Connop Thirlwall

Connop Thirlwall ( born February 11, 1797 in Stepney, Middlesex, † July 27, 1875 in Bath ) was a British clergyman and historian, regarded as his main work, the published 1835-1844 History of Greece ( "History of Greece" ). From 1840 to 1874 he held the office of the Bishop of St Davids.

Life

Thirlwall was born on February 11, 1797 in what is now the London Borough of Stepney, the son of a clergyman, his family was originally from Northumberland in northern England. Early on, he started reading and learning foreign languages ​​: at the age of three years he had mastered Latin, four years old he could read Greek. 1809, when he was eleven years old, his collected essays and poems were published by his father under the title primitiae; later Thirlwall tried vehemently to prevent the spread of this plant. After Charterhouse School, a Godalminger private school, to Thirlwall wrote 1814 to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1825. Nevertheless, he decided to give up this profession and instead becoming a priest. 1827 followed the ordination, one year later Thirlwall returned to Cambridge to operate there at his former college as a tutor.

In 1835, Thirlwall began working on his History of Greece. Originally the work was planned as a pure commissioned work for the theologian Dionysius Lardner, it should Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia in the context of, a 133 -volume Universal Encyclopedia, appear and include two to three duodezformatige volumes. The scope was eventually extended to eight volumes, the last of which was published in 1844; the work was still so successful that it was reprinted later and appeared in subsequent editions.

1840 Thirlwall was appointed on the recommendation of Lord Melbourne bishop of the Welsh town of St Davids; this was true both of English and of Welsh side resistance. The former declined from Thirlwall because of its openness and tolerance in religious matters, the latter because he neither Welsh nor done the Welsh language was powerful. The Welsh writer and deacon David James challenged him in a strongly worded letter to resign; Thirlwall took this as an incentive to learn Welsh, and offered a 1860 James Archdeacon in his diocese to. During his tenure as Bishop Thirlwall was - also due to its silence and the sarcastic manner in which he treated the people in his diocese - never popular with the Welsh people, although it partially prevented his speeches and sermons in Welsh and wrote down.

When the bishop of the South African diocese Natal, John William Colenso, was criticized the Anglican Church in the 1860s because of his religious position to Thirlwall refused as one of four bishops in the House of Lords to give him a ban on preaching in his diocese. Furthermore, he was the only bishop who refused an order to Colenso written request to resign his office of bishop 's signature.

In 1869 the British Parliament passed the Irish Church Act, which decided the separation of the Church of Ireland by the Irish State, and so picked up her status as the state church. Thirlwall endorsed the decision, but he turned out, even with this decision against the other bishops in the House of Lords.

In the last years of his tenure, Thirlwall increasingly alienated by the clergy in his diocese and relied more on his archdeacons. After he had gone blind and had suffered a stroke, he gave up his bishopric in 1874, and sat down to rest. On 27 July 1875 he died at the age of 78 in his home in southern England Bath, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London.

Quotes

" I am not aware of having refused to others the license Which I ever Claimed to myself. And, if it please God, I shall never consent to the narrowing by a hair 's breadth did latitude of opinion Which the Church Has hitherto conceded to her minister. "

"I 'm not aware of ever having forbidden something else that I allow myself. Moreover, God willing, I will never agree to even the smallest restriction of freedom of expression, which the Church gives to its members so far. "

Works (selection)

• Primitiae. Or, Essays and Poems on Various Subjects, Religious, Moral and Entertaining. London 1809.
• A History of Greece. 8 volumes. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, London 1835-1844.
• Worship in Holy Communion and almsgiving. Duties on the Lord's Day. In: Sermons for Sundays, Festivals and Breakfasts. In 1845.
• Remains, Literary and Theological, of Connop Thirlwall, Late Lord Bishop of St. David's. Edited by: J. J. Stewart Perowne. 3 volumes. Daldy, Isbister & Co., London 1877 to 1878.
• Letters, Literary and Theological, of Connop Thirlwall, Late Lord Bishop of St. David's. Edited by: J. J. Stewart Perowne. Richard Bentley & Son, London, 1881.
• Letters to a Friend. Edited by: Arthur Penrhyn Stanley. Richard Bentley & Son, London, 1881.

As a translator

• Friedrich Schleiermacher: Critical Essay on the Gospel of St. Luke. Original title: About the writings of Luke. A critical experiment. London 1825.
• Barthold Georg Niebuhr: History of Rome. Original title: Roman history. 1828th ( with Julius Charles Hare )