Patrick Anderson (1575–1624) was a Scottish Jesuit, known as a missioner, college head, and author.

Life

Anderson was a native of

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Chatham-Kent, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario ...

or Moray, his mother being a sister of

John Lesley John Lesley (or Leslie) (29 September 1527 – 31 May 1596) was a Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian. His father was Gavin Lesley, rector of Kingussie, Badenoch. Early career He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, where he ...

. After a basic education at

Elgin grammar school Elgin Academy is a secondary school in Elgin, Moray, Scotland. The school was ranked 181 out of 340 schools in Scotland by the Times with 37% of pupils attaining five Highers. Admissions Pupils at Elgin Academy are in years S1 to S6. Most arriv ...

, and a course of classical study at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, he entered the Society of Jesus at Rome in 1597. In time Anderson acquired a reputation as linguist, mathematician, philosopher, and divine. Sent to Scotland as a missioner, he arrived via London where he was in November 1609. He had hairbreadth escapes from the authorities. He left Scotland for Paris to meet his superior, James Gordon, late in 1611; at that time there was only a single Catholic priest in Scotland. Anderson gathered nearly a hundred young Scots as candidates for the priesthood, and in 1615 he became the first Jesuit rector of the Scotch College in Rome. Returning to Scotland, Anderson was betrayed, and committed to the

Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh The Old Tolbooth was an important municipal building in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland for more than 400 years. The medieval structure, which was located at the northwest corner of St Giles' Cathedral and was attached to the west end of the L ...

. During his confinement there he held several disputations with Presbyterian divines. Threatened with the torture of the boot, he was liberated by the intercession, it was thought, of the French ambassador Antoine Coiffier-Ruzé, marquis d'Effiat, who chose him for his confessor. He died in London 24 September 1624.

Works

Anderson's works are: * ''The Grovnd of the Catholike and Roman Religion in the Word of God. With the Antiquity and Continuance therof, throughout all Kingdomes and Ages. Collected out of diuers Conferences, Discourses, and Disputes, which M. Patricke Anderson, of the Society of Iesvs, had at seuerall tymes with sundry Bishops and Ministers of Scotland, at his last imprisonment in Edenburgh, for the Catholike Faith, in the yeares of our Lord 1620 and 1621. Sent vnto an Honourable Personage by the Compyler and Prisoner himselfe''. 3 parts or vols. 1623. * ''Memoirs of the Scotch Saints'', manuscript formerly preserved in the Scotch College at Paris.

Augustin de Backer Augustin de Backer (18 July 1809 in Antwerp, Belgium – 1 December 1873 in Liège, Belgium) was a Belgian Jesuit and renowned bibliographer. Early years and Formation De Backer left his country to be educated at the Jesuit schools of France ...

mentioned, in his list of Anderson's works, ''Copia de las Cartas que se embiaron de Escocia a nuestro Padre Claudio Aquaviva, Preposito general de la Compañia de Jesus, por un Padre de Escocia, de la misma Compañia a quatro de Enero del año 1612. Por este relacion se puede ver el estado bueno de las cosas de la Christianidad de Escocia, fol. 10 ff. De Escocia, á quatro de Enero, 1612. De V. P. hijo, y siervo indigno Patricio Andersono''.

References

;Attribution 1575 births 1624 deaths 17th-century Scottish Jesuits Judicial torture in Scotland {{Scotland-reli-bio-stub