BRISTOW, RICHARD. - English theologian, b. at Worcester in 1538, d. at Harrow-on-the-Hill on 18 Oct. 1581. He studied at Oxford, where he distinguished himself by his intellect, especially during a public disputation before Queen Elizabeth, which he maintained together with bl. Campion (v.), his fellow student. Appointed professor at Exeter College in 1567, he taught there for scarcely two years, being forced to flee because of the hostility of the adversaries of the Catholic faith. At Louvain a new field of work opened to him, when he was called by W. Allen (v.), later cardinal, to organize the English seminary at Douai, of which he was the first priest in 1573. Teaching and intense scholarly activity soon brought him to the grave.
He wrote a great deal, especially polemical works against Guglielmo Fulke. Worthy of mention are: A Briefe Treatise of diverse plaine und sure scapes to finde out the truth in this doubtful and dangerous time of Heresie (Antwerp, 1574), later republished in a 3rd ed. in 1641 (at Douai?) under the abbreviated title: Motives inducing to the Catholike Faith; Tabula in Summam Theologian s. Thomae Aquinatis, s. l. 1579; Defense of the Bull of Pope Pius V: A Reply to Will. Fulke in Defense of M. D. Allen's Scribe of Articles, and Book of Purgatoire (Louvain, 1580). He also undertook to annotate the first English edition of the New Testament commissioned by W. Allen and printed at Rouen in 1582.
BIRL.: Hutter, III, col. 165; T. Cooper, s. V. in Dict. of National Biography, II, pp. 1264-66; J. Gillow, Bibl. Dict. of English Catholics, I, 302-303; G. Albion, s. V. in D.H.G. X, cols. 763-64. Cosimo Petino