FIELD, RICHARD: English clergyman and theological writer; b. at Hemel Hempstead (23 m. n.w. of London), Hertfordshire, Oct. 15, 1561; d. at Windsor (23 m. w. of London) Nov. 21, 1616. He attended the Berkhampstead school and in 1577 entered Oxford, studying successively at Magdalen College, Magdalen Hall, and Queen's College (B.A., 1581; M.A., 1584; B.D., 1592; D.D., 1596). As a lecturer (1584-91) at Magdalen Hall he made himself famous for his knowledge of divinity and his ability as a disputant. In 1594 he became divinity lecturer at Lincoln's Inn, and soon afterward rector at Burghclere, Hampshire. In 1598 he became a chaplain in ordinary to Queen Elizabeth, in 1604 canon at Windsor, and in 1609 dean of Gloucester. He was also chaplain to James I., who sent him to the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 and called him to Oxford in 1605 to take part in the Divinity Act. James held Field in high esteem, delighted to discuss points of theology with him, and intended to raise him to the see of Oxford. On hearing Field preach for the first time, the king had exclaimed, "This is a field for God to dwell in." Thomas Fuller called him "that learned divine whose memory smelleth like a field which the Lord hath blessed." Field's fame now rests upon his work entitled, Of the Church, Five Books (2 vols., London, 1606-10; 2d. ed., Oxford, 1628; modern ed., 4 vols., Cambridge, 1847-52), which has taken its place with Hooker's Polity as one of the grandest monuments of polemical divinity in the English language.