Illtyd Trethowan
Encyclopedia
Dom
Illtyd Trethowan (12 May 1907 – 30 October 1993), earlier known as Kenneth Trethowan, was an English
priest
, philosopher, and author
, for more than thirty years sub-prior
of Downside Abbey
in Somerset
and a visiting professor in theology
at Brown University
.
in 1907, he was the son of William James Trethowan (a solicitor) & Emma Louisa née Van Kempen.
Trethowan was baptised into the Church of England
as 'William Kenneth' and educated at Felsted School
and Brasenose College, Oxford
. While at Oxford
he contracted poliomyelitis
and was left with a withered arm.
and took a job as a schoolmaster
, first at the Oratory School, London
, and later at Ampleforth
. He became a novice monk
at Downside Abbey in 1932 and the same year was 'clothed' a monk under the name of Dom
Illtyd. In 1933, he was ordained a priest
and from then on taught philosophy to junior monks in the monastery. From 1936 to 1982, he also taught Classics
and later English literature
at Downside School
, a boarding school
for boys attached to the monastery. He served as Sub-prior of Downside Abbey between 1958 and 1991, and when he retired was given the honorary title of 'Cathedral Prior of Ely
'. He was also a visiting professor in theology
at Brown University
.
Trethowan died at Bath, Somerset, on 30 October 1993, having said shortly before that he was happy to die. In an obituary
, The Independent
said of him
's The Scale of Perfection, and from 1946-1952 and again from 1960-1964 he edited the Downside Review.
A fearless thinker, he argued the centrality of contemplation and also that philosophical certainty about God was possible. He also worked to gain a greater audience for some less well known writers, including Maurice Blondel
and Dominique Dubarle. For philosophical inspiration he looked to Augustine
. For over twenty years, he was in dialogue with Eric Mascall, with whose work Louis Bouyer
draws comparisons, calling Trethowan "a born Augustinian, but of exceptional intellectual acuity".
In Awareness of God, Trethowan writes
In Absolute Value, Trethowan asserts that an awareness of moral obligations is an awareness of God. He later expanded on this:
Dom (title)
Dom is a title of respect prefixed to the given name. It derives from Latin Dominus.It is used in English for certain Benedictine and Carthusian monks, and for members of certain communities of Canons Regular. Examples include Benedictine monks of the English Benedictine Congregation...
Illtyd Trethowan (12 May 1907 – 30 October 1993), earlier known as Kenneth Trethowan, was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, philosopher, and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, for more than thirty years sub-prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
of Downside Abbey
Downside Abbey
The Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery and the Senior House of the English Benedictine Congregation. One of its main apostolates is a school for children aged nine to eighteen...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
and a visiting professor in theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
.
Early life
Born at SalisburySalisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
in 1907, he was the son of William James Trethowan (a solicitor) & Emma Louisa née Van Kempen.
Trethowan was baptised into the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
as 'William Kenneth' and educated at Felsted School
Felsted School
Felsted School, an English co-educational day and boarding independent school, situated in Felsted, Essex. It is in the British Public School tradition, and was founded in 1564 by Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich who, as Lord Chancellor and Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations, acquired...
and Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
. While at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
he contracted poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route...
and was left with a withered arm.
Career
In 1929 Trethowan was received into the Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and took a job as a schoolmaster
Schoolmaster
A schoolmaster, or simply master, once referred to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British public schools, but is generally obsolete elsewhere.The teacher in charge of a school is the headmaster...
, first at the Oratory School, London
London Oratory School
The London Oratory School is a Catholic secondary comprehensive school in Fulham, London. The Headmaster is David McFadden. It has around 1,365 pupils. It is not to be confused with The Oratory School, a Catholic boarding school...
, and later at Ampleforth
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
. He became a novice monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
at Downside Abbey in 1932 and the same year was 'clothed' a monk under the name of Dom
Dom (title)
Dom is a title of respect prefixed to the given name. It derives from Latin Dominus.It is used in English for certain Benedictine and Carthusian monks, and for members of certain communities of Canons Regular. Examples include Benedictine monks of the English Benedictine Congregation...
Illtyd. In 1933, he was ordained a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and from then on taught philosophy to junior monks in the monastery. From 1936 to 1982, he also taught Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
and later English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
at Downside School
Downside School
Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey...
, a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
for boys attached to the monastery. He served as Sub-prior of Downside Abbey between 1958 and 1991, and when he retired was given the honorary title of 'Cathedral Prior of Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
'. He was also a visiting professor in theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
.
