Recusancy
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2024) |
Part of a series on the |
Catholic Church in England and Wales |
---|
Organisation |
|
History |
Associations |
Catholicism portal |
Recusancy (from
The
In some cases those adhering to
Definition
Today, recusant applies to the descendants of Roman Catholic families of the British gentry and aristocracy. It derives from the Latin word recūsant, meaning to demur or object.
History
After the
The first statute to address sectarian dissent from England's
convicted for not repairing to some Church, Chapel, or usual place of Common Prayer to hear Divine Service there, but forbearing the same contrary to the tenor of the laws and statutes heretofore made and provided in that behalf.
Other Acts targeted Catholic recusants, including statutes passed under
Early recusants included
Among the recusants were some high-profile Catholic aristocrats such as the
In the
Prominent historical Catholics in the United Kingdom
Recusant families
There were dozens of recusant families, some no longer extant. For example, the
Individuals
Although William Shakespeare (1564–1616) and his immediate family were conforming members of the established Church of England, Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, was a member of a particularly conspicuous and determinedly Catholic family in Warwickshire.[13]
Some scholars also believe there is evidence that several members of Shakespeare's family were secretly recusant Catholics. The strongest evidence is a tract professing secret Catholicism signed by John Shakespeare, father of the poet. The tract was found in the 18th century in the rafters of a house which had once been John Shakespeare's and was seen and described by the reputable scholar Edmond Malone. Malone later changed his mind and declared that he thought the tract was a forgery.[14] Although the document has since been lost, Anthony Holden writes that Malone's reported wording of the tract is linked to a testament written by Charles Borromeo and circulated in England by Edmund Campion, copies of which still exist in Italian and English.[15] Other research, however, suggests that the Borromeo testament is a 17th-century artefact (at the earliest dating from 1638), was not printed for missionary work, and could never have been in the possession of John Shakespeare.[16] John Shakespeare was listed as one who did not attend church services, but this was "for feare of processe for Debtte", according to the commissioners, not because he was a recusant.[17]
Another notable English Catholic, possibly a convert,[18] was composer William Byrd. Some of Byrd's most popular motets were actually written as a type of correspondence to a friend and fellow composer, Philippe de Monte. De Monte wrote his own motets in response, such as the "Super Flumina Babylonis". These correspondence motets often featured themes of oppression or the hope of deliverance.
The Jacobean poet John Donne was another notable Englishman born into a recusant Catholic family.[19] He later, however, authored two Protestant leaning writings and, at the behest of King James I, was ordained into the Church of England.
Other countries
The term "recusancy" is primarily applied to English, Scottish, and Welsh Catholics, but there were other instances in Europe. The vast majority of native
Recusancy in
See also
- Cæsar Clement
- Catholic Church in the United Kingdom
- Colleges of St Omer, Bruges and Liège
- Crypto-papism
- Dissenter
- Dowry of Mary
- Nonconformism
- Papist
- Priest hole
- Roman Catholic (term)
- Catholic Church in Ireland
References
- OL 14028100M – via Internet Archive.
- Robert Appleton Company; retrieved 11 September 2013 from New Advent
- ISBN 978-0-559-75417-3.
- ISBN 978-0-333-60189-1.
- ^ See for example the text of the Act of Uniformity 1559
- ^ Wood, Rev. James. The Nutall Encyclopædia, London, 1920, p. 537
- ISBN 978-0-8020-8417-0.
- ISBN 0-86012-254-9.
- ^ Roland G. Usher, The Rise and Fall of the High Commission (Oxford, 1968 reprint ed.), pp. 17–18.
- ^ Wood, Rev. James. The Nutall Encyclopædia, London, 1920, p. 537.
- ^ "Weld (Wild), Humphrey (1612–85), of Lulworth Castle, Dorset and Weld House, St. Giles in the Fields, Mdx". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, Volume 2. H. Colburn, 1847. pp. 1545–1546 view on line [1]
- ISBN 1856197263.
- ^ Quoted in Schoenbaum (1977: 49) "In my conjecture concerning the writer of that paper I certainly was mistaken".
- ^ Holden, Anthony. William Shakespeare: The Man Behind the Genius Archived 2007-12-15 at the Wayback Machine. Little, Brown (2000).
- Shakespeare Survey56 [2003] pp. 184–204.
- ^ Mutschmann, H. and Wentersdorf, K., Shakespeare and Catholicism, Sheed and Ward: New York, 1952, p. 401.
- Music and Letters, p. 79 (1998), pp. 475–488
- BBC2. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
- ^ Burton, Edwin, Edward D'Alton, and Jarvis Kelley. 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia, Penal Laws III: Ireland.
External links
- "Thames Valley Papists" (by Tony Hadland), Reformation to Emancipation, 1534–1829 (published 1992; ISBN 0-9507431-4-3; the 2001 electronic version added illustrations)
- "Lyford Grange Agnus Dei", Global Net, banned Papal medallion, hidden in roof timbers for 400 years, found in 1959.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 967.