Richard Thomson, sometimes spelled Thompson, was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

-born English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 theologian and translator. He was Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge

Clare College, Cambridge

Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...

 and the translator of Martial

Martial

Marcus Valerius Martialis , was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan...

's epigrams and among the "First Westminster Company" charged by James I of England

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

 with the translation of the first 12 books of the King James Version of the Bible

King James Version of the Bible

The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV, is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611...

. He was also known for his intemperance and his doctrinal belief in Arminianism

Arminianism

Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...

.

Life

Commonly called "Dutch Thomson", he was born in Holland of English parents, and received his education at Clare Hall, where he graduated B.A. in 1587 and was elected fellow. He commenced M.A. in 1591, and was incorporated in that degree at Oxford on 1 July 1596. Bishop Lancelot Andrewes

Lancelot Andrewes

Lancelot Andrewes was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester and oversaw the translation of the...

 presented him to the rectory of Snailwell

Snailwell

Snailwell is a small village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire, England around north of Newmarket.-History:The parish of Snailwell covers an area of in the extension of eastern Cambridgeshire that surrounds the town of Newmarket in Suffolk...

, Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

.

He was selected as one of the translators of the Bible, being one of the company to which the task was allotted of translating the Old Testament from Genesis to the second book of Kings inclusive. Thomas Farnaby

Thomas Farnaby

Thomas Farnaby was an English schoolmaster and scholar.-Early life:He was the son of a London carpenter...

 states that Thomson lived for some time under the protection of Sir Robert Killigrew, and that he was a great interpreter of Martial.

Henry Hickman

Henry Hickman

Henry Hickman was an English ejected minister and controversialist.-Life:A native of Worcestershire, he was educated at St Catharine Hall, Cambridge, where he proceeded B.A. in 1648. At the end of 1647 he entered Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and the next year obtained by favour of the parliamentary...

 styles him ‘the grand propagator of Arminianism,’ and Prynne describes him as ‘a debosh'd drunken English Dutchman, who seldom went one night to bed sober;’ but on the other hand Richard Montagu

Richard Montagu

Richard Montagu was an English cleric and prelate.-Early life:He was born during Christmastide 1577 at Dorney, Buckinghamshire, where his father Laurence Mountague was vicar, and was educated at Eton. He was elected from Eton to a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, and admitted on 24...

, who knew him well, says that he was ‘a most admirable philologer,’ and that ‘he was better known in Italy, France, and Germany than at home.’ He was buried at St. Edward's, Cambridge, on 8 January 1613.

Works

His works are:

• Elenchus Refutationis Pro … Episcopo Eliense adversus Martinum Becanum Jesuitam, authore Richardo Thomsonio Cantabrigiensi, London, 1611, dedicated to Sir Thomas Jermyn. Against Martinus Becanus and his attack on the Torturæ Torti, of Lancelot Andrewes, itself a controversial work against Robert Bellarmine
  Robert Bellarmine
  Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...
  
   in the allegiance oath controversy.
• Diatriba de Amissione et Intercisione Gratiæ et Justificationis, Leyden, 1616 and 1618. An ‘Animadversio brevis’ on this work was published in 1618 by Robert Abbot.