Trethowan died at Bath, Somerset, on 30 October 1993, having said shortly before that he was happy to die. In an obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
said of him
Author
Trethowan was the author of several religious books and many learned articles, translations, and book reviews. He edited Walter HiltonWalter Hilton
Walter Hilton was an English Augustinian mystic.-Biography:Hilton was born ca. 1340-45; he was first recorded in January 1371 as a bachelor of law attached to the diocesan court of Ely, and again in 1375...
's The Scale of Perfection, and from 1946-1952 and again from 1960-1964 he edited the Downside Review.
A fearless thinker, he argued the centrality of contemplation and also that philosophical certainty about God was possible. He also worked to gain a greater audience for some less well known writers, including Maurice Blondel
Maurice Blondel
Maurice Blondel was a French philosopher.Blondel developed a "philosophy of action” that integrated classical Neoplatonic thought with modern Pragmatism in the context of a Christian philosophy of religion...
and Dominique Dubarle. For philosophical inspiration he looked to Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
. For over twenty years, he was in dialogue with Eric Mascall, with whose work Louis Bouyer
Louis Bouyer
Louis Bouyer was a French Lutheran minister who converted to Catholicism in 1939. During his religious career he was a scholar who was relied upon during the Second Vatican Council....
draws comparisons, calling Trethowan "a born Augustinian, but of exceptional intellectual acuity".
In Awareness of God, Trethowan writes
In Absolute Value, Trethowan asserts that an awareness of moral obligations is an awareness of God. He later expanded on this:
Major publications
- 1948: Certainty, Philosophical and Theological (Dacre Press)
- 1952: Christ in the Liturgy (Sheed and Ward)
- 1953: The Meaning of Existence: a metaphysical enquiry (London: Longmans, Green) (with Dom Mark Pontifex)
- 1954: An Essay in Christian Philosophy (Longmans, Green)
- 1961: The Basis of Belief: an essay in the philosophy of religion (Burns & Oates)
- 1970: Absolute Value: a study in Christian theism (Allen & Unwin; Humanities Press)
- 1971: The Absolute and the Atonement (Allen and Unwin; Humanities Press)
- 1975: Mysticism and Theology-—an essay in Christian metaphysics (G. Chapman)
- 1975: Walter HiltonWalter HiltonWalter Hilton was an English Augustinian mystic.-Biography:Hilton was born ca. 1340-45; he was first recorded in January 1371 as a bachelor of law attached to the diocesan court of Ely, and again in 1375...
's The Scale of Perfection (ed. Trethowan) (Abbey Press) - 1985: Process Theology and Christian Tradition (St Bede's Publications, Studies in Historical Theology series, ISBN 0932506445)
Translations
- 1940: Étienne GilsonÉtienne GilsonÉtienne Gilson was a French Thomistic philosopher and historian of philosophy...
, The philosophy of St Bonaventure, translated by Dom Illtyd Trethowan and F. J. Sheed (London: Sheed and Ward) - 1964: Maurice BlondelMaurice BlondelMaurice Blondel was a French philosopher.Blondel developed a "philosophy of action” that integrated classical Neoplatonic thought with modern Pragmatism in the context of a Christian philosophy of religion...
, The letter on apologetics and History and dogma (edited and translated by Alexander Dru & Illtyd Trethowan, Harvill Press) - 1989: Louis BouyerLouis BouyerLouis Bouyer was a French Lutheran minister who converted to Catholicism in 1939. During his religious career he was a scholar who was relied upon during the Second Vatican Council....
, The Christian Mystery: from pagan myth to Christian mysticism; translated [from the French Mysterion] by Illtyd Trethowan (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark)
Other works
- "Alfred and the Great White Horse of Wiltshire", in Downside Review vol LVII (1939) (also published separately in paperback)
- "Physics and Metaphysics, comments on Sir Robert Watson-Watt's Electronics and Free-will", in The Hibbert Journal, vols 48-49 (1950), pp. 115-119
- "Self-Awareness and Natural Morality", in Theology, vol. 69 (1966), pp. 23-25
- "Augustine the Philosopher" in St Augustine, vol. 11 (1987) pp. 118-127
External links
- Illtyd Trethowan, Process theology and the Christian tradition, online text at books.google.com
- Illtyd Trethowan, Awareness of God online text at leaderu.com
- The letter on apologetics and History and dogma by Maurice Blondel, ed and trans. by Alexander Dru & Illtyd Trethowan, online text at books.google.com
- Illtyd Trethowan, Augustine the Philosopher in St Augustine, vol. 11 (1987), online text at books.google.com
- Illtyd Trethowan at openlibrary.org