De persecutione Anglicana by Robert Persons S.J.

A Critical Edition of the Latin Text with English Translation, Commentary and Introduction

Victor Houliston author Marianne Dircksen author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:14th Dec '23

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

De persecutione Anglicana by Robert Persons S.J. cover

A critical edition of a key text from the Reformation with detailed contextual introduction, translation and commentary.

Presenting the text of a notorious Jesuit attack on Queen Elizabeth I’s treatment of her Catholic subjects, this volume highlights the European context of the English Reformation and Robert Persons’s role as propagandist. In De persecutioneAnglicana, Robert Persons (1546–1610) graphically describes the conditions in prisons, the harassment of Catholics at home and the gruesome manner of execution for treason. The work culminates in the arrest of the famous Jesuit martyr Edmund Campion, with rapidly revised versions bringing the narrative up to date after Campion’s execution on 1 December 1581. Written in Latin to appeal to readers throughout Europe, it was translated into French, Italian and German, making it arguably the most important Latin martyrological work by an English Catholic of the Elizabethan period. This critical edition comprises the Latin text, English translation and commentary, and a textual history, appending additional material from the revised versions.

Persons was actively involved in the drive to restore Roman Catholicism in England, as missionary strategist, controversialist and founder of English colleges abroad. He worked closely with the superior general of the Society of Jesus, Claudio Acquaviva, negotiating with Philip II of Spain, the Duke of Guise, the Duke of Parma and successive popes. Thanks to the growth of early modern British Catholic studies, his prolific and provocative English writings attract increasing scholarly attention, but his Latin texts have often been glossed over.

This edition represents a landmark in the recovery for serious consideration of a key work by an author who was arguably the most widely ready English writer of his day in geographical terms. -- Simon Ditchfield, Professor of Early Modern History, University of York, UK

ISBN: 9781350379343

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

288 pages