Thomas Wright (1561-1624)
was an English
recusant and early
emotion theorist. Wright is known for his work ''The Passions of the Minde in generall.''
Wright is a possible candidate for the priest
Ben Jonson referenced during the trials for the
Gunpowder Plot.
Life
Wright was born in York.
He studied at the Jesuit Douai Seminary and the English College in Rome, then returned to England in 1595 carrying intelligence regarding Spanish military strategy.
Though he remained a Catholic priest, Wright left the Society of Jesus because of his English sympathies and distaste with
Robert Parsons' support of plots against
Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to:
Queens regnant
* Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland
* Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022 ...
.
By 1596 Wright had upset
Matthew Hutton, the Archbishop of York, and was imprisoned for his vocal recusancy.
Wright finished ''Passions of the Minde'' shortly before his escape from prison, and published it shortly thereafter.
In ''Passions of the Minde,'' Wright explores the
passions and their relationship to
moral psychology
Moral psychology is a field of study in both philosophy and psychology. Historically, the term "moral psychology" was used relatively narrowly to refer to the study of moral development. Moral psychology eventually came to refer more broadly to var ...
.
Wright may be responsible for converting
Ben Jonson.
Works
Wright is ascribed:
*''The Disposition or Garnishmente of the Soule.''
By Thomas Wright,’London, 1601, which reappeared in 1604 "corrected, enlarged, and with sundry new discourses augmented", and was reissued in 1621 and 1630. This work was dedicated to
Henry Wriothesley, third earl of Southampton in the hope that he may be "delivered from inordinate passions", and had
commendatory verses by B. I. (Ben Jonson).
*''A Succinct Philosophicall Declaration of the Nature of Clymactericall Yeeres, occasioned by the Death of Queene Elizabeth'' Written by T. W
ight Printed for T. Thorpe, London, 1604.
Another Thomas Wright, M.A., of Peterhouse, Cambridge, issued in 1685 ''The Glory of Gods Revenge against the Bloody and Detestable Sins of Murther and Adultery'' (London).
References
*
* Thomas O. Sloan (1969).
A renaissance controversialist on rhetoric: Thomas Wright's ''passions of the minde in generall.'''" Speech Monographs'' vol. 36, no. 1.
* Erin Sullivan (2015).
The passions of Thomas Wright: Renaissance emotion across body and soul. In ''The Renaissance of Emotion.'' Manchester UP.
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Thomas
17th-century English writers
17th-century English male writers