altar, becoming the Reformer's most prominent advocate at Oxford. In 1382 he especially offended by a sermon at St. Frideswide's, and the report goes that a result was insurrection on the part of the people. This was on June 2, and by July 1 he was condemned and excommunicated at Canterbury, and there was coupled with this a prohibition to harbor him at Oxford. He soon recanted, and was restored to his position by the archbishop of Canterbury Oct. 23, and made public abjuration of his "heresies" at Oxford, Nov. 18. In 1394 he became abbot of St. Mary de Pry, and in this capacity probably he became intimate with Henry IV., whose favor he won, becoming royal chaplain. In 1404 he became bishop of Lincoln, and in 1407 he was charged, and probably correctly, with persecuting the Lollards. He was made cardinal with the title of Sts. Nereus and Achilleis by Gregory XII. (q.v.), though the deposition of this pope and annulment of his acts after May, 1408, left Repington's status under a cloud. Whether he acted as cardinal is not clear, and in 1410 he was back in England and active officially. Notices of him after this period are scanty, and usually show him as an active member of the hierarchy. Apart from this, his reputation is that of "a God-fearing man, a lover of truth and hater of avarice" (Wood, Fasti, p. 35, see bibliography). He did not carry into effect the decree of the Council of Constance ordering the exhumation of Wyclif's remains, although this was done. He left in manuscript a number of sermons, which are extant in several of the libraries at Oxford, and other writings are with less assurance thought to be his.

Bibliography: Sources are: Fasciculi zizaniorum, ed. W. W. Shirley, pp. xliv., 289–329, London, 1858; Adam of Usk, Chronikon, ed. E. M. Thompson, ib. 1876. Consult further: A. à Wood, Hist. and Antiquities of the Colleges and Halls in the University of Oxford, i. 492, 502–510, 541, 555, and Fasti, pp. 34–36, Oxford, 1786; J. Foxe; Actes and Monuments, ed. G. Townsend, iii. 24 sqq., et passim, London, 1844; R. F. Williams, English Cardinals, ii. 1–32, ib. 1868 (inaccurate); G. V. Lechler, John Wiclif and his English Precursors, ii. 265–271, ib. 1878; J. H. Wylie, Hist. of England under Henry IV., 3 vols., ib. 1884–96; G. H. Moberly, Life of William of Wykeham, pp. 179–180, ib. 1887; G. M. Trevelyan, England in the Age of Wycliffe, pp. 301–307, 2d ed., ib. 1899; J. Gairdner, Lollardy and the Reformation in England, i. 21–27, ib. 1908; CQR, xix. 59–82; DNB, xlviii., 26–28.