User:John Squire, Vicar

Introduction
John Squire (c. 1587-1653) was a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge (LINK), where he received his BA between 1604-1605, and his MA in 1608. He was appointed Vicar of St. Leonard, Shoreditch (LINK) (an eastern suburb of London) from 1612 until he was removed by Parliament in 1643. His time spent in the church should come as no surprise given his family lineage. His father, Adam Squire (d. 1588), was archdeacon of Middlesex in 1577 and his maternal grandfather, John Aylmer, was bishop of London from 1577 until 1590. His uncle, Theophilus Aylmer (1583-1614), served as the archdeacon of London from 1594. Squire returned to his scholastic roots, establishing a private school in Richmond, Surrey. He remained headmaster there until his death in 1653.

Squire’s first wife, Margaret (d. 1640), birthed him two sons and three daughters. Judith and Theophilus both died in infancy. John Jr., the eldest son (d. 1662) followed in his father’s churchgoing footsteps, becoming a lay preacher at St. Mary’s Church (LINK) in Barnes, Surrey (LINK). Squire remarried in 1648 to a woman named Elizabeth, and they produced a female child, also named Elizabeth. Squire died in Richmond on 28 October 1653. He was buried at St. Leonard, next to his first wife, on 21 November 1653.

Squire was no stranger to scandal amongst his congregation of nearly 3,000 communicants, though his trouble with the law started as early as 1612 compliments of Elizabeth Pynfould. Pynfould claimed to have been married to Squire in that same year, and as such is named as Elizabeth Squire in many of the court documents she filed against John Squire. Her constant attempts at defaming Squire landed her in Bridewell (LINK) prison where, under court order, she was whipped and sentenced to hard labour according to the 1622 Middlesex County Records. The marriage issue was not immediately resolved despite Pynfould’s incarceration. According to the Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles I in 1632, 1639, and 1640, court documents produced on Pynfould’s behalf were repeatedly filed demanding recognition as Squire’s wife.

Squire’s next legal battle would come in 1634, while serving as Vicar in Shoreditch. Squire directed the erection of a stain glass window. Convention asserted that at least one of those two windows would portray the crucifixion, however, Squire vetoed such a notion, instead agreeing to a depiction of the twelve apostles in celebration of Passover. His scene selection for the windows was in direct opposition to of his parishioners’ desires, leading to the first of many legal petitions Squire would face.

The aforementioned conflict would not be the last time Squire would stand before any angry congregation. The next petition Squire would face came later that same year (August, 1641) when it was suggested he be removed from his position [arguably] for his support of William Laud (LINK) (c. 1573-1645), Archbishop of Canterbury (1633-1645). Squire supported Laud’s attempts to regulate church services, as such this could have been one reason for the dissent amongst many of his congregation. Seventeen (17) articles were listed as cause for the indictment in the Articles exhibited in Parliament against Master John Squire, including the following charges: - Popish ceremonies and doctrine - Stating the Papists were the Kings best subjects - Objections to his staunch support of Charles I Squire, in true literary form, responded to each of the accusations in his publication An Answer to a printed paper entitled Articles exhibited in Parliament against Mr John Squire. Squire was not alone in his rebuttal, about ten percent (10%) of his congregation supported his rebuttal, signing their names to the official court documents. His legal woes lasted until October of 1642 when he was arrested, along side other royalist clergy, before being sequestered on 23 March 1643. He was imprisoned in 1646.

Lord Mayor's Show
The Tryumphs of Peace survives in only one copy, in the Guildhall Library, London (LINK). After the quarto was printed in 1620, The Tryumphs of Peace was not published again until 1828 when John Nichols (LINK) included the show in The Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James the First (LINK), although the song from Squire’s show also appears in Frederick Fairholt’s (LINK) The Civic Garland: A Collection of Songs from London Pageants (1845) (LINK).

Critically, Squire’s Lord Mayor’s show has been regarded as typical of the genre, however, there are significant difference between Squire’s piece and other Lord Mayor’s Shows. One aspect making Squire’s work uncharacteristic of the genre is the focus on James I instead of the Lord Mayor of London. The Tryumphs of Peace commemorates James I (LINK) as “a peacemaker in both internal and external politics, using his image as a peacemaker as the central material pageant device of [Squire’s] show.” The Tryumphs of Peace was significant because it depicted the impending danger facing London if James’s peace policy was not backed. The Tryumphs of Peace celebrates the inauguration of Francis Jones (LINK), and presenting a academic knowledge of classical mythology (LINK), exhibiting a “coherent theme and dramatic structure, both his prose and verse are well managed and accomplished,” according to one review, indicating Squire had been well learned in his literary trade.

Sermons
Squire’s sermons are receiving new critical attention. He published a number of sermons between 1617 and 1637, while serving as Vicar. Their contents were both religious and political, causing some trouble for Squire within his congregation. Four of these were given at St. Paul’s Church (LINK). His sermon entitled A Sermon, Appointed for the New-Church-yard, by London, on White-Sunday, 1619 is dedicated to “SIR Francis Iones; Alderman of London,” and Squire remarks in his dedication on “how Much I am obliged to your Many-great favours.”

T. P. Connor’s (LINK) work, “Malignant Reading: John Squire’s Newgate Prison Library, 1642-46” has a nearly complete list of Squire’s publications, including his sermons and other texts from during his time of incarceration. “A Sermon Preached at Hartford Affiles.” (1616) “Three Sermons: Two of Them Appointed For The Spittle, preached in St. Pauls Church.” 		(1616) “A Sermon Preached in Pauls Church upon Saint Stevents day 1618” (1619) “A Sermon. Appointed for the New-Churchyard, by London, on White-funday.” (1619) “A Sermon on the Second Commandement: Preached in Saint Pavls Church.” (1623) “A Thankesgiving For The Decreasing and hope of the removing of the Plagvue. (1637)	“Three Sermons” (1637) “An Answer to a printed paper Entitled Articles exhibited in Parliament” (1641)

Critical Review
While Squire is most commonly known as a minor religious figure, his published sermons and his Lord Mayor’s Show have generated new critical attention. Tracey Hill, Bath Spa University, J. Caitlin Finlayson, University of Michigan Dearborn, David M. Bergeron, Emeritus University of Kansas, and Paula Johnson, Yale University, are four leading scholars to tackle Squire’s works. Bergeron and Johnson have largely dismissed The Tryumphs of Peace as clichéd, not necessarily unlike his predecessors and so not worthy of distinction amongst them. Finlayson, crediting Squire’s creativity and literary stylings in “John Squire: The Unknown Author of The Tryumphs of Peace, the London Lord Mayor’s Show for 1620” and “Jacobean Foreign Policy, London’s Civic Polity, and John Squire’s Lord Mayor’s Show, The Tryumphs of Peace (1620).” Hill credits Squire, among others, for the author’s ability to connect historical and political contexts of contemporary London happenings.