John Fowler (Catholic scholar) facts for kids
John Fowler (born in Bristol, England, in 1537; died in Namur, which is now in Belgium, on February 13, 1579) was a smart Catholic scholar and a printer. He played an important role in sharing books during a time of big changes in England.
A Young Scholar
John Fowler started his studies at Winchester College in 1551. He then went to New College, Oxford in 1553. He stayed there until 1559. He earned his first university degree in 1557. He was supposed to get his master's degree in 1560.
When Elizabeth I became queen, things changed for many people. She introduced the Oath of Supremacy. This oath said that the Queen was the head of the church in England. John Fowler and fourteen other scholars at New College left. They chose not to take this oath. John Fowler later married Alice Harris. Her father used to work for Sir Thomas More.
Becoming a Printer
After leaving Oxford, John Fowler moved to Leuven. This city is in present-day Belgium. Like many other scholars of his time, he became interested in printing books. He received a license to print for the University of Leuven on May 5, 1565.
John Fowler was very smart and skilled. He became one of the best scholar-printers of his time. A writer named Antony Wood said that Fowler was "well skilled in the Greek and Latin tongues." He also said Fowler was a "tolerable poet and orator" and a good theologian. Wood even compared him to famous printers like Robert and Henry Stephens. Fowler also studied the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas very carefully.
Having a printing press run by a skilled English printer outside of England was a big help for the Catholic cause. Fowler spent the rest of his life doing this work. Cardinal Allen praised him as a "most Catholic and learned printer of books."
Watching His Work
The English government kept a close eye on Fowler's printing work. We know this from old government papers. For example, in 1571, a man named Henry Simpson said that Fowler printed all the English books in Leuven. He also mentioned that a servant named William Smith would bring the books to the press.
Between 1565 and 1575, some of Fowler's books showed "Antwerp" as the place they were printed. It's not clear if he printed them himself in Antwerp. He might have had others print them there. Or, he might have printed them in Leuven but put a false address on them.
Later Years
In 1577, Fowler moved to Douai. There, he printed Gregory Martin's Treatise of Schism in 1578. In the same year, he moved to Rheims, and then to Namur. He died in Namur on February 13, 1579. He was buried in that city. His wife, Alice, continued his printing business in Douai until 1602.
What He Wrote and Printed
John Fowler either wrote or translated several books himself. Here are some of them:
- An Oration against the unlawful Insurrections of the Protestants of our time under pretence to reforme Religion (Antwerp, 1566). This was a translation from Latin.
- Ex universâ summâ Sacrae Theologiae Doctori os S. Thomae Aquinatis desumptae conclusiones (Louvain, 1570).
- M. Maruli dictorum factorumque memorabilium libri VI (Antwerp, 1577).
- Additiones in Chronica Genebrandi (1578).
- A Psalter for Catholics. This was a book that caused some debate.
- He also wrote some short poems and verses.
Some people thought he translated the Epistle of Orosius (Antwerp, 1565). But it was actually translated by Richard Shacklock. A scholar named John Pitts said Fowler wrote an English work called Ad Ducissam Feriae confessionis forma.
Fowler also helped prepare other important books for printing. For example, he edited Sir Thomas More's Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation (Antwerp, 1573).
He also published many other works by different authors. These include:
- Thomas Harding's replies to John Jewel (1566, 1567, 1568).
- Thomas Stapleton's translation of Bede's History (1566). This was the first English edition of this history.
- Laurence Vaux's catechism (1574).
- Thomas à Kempis's De Christi imitatione (1575).
- The Jesus psalter (1575).
