Editing William Ames (section)

==Early life and education==
Ames was born at [[Ipswich]], and was brought up by a maternal uncle, Robert Snelling of [[Boxford, Suffolk|Boxford]]. He was educated at the local grammar school and from 1594 at [[Christ's College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{acad|id=AMS593W|name=Ames, William}}</ref> He was considerably influenced by his tutor at Christ's, [[William Perkins (Puritan)|William Perkins]], and by his successor [[Paul Bayne]]. Ames graduated BA in 1598 and [[Master of Arts|MA]] in 1601, and was chosen for a [[fellow]]ship in Christ's College.<ref>Kelly M. Kapic, Randall C. Gleason, ''The Devoted Life: An Invitation to the Puritan Classics'' (2004), p. 53.</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=850}}

He was popular in the university, and in his own college. One of Ames's sermons became historical in the [[Puritan]] controversies. It was delivered in the university [[Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge]] on 21 December 1609, and in it he rebuked sharply "lusory lotts" and the "heathenish debauchery" of the students during the [[Twelve Days of Christmas]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=850}}

A partisan election, however, had led to the mastership at Christ's going to [[Valentine Carey]]. He quarrelled with Ames for disapproving of the [[surplice]] and other outward symbols. Ames's vehemence led to his being summoned before the [[Vice-Chancellor]], who suspended him "from the exercise of his [[ecclesiastical]] function and from all degrees taken or to be taken."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66653|title=The colleges and halls: Christ's &#124; British History Online}}</ref><ref>Margo Todd, ''Providence, Chance and the New Science in Early Stuart Cambridge'', The Historical Journal, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Sep. 1986), pp. 697–711.</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=850}}