Illtyd Trethowan


Illtyd Trethowan, born as Kenneth Trethowan, was an English priest, philosopher and author. For more than thirty years he was the sub-prior of Downside Abbey in Somerset and was also a visiting professor in theology at Brown University.

Early life

Born at Salisbury in 1907, Trethowan was the son of William James Trethowan, a solicitor, by his marriage to Emma Louisa Van Kempen.
He was baptised in the Church of England as "William Kenneth" and educated at Felsted School and Brasenose College, Oxford. While at Oxford he contracted poliomyelitis and was left with a withered arm.

Career

In 1929 Trethowan was received into the Roman Catholic Church and took a job as a schoolmaster at the Oratory School, London, later transferring to Ampleforth. He became a novice monk at Downside Abbey in 1932 and the same year was 'clothed' a monk under the name of Dom Illtyd. In 1933, he was ordained a priest and from then on taught philosophy to junior monks in the monastery. From 1936 to 1982, he also taught classics and later English literature at Downside, a boarding school for boys attached to the monastery. He served as sub-prior of Downside Abbey between 1958 and 1991 and, when he retired, was given the honorary title of "Cathedral Prior of Ely". He was also a visiting professor in theology at Brown University.
Trethowan died at Bath, Somerset, on 30 October 1993, having said shortly before that he was happy to die. In an obituary, The Independent said of him

Author

Trethowan was the author of several religious books and many learned articles, translations and book reviews. He edited Walter Hilton's The Scale of Perfection and, from 1946 to 1952 and again from 1960 to 1964, he edited the Downside Review.
A fearless thinker, he argued the centrality of contemplation and also that philosophical certainty about God was possible. He also worked to gain a greater audience for some less well known writers, including Maurice Blondel and Dominique Dubarle. For philosophical inspiration he looked to Augustine. For over twenty years, he was in dialogue with Eric Mascall, with whose work Louis Bouyer draws comparisons, calling Trethowan "a born Augustinian, but of exceptional intellectual acuity".
In Awareness of God, Trethowan writes
In Absolute Value, Trethowan asserts that an awareness of moral obligations is an awareness of God. He later expanded on this:

Published works (selected)

Major publications

Trethowan was reported to like sunbathing and cats.