COSIN, JOHN

born Nov. 30, 1594, Norwich, Norfolk, Eng. died Jan. 15, 1672, London Anglican bishop of Durham, theologian, and liturgist whose scholarly promotion of traditional worship, doctrine, and architecture established him as one of the fathers of Anglo-Catholicism in the Church of England. Cosin was named a chaplain of Durham Cathedral (1619) and subsequently wrote the famed Collection of Private Devotions (1627) at the request of King Charles I for a daily prayer book at court. He became master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, in 1634 and patronized the revival of Gothic art and architecture. He was exiled in Paris during the Puritan Commonwealth government but was made bishop of Durham at the Restoration of Charles II (1660). His literary influence played a leading part in the 1662 revision of The Book of Common Prayer, thenceforth the standard of Anglican worship. His administration of Durham Cathedral produced some of the outstanding examples of neo-Gothic carvings and furnishings extant in England.