John Jewel (1522–1571) was an English preacher, theologian, and Bishop of Salisbury whose eloquent sermons and writings played a pivotal role in defending the Elizabethan Settlement and shaping the Church of England during the Reformation. Born in Buden, Devon, to John Jewel and Alice Bellamy, he was educated at Merton College, Oxford, starting in 1535, and later at Corpus Christi College, where he earned a BA in 1540 and an MA in 1545. Under the mentorship of John Parkhurst and the influence of reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli, Jewel emerged as a Protestant scholar, becoming a fellow at Corpus Christi and vicar of Sunningwell. When Queen Mary ascended in 1553, his Protestant convictions forced him into exile in Frankfurt, Strasbourg, and Zurich, where he deepened his Reformed theology until returning to England upon Elizabeth I’s accession in 1558. Jewel’s preaching career peaked after his consecration as Bishop of Salisbury in 1560, following his participation in the 1559 Westminster Conference and a bold sermon at St. Paul’s Cross challenging Catholic doctrines. His most famous work, Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae (1562), offered a systematic defense of Anglicanism against Roman Catholicism, sparking a prolonged debate with Catholic scholar Thomas Harding and establishing Jewel as a leading apologist. Preaching frequently at St. Paul’s and across his diocese, he emphasized Scripture’s authority and the early church’s practices, influencing Anglican theology enduringly—Archbishop Bancroft later mandated his Apology be placed in churches. Unmarried, Jewel died in 1571 at Monkton Farleigh, Wiltshire, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose intellectual rigor and pulpit power fortified the English Reformation.