Faithful Teate facts for kids

Faithful Teate (born around 1626, died 1666) was a Protestant church leader and a poet from County Cavan, Ireland. You might also see his name spelled as Faithful Tate. He was the father of Nahum Tate, who later became a very famous poet.

His Early Life

Faithful Teate's father was also named Faithful Teate. He was a doctor of divinity, which means he had a high degree in religious studies. This sometimes caused confusion between the two men. The elder Teate was a church leader in Ballyhaise, County Cavan.

During a big conflict in Ireland in 1641, his family's house was burned down. This was a very difficult time for them. Sadly, two or three of Teate's brothers or sisters died because of the hardships they faced during this period.

His Career and Writings

Faithful Teate (the younger) started studying at Trinity College Dublin in 1641 when he was 14 years old. He later became a priest in the Church of Ireland. He then moved to England and continued his studies at Cambridge. After that, he became a minister in Sudbury in Suffolk.

By 1660, he had returned to Dublin. He became the leader of St. Werburgh's Church in Dublin. However, he had strong religious beliefs (called Puritan principles). He disagreed with the new government's rules about the church. Because of this, he lost his job. He died at the age of 40 in 1666.

While he was in Suffolk, he wrote a long poem called Ter Tria: or the Doctrine of the Three Sacred Persons, Father, Son and Spirit... (published in 1658). This poem was quite popular at the time. It was printed again in 1669, and a German version came out in 1699. He also wrote books that taught lessons, like A Scripture Map of the Wilderness of Sin and Way to Canaan (1655). The first modern collection of all his poems was published in 2007.

His Family

This Faithful Teate was the father of the famous poet Nahum Tate. Nahum started using the name 'Tate' instead of 'Teate' when he grew up. Nahum was the second of seven children born to Faithful Teate and his wife, Katherine Kenetie. The oldest child was also named 'Faithful'.

It's easy to get confused about the different "Faithful Teates" in the family! Some older stories mistakenly said that the first Faithful Teate (the grandfather) was Nahum's father, instead of his actual father. In fact, there were three "Faithful" Teates: Nahum Tate's grandfather, his father, and his older brother.