English Convents in Catholic Europe, c.1600–1800

Re-orientates our understanding of English convents in exile towards Catholic Europe, contextualizing the convents within the transnational Church.

James E. Kelly (Author)

9781108810463, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 August 2023

233 pages
27 x 18 x 1.6 cm, 0.399 kg

'… an impressive study … The book provides a fascinating window into the collective experience of nearly four thousand English nuns in the period of the Catholic Reformation … [it] provides an important answer to anyone wondering what happened to the long tradition of English monasticism, and especially of convents, after the Dissolution.' Genelle Gertz, Renaissance Quarterly

In 1598, the first English convent to be founded since the dissolution of the monasteries was established in Brussels, followed by a further twenty-one foundations, which all self-identified as English institutions in Catholic Europe. Around four thousand women entered these religious houses over the following two centuries. This book highlights the significance of the English convents as part of, and contributors to, national and European Catholic culture. Covering the whole exile period and making extensive use of rarely consulted archive material, James E. Kelly situates the English Catholic experience within the wider context of the Catholic Reformation and Catholic Europe. He thus transforms our understanding of the convents, stressing that they were not isolated but were, in fact, an integral part of the transnational Church which transcended national boundaries. The original and immersive structure takes the reader through the experience of being a nun, from entry into the convent, to day-to-day life in enclosure, how the enterprise was funded, as well as their wider place within the Catholic world.

Introduction
1. Recruitment: familial and clerical patronage
2. Embracing enclosure
3. Material religious culture
4. Financing the conventual movement
5. Liturgical life: relics and martyrdom
6. Networked: the convents and the world of Catholic exile
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Christian life & practice [HRCV], History of religion [HRAX], British & Irish history [HBJD1], European history [HBJD]