Calculators in Divinity: Henry Savile and Thomas Bradwardine

Abstract

This essay discusses the immediate context and form of the publication of Henry Savile’s edition of Thomas Bradwardine’s De causa Dei (1618). It sets out the political and theological significance of the work in relation to publications of the King’s Printers, the Synod of Dort, and the activities of Archbishop Abbot. It moves on to consider how the edition was made, resituating it in Oxford intellectual life of the early 1610s and in the broader world of theological controversy, and identifying some of those who conceived and assisted with the work. It considers which manuscripts were used in making the edition.