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Patronage and Practice: Assessing the Significance of the English Convents as Cultural Centres in Flanders in the Seventeenth Century

2011; Routledge; Volume: 92; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0013838x.2011.584741

1744-4217

Caroline Bowden,

Historical Studies of British Isles

Abstract The English convents founded in exile from 1598 rapidly became important cultural centres. They generated and supported a number of initiatives in the course of creating a well-regarded monastic life for English women. Although remaining essentially English institutions, nevertheless their situation in exile drew them into the orbit of local influences. For instance, their buildings were mostly designed and built by local craftsmen using local materials: they needed printed texts in English, Latin and French printed locally. Convent chapels were liminal spaces where visitors attended Mass at the same time as the nuns, although positioned separately. These chapels were the focus of the liturgy and of many donations. They became highly decorated and at the same time displayed benefactions given to the nuns to a wider audience. This paper is a preliminary attempt to consider cultural interchanges between the English convents in Flanders and their neighbours in the seventeenth century. Acknowledgements As ever, my gratitude is due to surviving members of the convents for permission to access and quote from their archives, without which none of this research would be possible. Notes 1The focus in this paper is on Flanders but similar material and intellectual circumstances are found in the other English convents of the period. 2This paper has not included the Mary Ward Sisters alongside the enclosed convents as their history was very different. 3Figures based on the author's statistics. For data on membership of the convents see Who were the Nuns? 4For a published example of such a book, see Trappes-Lomax, ed., 31–88. 5Professor Helen Hackett is currently carrying out interesting research on this group, with publications forthcoming. 6For instance, Mary Sidney Herbert at Wilton, near Salisbury; Mildred Cooke Cecil, Lady Burghley at Burghley House and Theobalds; and Lady Ranelagh's household in Pall Mall, London, 1640s. For published writings on these women, see works listed in note 7 below. 7The number of works discussing such activities indicate how far the study has progressed in the last twenty years: see the bibliographies in Hunter and Hutton, eds.; Burke and Gibson; Knoppers, ed. However, manuscript texts generated in the English convents in exile have only recently begun to appear in print: see for example, Cary; Hallett; Wolfe. Nothing has yet been published on artistic patronage in the English convents. 8For instance, the striking room with painted panels created by Lady Anne Drury at Hawstead Place, Suffolk. 9In their documents they referred to themselves as English convents, although a few of their members came from Wales. They identified members from Ireland and Scotland separately in the texts. 10I am grateful to Michael Emery, producer BBC Singers, for his insights on English music in this period. 11Letter to Henry VIII, 1544, in Strunk, ed., 350–1. 12See Christopher Morris, 122. 13 Chronicle of the First Monastery, 76–7, 121. 14Trappes-Lomax, 56, 57. 15''Be Thou unto me, Lord, a God, a protector''. 16J. Morris, ed., 40. 17 Chronicle of the First Monastery, facing 40. 18MS Louvain Chronicle, f 5r. 19Trappes-Lomax, Benefactors' Book, 32–3, see also List of Charities, 173. 20Trappes-Lomax, Benefactors' Book, 31–7. 21Arblaster, Appendix I. 22See the discussion in Hallett, 2–7. 23For instance, when the Gravelines convent caught fire in 1626 or when Louvain was besieged in 1635: see the accounts in the MS Gravelines Chronicle, 151–2; and MS Louvain Chronicle, 400–12. 24MS Gravelines Chronicle, 26; Peters, 101. 25Hardman, 9, 64, 95. 26MS Franciscan Annals. 27For a discussion on the importance of books to an early modern English convent, see Jones and Walsham, eds. 28See for example, Wolfe, 158–88. 29Clancy. 30For instance, the Franciscans professed fifteen nuns in 1622; the Benedictines in Brussels five in 1608; the Poor Clares eight in 1610; later in the century annual totals were smaller. See figures in the project database, Who were the Nuns? www.history.qmal.ac.uk/wwth. Accessed 1 June 2011. 31Clancy. 32For a discussion of books and reading in the English convents, see the author's chapter in Jones and Walsham, 177–202. For the books at the English Benedictine convent at Brussels in the early years, see Arblaster. 33St. Bernard. 34Reprinted in Korsten, ed. 35Ibid. 36 Pensez-y bien or Think Well on it, dedicatory letter, A3. 37MS Louvain Chronicle, f24v. Mr Evans appears to have given other pictures in addition to the monetary donation. Three paintings by de Crayer from St Monica's convent were sold by Bonhams, London: catalogue for 9 December 2009, sale 16888 Old Master Paintings. 38Hardman, 6. 39MS Lierre Benefactors' Book, 23. 40Ibid., 38, 39 41Ibid., 7, 8. 42 Chronicle of the First Monastery, 167. 43MS Lierre Benefactors' Book, 9–10. 44Ibid., 28–30. Additional informationNotes on contributorsCaroline Bowden Caroline Bowden is a Research Fellow at the School of History, Queen Mary, University of London, UK.