Abstract
The aim of this work is to trace the development of Roman
Catholic historical writing on the English Reformation from the
years 1790 to 1940. This period embraces consecutive extremes
in the experience of the English Catholic community: Cisalpinism
in the first place, followed by Ultramontanism.. Catholic
histories written during this period reflect the transition
between the two, and show which issues in the sixteenth century
excited the concern of later generations of Catholics.
For them the English Reformation was not only the most
important event in English history, but a touchstone for problems
in their own day, providing reasons why these problems had
arisen and suggesting possible solutions. Cisalpine historians,
writing in the early part of the nineteenth century, concerned
themselves with the English Reformation for its implications for
the cause of Catholic Emancipation. They therefore turned their
attention almost exclusively to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and
were anxious to show that the issues which had provoked
accusations of disloyalty and the penal legislation of the reign
were no longer an obstacle to improved relations. Elizabeth was
perceived by these writers as a benign monarch who had been
forced to repress Catholicism because of the belligerent stance
of both the pope and the Society of Jesus.
Once Catholic Emancipation was granted in 1829, this
conciliatory tone began to be replaced by a more assertive
approach, which saw the pope as an innocent victim and Elizabeth
as a calculating tyrant. In addition, other contemporary issues
arose which caused Catholic historians to look elsewhere in the
Reformation for explanatory factors. The Romantic revival
brought about a re-examination of the state of the monasteries at
the time of the dissolution. The Oxford Movement resulted in a
closer look at the Reformation in terms of continuity; and for
the Oxford converts the Reformation became a theological rather
than a political revolution. Symptomatically the Anglican
liturgy of the reign of Edward VI became the focus of the debate
on Anglican Orders and the possible reunion of churches. The
restoration of the Jesuits in England in 1829, and their
subsequent growth, resulted in a re-interpretation of the role of
the Jesuits in Elizabethan England.
Catholic historical writing between 1790-19^0 reveals as
much, if not more, about the period in which it was written than
it does about the English Reformation. Yet, if Christopher
Dawson is correct, we will not know the Catholicism of the
nineteenth century until we know the history that it has written.
