Editing Samuel Harsnett (section)

== Early life ==
Born in St Botolph's parish, [[Colchester]], Essex,<ref name="london">{{cite book|title=London, Being an Accurate History and Description |url=https://archive.org/details/londonbeinganac01hughgoog |first=David| last=Hughson| pages=293–4| year=1809|publisher=W. Stratford|first2= William |last2=Stratford|first3= J. |last3 = Stratford}}</ref> the son of William Halsnoth, a baker, and his wife Agnes,<ref name="brassweb">{{Cite web |url= http://www.mbs-brasses.co.uk/page132.html|title=Brass of the Month: Chigwell, Essex |access-date=30 December 2008 |publisher=The Monumental Brass Society|date=31 October 2006}}</ref> Harsnett was probably educated at Colchester's free school, now [[Colchester Royal Grammar School]].<ref name="chigwell"/> After leaving school, he entered [[King's College, Cambridge]] as a [[sizar]] on 8 September 1576<ref name="chigwell"/> and removed into [[Pembroke College, Cambridge|Pembroke Hall]]<ref name="biog">{{cite book|title=The General Biographical Dictionary|first=Alexander|last=Chalmers|publisher=J. Nichols|year= 1814|pages=188–9}}</ref> where he gained a BA in 1580/1<ref>{{acad|id=HRST579S|name=Harsnet, Samuel}}</ref> and was elected a [[Fellow]] on 27 November 1583.<ref name="chigwell"/> In 1583 he was ordained into the [[Church of England]],<ref name="chigwell"/> where he was soon disciplined by [[Archbishop Whitgift]] for preaching against [[predestination]] at [[St Paul's Cross]] on 27 October 1584.<ref name="chigwell"/> As [[David Hughson]] notes, "he was one of those divines who opposed the decrees of the [[synod of Dort]] and he wrote a very learned treatise against absolute predestination".<ref name="london"/> In 1584 he proceeded [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|Master of Arts]] by seniority.<ref name="chigwell"/>