Richard Hooker (theologian)

He was born in Exeter, Devon, and educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he became a fellow in 1577. In 1584 he got married, resigned from his college position, and became rector of Drayton Beauchamp in Buckinghamshire. In 1585, he was appointed Master of the Temple, and soon came into conflict with Walter Travers, a leading Puritan. The first four books of Hooker's Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie were published in 1594, arguing for a middle way between the dominance of Rome and the extremism of the Puritans. In 1595 Hooker retired to a country living in Kent in order to have time to spend on completing the work, but the last volumes were published posthumously.

"On any list of great English theologians, the name of Richard Hooker would appear at or near the top. His masterpiece is The Laws Of Ecclesiastical Polity. Its philosophical base is Aristotelian, with a strong emphasis on natural law eternally planted by God in creation. On this foundation, all positive laws of Church and State are developed from Scriptural revelation, ancient tradition, reason, and experience." [1]

Also see http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/hooker.htm for an already-comprehensive treatment of his life and works.