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Ledger-stone memorial of George Ritschel
ledger | memorial
stone
The Ritschel memorial, bold and elegant lettering, now badly worn and broken, so that lower left is completely gone, and much of the rest unreadable.
Sub, hoc m[armore sacræ reconduntur] reliqui[æ]
G E O R G I I [R I T S C H] E L
patria Bohemi[, religione reformati]
Qui sæ[viente in protesta]ntes
Ferdinando [2do omnibus gentil]itis
[heredita]tibus [exutus, sed Higent]orati
[Lugduni] Bata[vorum, aliarumque,] Academ
[iarum externum, spol]iis
[onustus quicquid eruditiontis in]istis
[florentissimis musarum emporiis viguit, s]ecum
[detulit Oxonium, Anno Domini MDCXXXX]IV.
[Qua cele berrima academia c]onsummatis
[studiis aliorum commodo studere cœpit.
Et contemplationibus meta]physicis,
[vindiciis ceremoniarum ecclesiæ An]glicanæ,
[aliisqe scriptis eruditissimus editis] toto
[orbe statim inclaruit.
Tanta fama auctus, eccles]iam
Augustaldensem ad quam electus] erat,
[et cui præfuit annos plus minus XX]VII
[magis augustam, et tantum non] Cathe
[dralem, qualis olim fuit, reliquit.
Natus Anno Domini MDCXVI, Denatus MDCLXXXIII
Latin
Beneath this sacred marble lie the remains of GEORGE RITSCHEL of Bohemia by birth and of the reformed faith: when Ferdinand II was persecuting Protestants, he laid aside family ties and inheritance but loaded with the spoils of learning which he plundered at Higentoratus, at Leyden among the Netherlanders, and at other universities abroad, he flourished as a scholar in those renowned markets of the Muses, and in the year A. D. 1644 betook himself to Oxford, in which famous university, he began to pursue the highest studies for the benefit of others, and in his Metaphysical Contemplations and in his Defence of the usages of the Anglican Church and in other scholarly publications, he flourished in those most renowned centres of the Muses and at he once became distinguished throughout the world.
With a greatness enhanced by this reputation he was appointed to the church at Hexham and presided over it for nearly 27 years, during which he rendered it more and more noble and near to being the cathedral such as once it was.
Born A. D. 1616. Reborn [into life after death] 1683.
The text from The Northumberland County History, vol III (ed A B Hinds), 1896 p198 is in square brackets to supplement the legible text.
1683
Ritschel (1616–1683) was curate (from 1655) and lecturer (from 1656, Feb 18th) of Hexham, and a considerable benefactor to the poor of the parish.
Burial register: Geo Ritschel, clerk, minister of ys parish of Hexham for 27 yrs last past, Chancel, 30 Nov 1683.
His son George was also buried in the chancel [Burial Register: Revd Mr Geo Ritschell, minister, who succeeded his father nigh 34 years, bd in Chancel, 6 Oct 1717].
c1715 Warburton MS: “Near to to the pulpit, under a black marble gravestone, lyes the body of George Ritchel, late lecturer, thus inscribed {Here follows Ritchel's memorial inscription, as printed in the new History of Northumberland, vol iii, p198}.” [Proc.Soc.Ant.Ncle. vol.8 1898 no.18 p146]
1823: ‘The last monument of this description mentioned by Mr Wallis is “a flat funeral stone of blue marble to the memory of the Rev. and learned George Ritschel, a Bohemian by birth, lecturer of Hexham, with this inscription:— …” Ritschel was curate and first lecturer of Hexham, and a considerable benefactor to the poor of that parish. For the epitaph we are indebted to Mr. Wallis, the original being long since obliterated.’ [A B Wrght, pp93–94]
1886: This slab was broken up and thrown out when the Chancel was reseated in 1860, but the fragments have been lately placed in the south transept. [History & Directory of Northumberland, Bulmer, 1886, p.318]
“5. GEORGE RITSCHELL, appointed 1655; died 1683; was a native of Bohemia; born at Deutschkana, 13th February, 1616; educated at Strasburg and Oxford Universities; travelled in Holland, Denmark, and Poland, 1642–1644; returned to England and settled at Kettle Hall, Oxford, 1644; was Master of Newcastle Grammar School, 164?–16??; Perpetual Curate of Hexham, 1655–1683; Lecturer of Hexham. 1656–1683; Vicar of Bywell, S.Andrew, 1668–1683; died at Hexham, 28th November, 1683; buried in the Chancel of Hexham Church, 30th November, 1683; Memorial inscription formerly in floor of Chancel, now in floor of east aisle of north Transept; was author of two learned works – Metaphysical Contemplations, 1648, and Dissertation on the ceremonies of the Church of England, 1611.” [J.W.Fawcett, Parish Magazine Oct 1903, p.77]
in floor of Lady Chapel Bay 2
North Transept/Floor
CND: NTAF4; NCH3 p198



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