The English Cardinals
Can I draw people's attention away from all the exciting documents being issued by the Holy See for a moment? I'm certainly not trying to compete but a book of mine is being published tomorrow (9 July) by Family Publications. It's called The English Cardinals and it is co-written by my friend, Fr Gerard Skinner, who recently published a study of the pallium.
The book has individual chapters on each of the 50 English Cardinals, from Robert Pullen (created c.1144) to Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (created 2001). These include pre-Reformation prelates such as Stephen Langton, Henry Beaufort and Thomas Wolsey; heroes of the Catholic resistance like St John Fisher, Willam Allen and Philip Howard; and the 'big three' of the 'Second Spring' - Wiseman, Manning and Newman. There are many less well-known figures, such as Edward Howard, who led the funeral procession of the Duke of Wellington before entering the clerical state, and English Cardinals who spent most of their lives overseas - such as Pope Adrian IV, the Cardinal Duke of York and Rafael Merry del Val (a priest of Westminster and Secretary of State to St Pius X).
Best of all, the book has loads of pictures, some of which make their first appearance in print - there are four colour sections and black and white illustrations throughout (including coats of arms and pictures of the titular churches). The book is hardback, 304pp, and sells at a modest £19.50. Probably the easiest way of getting the book is from the Family Publications website. Waterstone's has a link here, with free postage. Or a slightly more expensive deal from Amazon:
No pressure!
posted by Fr Nicholas at 2:46 pm
14 Comments:
It looks fabulous! Must get a copy!
Will advertise it on my blog..God bless..
I shall be buying asap!
Thanks!
Fr. Schofield,
Congratulations on the publication of your book. I look forward to reading it.
Sounds excellent. I bought "Princes of the Church: A History of the English Cardinals" after reading your post about Cardinal Heard and the Boat Race. Hopefully your own book will reveal more about him.
Hasn't this subject already been covered by Abbot Bellenger?
Yes it has - and that's a jolly good book. But there's always room for more studies (especially with pictures)!
I shall put it next to The Story of the English Cardinals by a Revd Isaacson, an Anglican.
Not competition. Mr Issaacson declares, his book "should be a sufficient warning to any who may be fondly inclined to wish for a reunion with the Roman Church as she presently exists." Wonder what he would think today of the Anglican "church" as she presently exists.
Is there, perchance, any provision for an American distribution?
Good question. I'll ask the publisher - who happens to be the UK distributor for Ignatius books, so there might be some 'exchange'.
I hope you've relied heavily on Peter Gwynne's "the King's Cardinal", in relation to poor old Cardinal Wolsey, rather than regurgitating the reformation (and counter-reformation) old wives' tales about him.
Yes, I used Gwynne, though there is a limit to what can be included in a few pages.
"today of the Anglican "church" as she presently exists."
I correct myself- "it" presently exists.
I'll put my comments here because I don't want them to sound in any way accusatory: the book is absolutely wonderful, and the questions it raises, which I feel could be answered in another edition, would make it a different book.
The triumph of the book is how you made sense of the offer of the Cardinal's Hat to Newman. "The Convert Cardinals", being so pro-Manning and anti-Newman, left me completely befuddled as to who did what when and why. Your clarity (and charity) are wonderful.
What I missed was two pieces of context: what was the Church in England and Wales like during each Cardinal's period in office; and what were the factors which led to each Cardinal, rather than another Bishop, being selected.
The first would have made a much longer book; and you may have felt reticence about the second: even if the (for example) "why Hume and not Worlock?" papers wre perusable (never mind publishable!), their editing into something you could have used would have probably ended up alienating any reader not as obsessivly interested in politics as me. (I do some work in a closed archive and understand the frustration, however.)
But what a wonderful introduction to the history of the Church in England and Wales: I now have to persuade the school of which I am a governor to buy a copy!
Very best wishes
In Xto
Tony
themunimentroom@hotmail.co.uk
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