Tuesday 21 October 2014

Articles published about the Cwm Jesuit Library


As the end of the project approaches and the thesis submission date nears (a bit too quickly for my liking!), I am delighted to say that I have had two articles published about the Cwm Jesuit Library in the last few weeks.

The first article, entitled 'The Society of Jesus in Wales, c.1600–1679: Rediscovering the Cwm Jesuit Library at Hereford Cathedral' was published in the newly established Journal of Jesuit Studies, volume 1, issue 4 - a special issue of the journal that focused on the English Jesuit mission in its various connotations. My article (pp. 572–588) is a summary of the key points of my research and discoveries over the last three years, and includes a historical overview and analysis of key provenance inscriptions, as well as some illustrations. The article is effectively a mini-version of my thesis, and is available to read online here.

The second article, has been published in the latest issue of Recusant History, the journal of the Catholic Record Society. This article, entitled ‘Missioners on the Margins? The territorial headquarters of the Welsh Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier at the Cwm, c. 1600–1679’ is a more detailed account of the history of Jesuit association with the Cwm farms at Llanrothal, near Hereford. 
The article argues for a re-evaluation of the Welsh District and its importance to the successes of the English Jesuit Province, concluding that, far from being a small, local missionary outpost of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, the College of St Francis Xavier, or the Welsh District, was in fact a diverse, vibrant and crucially important lynchpin in the successes of the Jesuits in England and Wales. Although not yet available online, the article appears in Recusant History vol 32 issue 2 (pp. 173–193), a bi-annual journal that is sent to all members - enquiries can be sent to the membership secretary James Hagerty membership@catholicrecordsociety.co.uk. The journal name is changing to British Catholic History from January 2015.


The issue of Recusant History also included my summary of conference proceedings from the Society's 57th annual conference, which was held at Downing College, Cambridge in July (pp. 267–270). A copy of the review was also posted to this blog in a previous post.