FULLER, THOMAS: English theologian and church historian; b. at Aldwincle (3 m. n.e. of Thrapston), Northamptonshire, June, 1608; d. in London Aug. 16, 1661. He was educated at Queen's College, Cambridge (B.A., 1625; M.A., 1628), afterward entering Sidney Sussex College as a fellow commoner. In 1630 he was ordained and appointed to the living of St. Bent's, Cambridge. The next year he published his first book, in the fantastic poetical style of the period, David's Hainous Sinne, Heartie Repentance, Heavie Punishment, and obtained the prebend of Netherbury in Salisbury Cathedral. From 1634 to 1641 he held the rectory of Broadwindsor in Dorsetshire, but did not wholly break off his connection with Cambridge. His first important book, the History of the Holy Warre, i.e., the Crusades, appeared in 1639. A year later he was elected proctor in convocation, and presently removed to London, where his wit in the pulpit was widely celebrated; ultimately he became lecturer at the Savoy Chapel. In 1642 he published his most characteristic work, The Holy State and the Profane State. His loyalty caused him to be driven out of London and to take refuge at Oxford. He was chaplain for a time to Princess Henrietta, and then placed himself under the protection of Lord Montagu of Boughton, living quietly and supporting himself by his pen. During these years he brought out his picturesque geography of Palestine, called A Pisgah-Sight (1650), and his most celebrated work, the huge Church History of Britain (1656), which, like all his books, abounds in quaint humor and epigrammatic sayings. Its accuracy was impugned by Heylyn, and Fuller retorted in a lively Appeal of Injured Innocence (1659), his last publication of importance. At the Restoration he recovered his ecclesiastical offices, and was looking forward to a bishopric when he was attacked by typhoid fever and died. His famous History of the Worthies of England appeared posthumously (1662). Fuller was never held preeminent as a divine, and as a historian he was too rapid and careless to inspire confidence, but he holds an important place among the prose-writers of the seventeenth century, and his quaint humor has given him an undying popularity. Besides the works already named, his Good Thoughts in Bad Times (1645) and Thoughts in Worse Times (1647), and Mixt Contemplations in Better Times (1660) may be mentioned. He also contributed lives to Abel Redivivus, a collection, of biographies of “modern divines” (London, 1651).