Francois Longuet was one of several French émigré priests who came to Reading in the wake of the French Revolution. He founded a new chapel in Reading, the first purpose-built one since the Reformation, which he called The Chapel of … Continue reading →

Conferences – English Catholic History Association

Francois Longuet and the Reading Mission by Lindsay Mullaney

The Papal Zouaves were the volunteers from Britain and Ireland who flocked to Rome to help the Pope defend the Papal States between 1860 and 1870.  Fr Nicholas Schofield gives a detailed and fascinating account of this little known episode … Continue reading →

The Papal Zouaves: Victorians who fought for the Pope by Fr Nicholas Schofield

Rev Carleton is a Deacon of Brentwood Diocese, UK. He gives an introduction to Cardinal Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Mary, and son of Blessed Margaret Pole. To listen to the talk click on the arrow below or … Continue reading →

Cardinal Pole by Rev Dr Kenneth Carleton

Dr Francis Young spoke on this subject to our members during a recent Zoom lecture. It happened also to be the Feast of St Edmund to which he alludes at the beginning of the talk. Dr Young gives a masterly … Continue reading →

Monasticism in Suffolk by Dr Francis Young

We are grateful to Dr Hazard, of the School of History, University College Dublin, for providing us with this recording for our podcast which relates to a unique collection of letters written by Loreto Sisters during the Spanish Civil War. … Continue reading →

With Help from the English Embassy: Spanish Civil War Letters by Loreto Sisters, 1936-38, by Dr Benjamin Hazard

“The spiritual guide, the apologist, the modern visionary, the antidote to liberalism, the defender of conscience, the man who never sinned against the light – these are the reasons why Newman should be considered a Doctor of the Church.”  Blessed … Continue reading →

Saint John Henry Newman – Doctor of the Church? by Fr Marcus Holden

Reading Abbey, a Cluniac monastery, was founded in 1121 by Henry I, the son of William the Conqueror, in remembrance of his own son William, who had died tragically at sea. Little remains now of what was once the largest and … Continue reading →

A History of Reading Abbey by John and Lindsay Mullaney

Bishop Laurence Walter Youens was a convert to the Catholic faith from Anglicanism, and was ordained priest in 1901 in High Wycombe, the first Catholic priest ordained there since the Reformation. After a period of missionary work in North Africa, … Continue reading →

Bishop Youens of Northampton by Mrs Margaret Orborne

St Alphege was born near Bath in 954 and died a martyr 1011.  Little known today, his life is however an example and inspiration.  Dr Giles Mercer, former headmaster of Stonyhurst and Prior Park Schools and author of a recent … Continue reading →

St Alphege: Saint of Bath and Saint for our Times by Dr Giles Mercer

26 Fr Richard Finn OP, a member of the Dominican house in Oxford, gives a lucid and informative account of the establishment of the Dominican Order in England. He covers their growth up to the time of the Reformation, their … Continue reading →

The English Dominican Province by Fr Richard Finn OP

Dr Simon Johnson is Director of Heritage at Downside Abbey, a Benedictine Abbey and school in Somerset, England. Established in the 19th century, Downside is home to one of the best collections of religious manuscripts in the world. A recent … Continue reading →

Downside Library & Archives by Dr Simon Johnson

Lady Clare Asquith published her acclaimed book ‘Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare’ in 2005, a study of how Shakespeare secretly addressed the most profound political issues of his day, and how his plays embody a … Continue reading →

Shakespeare and the English Reformation by Lady Clare Asquith

St Nicholas Owen was arguably one of the most fearless and courageous of the Catholic martyrs of the Reformation. He learnt joinery as a trade and put his skills to use in fashioning the most ingenious priest-holes in England during … Continue reading →

St Nicholas Owen: Priest-hole Maker by Tony Reynolds

The son of a Congregational minister from Leeds, Rousell David Byles was influenced by High Church ideas at school and then at Oxford. He began training for Anglican ministry during which time he converted to Catholicism and was subsequently ordained … Continue reading →

Bid me come to thee upon the waters: R D Byles, Priest of the Titanic Disaster by Fr S J Hoyle

There are approximately 20,000 extant letters written by Blessed John Henry Newman. These have been gathered together in 32 volumes by the long and painstaking work of members of the Birmingham Oratory. Mgr Strange, theologian and Newman scholar, has recently … Continue reading →

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Conferences – English Catholic History Association

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