Background
Gibbons was born in 1544, at or near Wells, Somerset.
Gibbons was born in 1544, at or near Wells, Somerset.
Lincoln College.
Gibbons entered Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1561, but left the university without a degree. After studying philosophy and theology for seven years in the German College in Rome, he obtained doctorates in both in 1576 and was ordained a Catholic priest. Pope Gregory XIII gave Gibbons a canonry in the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Cologne, which was then located in Bonn, Germany.
In the college of this latter place he filled successively the offices of confessor, professor of theology, professor of Sacred Scripture, prefect of studies, and rector.
He became known on account of his controversial talents, which he displayed in frequent contests with the Lutheran theologianss of Germany. When Cardinal William Allen suggested Gibbons as a fit candidate for the underground mission to the recusant Catholics of England, the latter wrote both to the Superior General of the Society and Allen, that he hoped he should give no disedification by saying that he had not the spiritual strength necessary for such an enterprise, but that he would lend it all the assistance in his power.
Gibbons died on 16 August or 3 December 1589, during a visit to Himmerod Abbey, near Trier.