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“Still More Glorifyed in His Saints and Spouses”: the English Convents in Exile and the Formation of an English Catholic Identity, 1600-1800 ______

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“Still More Glorifyed in His Saints and Spouses”: the English Convents in Exile and the Formation of an English Catholic Identity, 1600-1800 ______ “STILL MORE GLORIFYED IN HIS SAINTS AND SPOUSES”: THE ENGLISH CONVENTS IN EXILE AND THE FORMATION OF AN ENGLISH CATHOLIC IDENTITY, 1600-1800 ____________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Fullerton ____________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in History ____________________________________ By Michelle Meza Thesis Committee Approval: Professor Gayle K. Brunelle, Chair Professor Robert McLain, Department of History Professor Nancy Fitch, Department of History Summer, 2016 ABSTRACT The English convents in exile preserved, constructed, and maintained a solid English Catholic identity in three ways: first, they preserved the past through writing the history of their convents and remembering the hardships of the English martyrs; that maintained the nuns’ continuity with their English past. Furthermore, producing obituaries of deceased nuns eulogized God’s faithful friends and provided an example to their predecessors. Second, the English nuns cultivated the present through the translation of key texts of English Catholic spirituality for use within their cloisters as well as for circulation among the wider recusant community to promote Franciscan and Ignatian spirituality. English versions of the Rule aided beginners in the convents to faithfully adhere to monastic discipline and continue on with their mission to bring English Catholicism back to England. Finally, as the English nuns looked toward the future and anticipated future needs, they used letter-writing to establish and maintain patronage networks to attract novices to their convents, obtain monetary aid in times of disaster, to secure patronage for the community and family members, and finally to establish themselves back in England in the aftermath of the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. By the mid-nineteenth century, not only did seventeen out of twenty-one convents reestablish themselves in England, but English Catholicism and female monasticism experienced a rebirth in their native land. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 Historiography ...................................................................................................... 4 English Nuns’ Identity in Exile ..................................................................... 6 History Writing .............................................................................................. 7 Obituaries ....................................................................................................... 7 Translations .................................................................................................... 8 Letter-Writing ................................................................................................ 8 The Blue Nuns ............................................................................................... 9 Catholic Perspective on English Identity ....................................................... 9 Preserving the Past: History Writing and Obituaries ............................................ 10 Cultivating the Present: Translation and English Catholic Spirituality ................ 11 Looking Toward the Future: Patronage Networks and Letter-Writing ................ 12 Life Inside an Early Modern Convent .................................................................. 14 The English Reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries ....................... 17 Elizabethan and Early Jacobean English Catholicism .......................................... 25 Recusant English Catholicism ....................................................................... 27 Early Hopes and Efforts of Return ................................................................ 30 Primary Sources .................................................................................................... 33 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 34 2. PRESERVING THE PAST: HISTORY WRITING AND OBITUARIES .......... 40 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 40 Early Modern English Women’s Writing ...................................................... 42 Early Modern Nuns’ Writing ......................................................................... 44 Early Modern Nuns’ History Writing ............................................................ 45 History Writing in the English Convents .............................................................. 47 Memories of Dissolution: The Bridgettines of Syon Abbey ......................... 48 Memorializing the Sacrifice of the English Martyrs ..................................... 54 Foundation Struggles ..................................................................................... 64 iii Obituaries in the English Convents ...................................................................... 69 Benedictines of Ghent: Honoring God’s Friends .......................................... 70 Beginners of the Monastery: The Blue Nuns’ Founding Mothers ................. 72 Heir of St. Teresa: Mother Anne of the Ascension ........................................ 75 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 78 3. CULTIVATING THE PRESENT: TRANSLATION AND ENGLISH CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY .............................................................................. 81 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 81 Early Modern Translation and National Identity ........................................... 84 Early Modern Women as Translators ............................................................ 86 The Revival of Franciscan Spirituality and the English Convents ....................... 88 Catherine Greenbury and Saint Elizabeth of Portugal ................................... 90 Elizabeth Evelinge and Saint Clare of Assisi ................................................ 93 Mary Percy and Ignatian Spirituality ................................................................... 96 Rules of Convent Life ........................................................................................... 102 Alexia Grey, Obedience, and the Rule of Saint Benedict .............................. 103 Elizabeth Evelinge, Evangelical Poverty, and the Rule of Saint Clare ......... 105 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 108 4. LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE: PATRONAGE NETWORKS AND LETTER-WRITING ................................................................................... 111 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 111 Attracting Novices ................................................................................................ 115 Clare Conyers and the Poor Clares in Aire .................................................... 117 Winefrid Thimelby and the Canonesses in Louvain ...................................... 120 Seeking Aid .......................................................................................................... 124 Poor Clares in Gravelines .............................................................................. 125 Bridgettines in Lisbon .................................................................................... 127 Patronage .............................................................................................................. 130 Mary Ward and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary ............................. 131 Anne Cary and the Court of King Charles II ................................................. 134 Returning Home: The Blue Nuns of Paris and the Jerningham Letters ................ 138 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 141 5. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 145 Recognition from English Protestant Travellers ................................................... 145 Reaction and Experience in Returning Home ....................................................... 148 A Lasting Legacy .................................................................................................. 151 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 155 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Map of the English convents in exile in the Spanish Netherlands and France .... 3 2. Total professions from 1601-1710 ....................................................................... 13 3. Pilgrimage ........................................................................................................... 56 4. Building the Convent ..........................................................................................
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