Review: The Women Who Saved Catholic England by Martyn Beardsley

Synopsis: Much has been written about the historical persecution of Catholics. Priests in particular became prime targets during the heightened tensions of the Armada and the Gunpowder Plot. But those whom they relied on for shelter have received little attention – until now. The underground network of lay supporters, the Catholic Resistance, mostly comprised courageous women of the great (and sometimes not so great) families of England, and their houses riddled with priest holes.

These women fought a cat-and-mouse game with spymasters like Walsingham and Cecil and their spider’s web of clandestine informants, knowing that one slip might lead to arrest, torture and execution.

The indomitable Anne Vaux and her sister Eleanor provide the focus of this story but there were others, including their niece Frances, who as an 11-year-old boldly confronted armed raiders in search of priests; and Margaret Clitherow of York, arrested during a similar search and ultimately pressed to death.

To escape the clutches of Elizabeth’s brutal torturer Richard Topcliffe and others like him, men like Father John Gerard, whose ‘zipwire’ escape from the Tower of London is the stuff of Tom Cruise films, and genius priest-hole creator ‘Little John’, turned to these sisters of mercy.

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This tome details the religious persecutions under Elizabeth I with an overview of Catholicism during the reigns of James I, Charles I & II, and James II. It features biographical detail on the most recognised of the renegade priests and their associates, as well as locations, ways and means of providing refuge and support, during these times of suspicion, spies, persecution and betrayal. The subject at hand was not unknown to me as I had read about this period across a number of other tomes.

For me, however, this book created mixed feelings: at times the narrative was choppy; the author presumes the reader has some previous background knowledge whilst at the same time coming across as an introductory text; the biographical detail is often interspersed with others when I personally felt that these maybe should have been more stand-alone for easier reading for those with limited or no background knowledge. I also agree with one reviewed that the "summary" at the end should have actually been more of an introduction - giving context from the beginning.

Review: The Mirror of Simple Souls by Aline Kiner

Synopsis: A captivating story of love, jealousy and faith, set amid a community of independent women in medieval Paris — the perfect summer read for fans of historical fiction.

This thrilling, sensual evocation of medieval Paris sold over 100,000 copies in France and offers a fascinating insight into the world of the beguines — communities of women who lived independently of men and successfully managed their own affairs all the way back in the Middle Ages.

A heretical text, a vengeful husband, a forbidden love...

It's 1310 and Paris is alive with talk of the trial of the Templars. Religious repression is on the rise, and the smoke of execution pyres blackens the sky above the city. But sheltered behind the walls of Paris's great beguinage, a community of women are still free to work, study and live their lives away from the domination of men.

When a wild, red-haired child clothed in rags arrives at the beguinage gate one morning, with a sinister Franciscan monk on her tail, she sets in motion a chain of events that will shatter the peace of this little world-plunging it into grave danger...

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Historical fiction set in the Beguinage of Paris 1310 - 1317.

The Beguines were usually women who lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take formal religious vows, were allowed to leave at any time, though they did promise not to marry whilst within the community. Beguines were part of a larger spiritual revival movement of the 13th century, that soon attracted the attention of secular and clerical authorities, and came under criticism as a result of their ambiguous social and legal status. The decline of the Beguines in Paris commenced around 1312 - after the death of Margaret Porete.

Paris 1300s

The story opens with the trial of the doomed mystic Marguerite Porete (who was burned at the stake in Paris on charges of heresy in 1310) and of a fleeing young woman, Mahaut, who is rescued and protected by the Beguine, Ysabel.

And after that the story pretty much falls flat. I'm really not sure what was trying to be achieved - a history of the Beguines, historical fiction, a linkage around the title of Margaret Porete's book .... maybe a sense of lost in translation as I certainly felt no connection to the plot or characters.  A case of what might have been ..

Review: The Pilgrim by Davis Bunn

Abandoned by her husband and in danger because of her faith, Empress Helena embarks on a perilous pilgrimage from Caesarea to Judea. Although she encounters friends and foes alike in her travels, miracles follow her. Join her as she wins hearts for God and discovers the true cross of Christ!

Empress Helena was a woman who life would forever be linked with the Holy Land and the Crucifixion, in the sense that she reputedly discovered the True Cross.

Helena's life had humble, if not slightly seedy beginnings as one of her father's "supplementary amenities" at his drinking establishment in Bithyna (Asia Minor). She married well - Constantius, a man on the make under Emperor Aurelian - how they met is speculative. However, she was a "first wife" - when abandoned (c.289) in favour of a younger woman who provided the basis for a politically advantageous - though short-lived - marriage for her former husband, who by now had risen to the rank of Emperor (dc.306). 

