Thomas Tymme (or Timme) (died 1620) was an English clergyman, translator and author. He combined
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
views, including the need for capital punishment for
adultery
Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...
, with a positive outlook on
alchemy
Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...
and
experimental science
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
.
Life
He seems to have been educated at Cambridge, possibly at
Pembroke Hall
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...
, under
Edmund Grindal
Edmund Grindal ( 15196 July 1583) was Bishop of London, Archbishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth I. Though born far from the centres of political and religious power, he had risen rapidly in the church durin ...
. On 22 October 1566 he was presented to the rectory of
St. Antholin, Budge Row, London, and in 1575 he became rector of
Hasketon
Hasketon is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk District of Suffolk, England.
Its church, St. Andrews, is one of 38 existing round-tower churches in Suffolk. St. Andrews stands more or less at the centre of its scattered parish, an ...
, near
Woodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is up the River Deben from the sea. It lies north-east of Ipswich and around north-east of London. In 2011 it had a populat ...
. He appears to have held the rectory of St. Antholin until 12 October 1592, when
Nicholas Felton was appointed his successor.
He secured patronage in high quarters, among those to whom his books were dedicated being
Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex
Thomas Radclyffe (or Ratclyffe), 3rd Earl of Sussex KG (c. 15259 June 1583), was Lord Deputy of Ireland during the Tudor period of English history, and a leading courtier during the reign of Elizabeth I.
Family
He was the eldest son of ...
,
Charles Blount, Earl of Devonshire,
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, Knight of the Garter, KG (c. 1530 – 21 February 1590) was an English peerage, nobleman and general, and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Their ...
, Archbishop Grindal,
Sir Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke ( , formerly ; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.
Born into an upper-class family, Coke was ...
and
Sir John Puckering
Sir John Puckering (1544 – 30 April 1596) was a lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1592 until his death.
Origins
He w ...
. He died at Hasketon in April 1620, being buried there on the 29th.
Tymme married, at Hasketon, on 17 July 1615, Mary Hendy, who died in 1657, leaving one son, Thomas Tymme. William Tymme, possibly a brother of Thomas, printed many books between 1601 and 1615.
Works
In 1570 he published his first work, a translation from the Latin of
John Brentius, entitled ''Newes from Niniue to Englande'' (London). It was followed in 1574 by the translation of
Pierre de La Place supposed history of the civil wars in France, entitled 'The Three Partes of Commentaries containing the whole and perfect Discourse of the Civill Warres of France under the Raignes of Henry the Second, Frances the Second, and of Charles the Ninth' (London, 4to); prefixed is a long copy of verses in Tymme's praise by
Edward Grant
Edward Grant (April 6, 1926 – June 21, 2020) was an American historian of medieval science. He was named a distinguished professor in 1983. Other honors include the 1992 George Sarton Medal, for "a lifetime scholarly achievement" as an histor ...
.
Tymme produced numerous translations, chiefly of theological works. He published:
* ''A Catholike and Ecclesiasticall Exposition of the Holy Gospell after S. John . . . gathered by A. Marlorat, and translated by T. Tymme'', London, 1575. From
Augustin Marlorat.
* ''A Commentarie upon S. Paules Epistles to the Corinthians, written by John Caluin, and translated out of the Latin'', London, 1577.
* ''A Commentarie of John Caluin upon Genesis . . . translated out of the Latin'', London, 1578.
* ''A Catholike and Ecclesiasticall Exposition of the Holy Gospel after S. Mark and Luke, gathered ... by Augustine Marlorat, and translated out of Latin'', London, 1583.
* ''The Figure of Antichriste ... disciphered by a Catholike ... Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians'', London, 1586.
* ''A Discoverie of Ten English Lepers
.e. the Schismatic, Murderer, &c.... setting before our Eies the Iniquitie of these Latter Daies'', London, 1592.
* ''A Briefe Description of Hierusalem ... translated out of the Latin
f S. Adrichomius', London, 1595; other editions, 1654, and 1666.
* ''The Poore Mans Paternoster ... newly imprinted'', London, 1598.
* ''The Practice of Chymicall and Hermeticall Physicke ... written in Latin by Josephus Quersitanus, and translated ...'', London, 1605. A translation of two Latin alchemical works by Josephus Quercetanus or
Joseph Duchesne
Joseph Duchesne or du Chesne (Quercetan, Latin Josephus Quercetanus) ( 1544, Lectoure – 1609) was a French physician. A follower of Paracelsus, he is now remembered for important if transitional alchemical theories. He called sugar toxic, saying: ...
. According to
Allen Debus, Tymme involved alchemical thinking in his theology, in particular of the Creation and Last Judgement.
* ''A Dialogue Philosophicall . . . together with the Wittie Invention of an Artificiall Perpetual Motion'', London, 1612. Discusses the
perpetual motion machine
Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work indefinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible ...
of
Cornelius Drebbel
Cornelis Jacobszoon Drebbel (; 1572 – 7 November 1633) was a Dutch engineer and inventor. He was the builder of the first operational submarine in 1620 and an innovator who contributed to the development of measurement and control systems, opti ...
.
* ''A Siluer Watchbell'', 10th impression, 1614; a work of devotion, it reached a nineteenth edition in 1659.
* ''The Chariot of Devotion ...'', London, 1618.
Tymme also made a new edition of ''A Looking-Glasse for the Court'' (1575), translated by
Sir Francis Bryan
Sir Francis Bryan (June 1490 – 2 February 1550) was an English courtier and diplomat during the reign of Henry VIII. He was Chief Gentleman of the Privy chamber and Lord Justice of Ireland. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bryan always reta ...
in 1548 from an original by
Antonio de Guevara
Antonio de Guevara (c. 1481 – 3 April 1545) was a Spanish bishop and author. In 1527, he was named royal chronicler to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. His first book ''Libro áureo'' first appeared in pirated editions the following year. This pse ...
.
Notes
References
*
Further reading
*Bruce Janáček. ''Thomas Tymme and natural philosophy: prophecy, alchemical theology, and the Book of Nature''. Sixteenth Century Journal, 30 (1999), 987-1007.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tymme, Thomas
Year of birth missing
1620 deaths
English translators
16th-century English Puritan ministers