Leighton Library, Dunblane

Scotland's oldest purpose-built independent library founded in 1687

Leighton Library has 1622 first edition of "Monarchiæ Ecclesiasticæ" by John Floyd

Added at 07:50 on 15 September 2025

The Leighton Library has a 1622 first edition of "Monarchiæ Ecclesiasticæ" by English theologian and educator, who was known as a controversialist and was frequently arrested, John Floyd, who died #OnThisDay 15 September 1649.

Floyd was a Catholic controversialist - meaning he wrote to challenge Protestant ideas. This book is a direct rebuttal to the writings of Marco Antonio de Dominis, a former Catholic archbishop who defected to Protestantism and criticized the Catholic Church’s structure. Floyd’s book aims to dismantle de Dominis’s arguments and defend the authority of the Catholic Church.

Floyd lived in England during a time when being openly Catholic could get you arrested (and he was, repeatedly). Publishing this book in 1622 was a bold move.

Because of its controversial content and the political climate, it wasn’t the kind of book that got wide public circulation - it was more like intellectual contraband for Catholic scholars and those in sympathy with the Catholic church.

< Leighton Library has 1533 first edition of "De occulta philosophia" by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim