Thomas Plowden (1594 – 13 February 1664) was an English

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

to whom has been traditionally attributed an important translation under the name Thomas Salusbury.

Life

Thomas Plowden was born in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, the third son of Francis Plowden of Shiplake Court (

) and

Wokefield Park Wokefield Park is an 18th-century country house, situated in the parish of Wokefield, near Mortimer, in the English county of Berkshire. It is currently run as an events venue. History Wokefield park was first mentioned in 1319 as a deer park ...

(

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

), younger brother of Edmund Plowden, and grandson of Edmund Plowden. Plowden was sent on the English Mission about 1622. He was seized, with other priests, by pursuivants in 1628 at

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redisco ...

, the London residence of the Jesuits, where he filled various offices of the order, despite the perils of the Mission in London until his death there.

Translation

As was the case with his contemporary Nathaniel Bacon, English Jesuits, given their illegal status as recusants, often published under assumed names. Plowden presented his translations under the name of the distinguished Welsh Salusbury family. Plowden translated

Daniello Bartoli Daniello Bartoli, SJ (; 12 February 160813 January 1685) was an Italian Jesuit writer and historiographer, celebrated by the poet Giacomo Leopardi as the "Dante of Italian prose" Ferrara He was born in Ferrara. His father, Tiburzio was a chemis ...

's 1645 into English as '' The Learned Man Defended and Reformed'', dedicating it to George Monk and

William Prynne William Prynne (1600 – 24 October 1669), an English lawyer, voluble author, polemicist and political figure, was a prominent Puritan opponent of church policy under William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (1633–1645). His views were presbyter ...

. It was published in 1660 by William Leybourn, and sold by

Thomas Dring Thomas Dring (died 1668) was a London publisher and bookseller of the middle seventeenth century. He was in business from 1649 on; his shop (as his title pages indicate) was located "at the sign of the George in Fleet Street, near St. Dunstan's ...

"near St. Dunstan's Church" on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

. The next year, the same printer published ''Mathematical Collections'', with translations of

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

's '' Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems'', as well as works of

Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...

Castelli Castelli may refer to: Places Argentina * Castelli, Buenos Aires, city in Buenos Aires Province * Castelli Partido, partido in Buenos Aires Province * Juan José Castelli, Chaco, in Chaco Province * Villa Castelli, Argentina, in La Rioja Provi ...

Tartaglia Tartaglia may refer to: *Tartaglia (commedia dell'arte), Commedia dell'arte stock character *Angelo Tartaglia (1350 or 1370–1421), Italian condottiero * Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia (1499/1500–1557), Venetian mathematician and engineer *Ivo Tarta ...

, and other significant

European Restoration The Concert of Europe was a general consensus among the Great Powers of 19th-century Europe to maintain the European balance of power, political boundaries, and spheres of influence. Never a perfect unity and subject to disputes and jockeying fo ...

authors. This work, dedicated to

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Denham ...

, also appeared under the name of Salusbury, but most now attribute it to the real "Thomas Salusbury, Esq."

Texts

* *

References

Sources

* The entry cites: ** Henry Foley, ''Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus'', I, VII {{DEFAULTSORT:Plowden, Thomas 1594 births 1664 deaths 17th-century English Jesuits People from Shiplake Date of birth unknown