Godfrey Goodman, also called Hugh; (28 February 1582 or 1583 – 19 January 1656) was the Anglican Bishop of Gloucester, and a member of the Protestant Church.
He made rapid progress in the Church, and was made successively prebend of Westminster in 1607; Rector of West Isley, Berkshire, in 1616; Rector of Kinnerton, Gloucester; Canon of Windsor and prebendary of Hatherton, Staffordshire in St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton[3] in 1617; Dean of Rochester in 1621; and finally Bishop of Gloucester, 1625–1646.
A few years later, he was severely reprimanded for having erected a crucifix at Windsor and using altar-cloths with a cross design in his own cathedral at Gloucester, and further for having suspended a minister who insisted on preaching "that all who die papists go inevitably to hell".
It is likely that doubts were arising in his mind about the legitimacy of the Church's separation from Rome, and he sought the society of Catholic priests who were in hiding throughout the country.
By his will, in which he made a profession of his Catholic faith, he left most of his property to Ruthin, his native town; his manuscripts and books, however, were given to Trinity College, Cambridge.
[8] - GoodmanGoodman's 1620s prose text, "See, see the Word is incarnate", describing the life of Christ, was set to music by the English composer Orlando Gibbons as a verse anthem.