New Capuchin Fellow at Durham University

I’m delighted and honoured to have been appointed Capuchin Fellow in the History of Catholicism at Durham University, and to be working with the Capuchin Franciscans of Great Britain on this important project to recover their impact over the last five centuries or so. Before joining Durham, I had worked on material relating to the English Benedictines and Poor Clares, which I’ve published in numerous journals. The English Capuchin Benet of Canfield (1562–1610) was also an important figure in my first book, Mysticism in Early Modern England (Boydell, 2019). I’m excited both to expand my research to include the Capuchins and to continue to develop my knowledge of the Catholic religious orders more generally. 

         My project seeks to research the largely unexplored history of the relationship between the Capuchins and Great Britain, to develop how the Capuchin experience in Britain dates from the early modern period, to link the history of the Order to the wider national and international context, and to highlight the significance of the Capuchin British experience for the study of the history of post-Reformation Catholicism. While the return of the Capuchins to Britain after Catholic emancipation post-1850 will play an important role in the project, it will also explore the experience of British Capuchins who entered the global Capuchin order during the early modern period. The end goal of the project is a written history of British Capuchins from the sixteenth century through to the present day which not only tells their story but situates it in the broadest possible contexts.

         While the important role Capuchins have played since their emergence in the 1520s has largely been overlooked by historians, it is important to note the vital scholarly work that has been done by Capuchins themselves about the history of their own order. Many scholars have produced important resources that I’ve been able to analyse during lockdown. This has included the two-volume Constitutiones Ordinis Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum (Rome, 1980), which includes all the Capuchin Constitutions from 1529 through to 1925, as well as the vital Lexicon Capuccinum (Rome, 1951) which includes bibliographic entries for many early Capuchins, the various provinces and missions, and other interesting information. The Lexicon is available online in PDF form for anyone interested in exploring it further, and I also recently discovered an amazing project to digitize and update the Lexicon which has been ongoing since 2004. While the project is in Italian, there are plans to make an English version available eventually. You can see more here: https://www.lexiconcap.com/en/. Digital resources by the late Br Paul Hanbridge OFM Cap and other scholars, available on https://www.capdox.capuchin.org.au/ have been very important to my early research. I’ve also been enjoying two books by Br Stephen Innes OFM Cap on the history of Pantasaph and the life and activities of the early Scottish Capuchin John Chrysostom Campbell, both of which were published by the Capuchin Province of Great Britain in 2020. 

         While the project is in the very early stages, and lockdown has limited many ‘in person’ archival trips, I’m already excited by what I’m discovering through material available digitally. In The National Archives at Kew are a number of letters written by, and addressed to, British Capuchins. These include letters addressed to Benet of Canfield, John Chrysostom Campbell and the Welsh Capuchin Archangel of Pembroke, which I’m busily translating and transcribing for the project. Ushaw College, local to me in Durham, also has material relating to Capuchins that I’ve been able to access, including a copy of a letter from the Congregation of Propaganda to the vicars apostolic, ordering Irish Capuchins to leave Britain in 1702, as well as letters to Nicholas Wiseman (1802 – 1865), Archbishop of Westminster, relating to Capuchin missionaries coming to England in 1851. The V&A Museum in London holds a unique manuscript account of the French Capuchin Cyprien de Gamache (d. 1679), who enjoyed a close relationship with Queen Henrietta Maria, working first in her chapel at Somerset House and then travelling with her in exile during the English Civil Wars. This account is available in modern French and English translations, and I’m excited to compare these to the original in London when possible. 

         One of the most striking things I’ve noticed about the return of the Capuchins to Britain after Catholic emancipation in 1850 is the way in which their experiences mirror those of the very earliest Capuchin friars in Italy. The chronicler Ruffino de Siena (d. 1626) describes how the earliest friars would take refuge in stables or outhouses when they arrived in new towns and cities, making do with what was at hand. If we flash forward to the return of the Capuchins to Britain and their missionary activities, we see a return to this pattern. The earliest friars in London, specifically Peckham, rented a house to say mass at first, but as their congregation increased, they rented a large stable which they transformed into a chapel. This chapel was known as the “Hole in the Wall” because the entrance had been created by literally knocking a hole through the wall of the stable. In Chester we see the same pattern, where the friars originally built a roof over a yard in a street and converted it into a chapel. In the town of Saltney, not far from Chester, the friars said mass in the loft over a stable. Before permanent friaries were established, the Capuchins spreading across Britain in the late eighteenth century used whatever resources they could; stables, barns, yards, rented rooms and courtyards. I’m hoping to draw out more interesting and poignant parallels as the project progresses.

         I’m very passionate that the project is not simply an academic venture undertaken by myself alone. I want as many members of the community as possible to be involved with the project, and to contribute to make the project as collaborative as possible. If anyone would like to get in touch to discuss the project, highlight potential archival material, or simply point me in a new direction, please do not hesitate to get in touch via liam.p.temple@durham.ac.uk.