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Archibald Bower
1686–1766
Raised in the Catholic world but later active in Protestant England, this 18th-century writer built a career out of controversy as much as scholarship. He is best remembered for a widely read history of the popes and for the dramatic turns in his own religious life.
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About the author
Born in or around 1686 at Dundee, Archibald Bower was educated for the Roman Catholic priesthood and spent time with the Jesuits. His life took a striking turn after he left that world, eventually settling in England, where he became known as a historian and religious controversialist.
Bower wrote several works, but his best-known book was a multi-volume History of the Popes, a large project that helped make his name with English readers. He also contributed to learned publishing circles in London and moved in the world of booksellers, scholars, and public debate.
His reputation was tangled with religious and political disputes, and even in his own lifetime he was a figure people argued about. That mix of scholarship, conversion, and controversy makes him an especially vivid example of the turbulent literary and religious culture of 18th-century Britain.