How far has the importance of the missionary priests in ensuring the survival of English Catholicism been exaggerated?
How far has the importance of the missionary priests in ensuring the survival of English Catholicism been exaggerated? Over the years, historians have vigorously debated the role of the Jesuit and Seminary Priests (collectively the missionary priests) in the survival of English Catholicism. These debates have ranged from the actual extent of Catholic survivalism, to the significance of the missionary priests themselves. Whereas historians such as Haigh believe that at the time of the 1559 settlement, England was still, essentially a Catholic country, those such as Bossy maintain that the missionary priests were essential in ensuring the survival of English Catholicism, which, he argues, was dying out due to the lack of Marian priests. The missionary priests aimed to bring Catholicism to the English, a country ruled by a Protestant Queen, who was, in the eyes of the Catholic church, a bastard, or, as Pope Pius V referred to her as in 1566, the one 'who pretends to be Queen of England.' With strong legislative restraints on the practices of Catholicism, including a £20 recusancy fine, and the dramatic reduction in Marian priests, Catholicism in England was clearly in need of support, and historians such as Doran have argued that it is difficult to see how Catholicism could have existed after 1574 without the help of the foreign priests to administer the sacraments.
A summary of the themes covered in St. Xaviers letter to the Society of Jesus at Rome about his mission in India.
Ridhima Saxena FSLE 3 (60918) Course: Images of India ________________ Response Note on St. Xavier’s letter ________________ A summary of the themes covered in St. Xavier’s letter to the Society of Jesus at Rome. This letter begins with a description of St. Xavier informing the authorities that it had already been three years of him and Francis Mancias at Comorin in India. They had been sent by the missionaries in Rome to restore Christianity in the Portugal colonies in India and during the course of three years, St. Xavier had already done a great job converting Hindus to Christianity. He informs them about his experience in India and in this essay I would summarize his letter according to the different themes he covers in it. a) Population: St. Xavier mentions that just at Comorin the population is large and it keeps increasing rapidly. They speak the local languages and are dark in color. The first job that St. Xavier did after coming to India was to interact with the most intelligent of the men at the coast who were well versed in the Malabar as well as Castilian. St. Xavier did not understand Malabar much but he picked up a little bit of it from the locals. With the help of these diligent men, he translated the Catechism into the local language and then began assembling men, women, and children in the villages to teach them the doctrines in the Bible. He
Shay's rebellion.
Shay's Rebellion Alan Brinkley, author of American History: A Survey, portrays Shay's Rebellion as an uprising of poor farmers in Massachusetts in 1786. These poor farmers were indebt and demanded relief. However, Leonard Richards, author of Shay's Rebellion The American Revolution's Final Battle, denounces this representation of the rebellion. He reveals that Shay's Rebellion was much more than it has been thought to be. The rebellion was actually more widespread within its participants and supporters and that it represented whole communities-the wealthy and the poor, the prominent and the powerless. I believe that Richards representation of Shay's Rebellion is much more accurate because he has studied many of the contemporary records and through his novel, he provides a clear picture of the true character of the rebellion in many aspects. To Richards, Shay's Rebellion has never been fully appreciated because it has always been seen as only a small group of poor farmers and debtors disputing the local civil authority. In spite of these beliefs, Richards states that Shay's Rebellion was not a small group, but encompassed thousands of citizens of Massachusetts. When the Rebellion was put down, there were "eighteen death sentences, two actual hangings, several hundred indictments, and some four thousand confessions of wrongdoing."(p.43) The numbers of rebels therefore