Henry Dodwell
| Henry Dodwell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 1641 Dublin |
| Died | 7 June 1711 (aged 69–70) Shottesbrooke |
| Nationality | Anglo-Irish |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin |
Henry Dodwell (October 1641 – 7 June 1711) was an Anglo-Irish scholar, theologian and controversial writer.
Dodwell was born in Dublin in 1641. His father, William Dodwell, who lost his property in Connacht during the Irish rebellion, was married to Elizabeth Slingsby, daughter of Sir Francis Slingsby and settled at York in 1648. Henry received his preliminary education at St Peter's School, York.
In 1654 he was sent by his uncle to Trinity College, Dublin, where he became a scholar and fellow, receiving the Bachelor of Arts in 1662 and Master of Arts in 1663. Having conscientious objections to taking religious orders, he relinquished his fellowship in 1666, but in 1688 was elected Camden professor of history at Oxford. In 1691 he was deprived of his professorship for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary.
Dodwell retired to Shottesbrooke in Berkshire to be near his friend, Francis Cherry. As the movement behind the refusal to swear allegiance declined, with the death of William Lloyd who had been deprived of his bishopric, and the decision by Thomas Ken to relinquish his claim to the See of Bath and Wells, Dodwell returned to the Church of England in 1710.
He died in Shottesbrooke.
Living on the produce of a small estate in Ireland, he devoted himself to the study of chronology and ecclesiastical polity, providing a defence of the deprived nonjuring bishops. Edward Gibbon speaks of his learning as "immense," and says that his "skill in employing facts is equal to his learning," although he severely criticizes his method and style. Dodwell's works on ecclesiastical polity are more numerous than those on chronology.
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