With the enthronement of her son Constantine as Emperor (306), Helena returns to imperial court life - but there can only be one Imperial First Lady, and Helena had a distinct dislike for her daughter-in-law Fausta - the daughter of Maximus, whose stepdaughter Theodora, stole her husband so many years ago.

With the new religion of Christianity now the "official" court religion, Helena embarks upon a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (326 - 328) - she is by now a passionate convert to Christianity, and her pilgrimage is ostensibly a tour of the principal shrines. And yet, whilst in the Holy Land, Helena was said to have unearthed the True Cross, part of which she sent back to her son - the Emperor Constantine - in Rome, along with other relics of the Passion. Her finds were endorse by her son, who order the construction of a church to house them - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Helena's was, in fact, one of the first recorded Christian pilgrimages - and I guess you could say she was also one of the first documented archaeologists. 

So, knowing so much, I was looking forward to reading Bunn's novel on Helena. Its short - less than 200 pages - but it certainly packs a lot into those pages. Helena's story is spell-binding - you are captivated by her courage, you endure her hardships and struggles, and celebrate her triumphs. A reader can easily posit themselves in Helena's shoes (or rather, sandals). The reader never loses interest - and Helena's story, courtesy of Davis Bunn's, still resonates long after it is finished.  I read this back in August 2015 - and the story is as fresh in my mind today as if I had just set it aside.

Modern Fight Over Ancient Library

It was filthy, cramped and in major disarray, but when art historian Eva Lindqvist Sandgren entered the library in Altomuenster Abbey, off-limits to all but the German monastery’s nuns for more than five centuries, she immediately knew she was looking at a major treasure. 

The dusty shelves held at least 500 books, by her estimate, including precious illuminated manuscripts from the 16th century, chants used by the uniquely women-led Bridgettine Order and processionals bursting with colorful religious and ornamental decoration in their margins. 

Unlike most Bridgettine libraries, the tomes had survived the Protestant Reformation, the 30 Years War and Germany’s “secularization,” when the state took most church property. It represents the most complete collection of the order known today.

“I had entered a time capsule,” said Lindqvist Sandgren, a senior lecturer at Sweden’s Uppsala University. 

Surprised by the spontaneous decision by Altomuenster’s last remaining nun, Sister Apollonia Buchinger, to open the library, 20 scholars including Sandgren made plans to return and meticulously catalog the remarkable collection. 

But before they could, the Vatican ordered the abbey in the Bavarian town of 7,500 closed and locked up the library, which also contains some 2,300 statues, paintings and other works of art.

If plans go ahead to close it down, all of the abbey’s property – the books, the artworks, the city-block-sized abbey, and the acres of forests and fields that make up the monastery grounds – would be turned over to the dioceses of Munich and Freising. 

Read More Here @ The Journal Gazette

The Hortus Deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg

The First Encyclopedia by a Woman Contains The First Image of a Pretzel | Atlas Obscura

An illuminated encyclopedia that dates back to the 12th century, the tome, the title of which is Latin for “Garden of Delights,” covered a wide range of topics, from a retelling of the Biblical history of the world to the scientific interests of the day. Meant to serve as a primer for young nuns and abbesses entering the service of the Hohenburg Abbey, a convent perched atop an Alsatian peak, much of the knowledge and writing contained in the text was reprinted from preexisting religious and philosophical manuscripts.

However, the author/compiler of the Hortus Deliciarum, an abbess named Herrad of Landsberg, added much more to the text. Herrad joined the convent in her youth, coming from a wealthy royal family. Hohenburg Abbey was a well-funded and respected convent that had the blessing (both spiritual and financial) of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa I, allowing the education of its nuns to flourish. Herrad likely received the best possible education a woman of her time could have received, learning about music, sciences, theology, and the arts.

The Hortus Deliciarum is probably best remembered by its vivid illustrations. The 300-plus images cover subjects ranging from historical vignettes to religious scenes including one particularly striking vision of a fiery hellscape. (Sorry, sinners.) While Herrad is thought to have directed the creation of the illustrations in the text, which were rich in telling detail, “The artists of the Hortus Deliciarum, likely the canonesses living at Hohenbourg in the late 12th century,” says Joyner, “gave a great deal of attention to details like luxurious clothing, the plow and a mill, and apparently the pretzel!”

Read rest of article at the Atlas Obscura