Recusancy
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In the history of England, recusancy was a term used to describe the statutory offence of not complying with and conforming to the Established church or State religion, the Church of England.
Outside the context of English history, the word also defines non-compliance with the status quo, more particularly, but not exclusively, with a state religion.
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[edit] Origins
After the English Reformation and establishment of the Church of England, from the 16th to the 19th century those guilty of such Nonconformity, termed "Recusants", were subject to civil penalties and sometimes, especially in the earlier part of that period, to criminal penalties. Roman Catholics formed a large proportion of Recusants, and were those to whom the term initially was applied. Non-Roman Catholic groups composed of Reformed Christians or Protestants who dissented from the Church of England were, later, also labelled "Recusants". The recusancy laws were in force from the reign of Elizabeth I to that of George III, though they were not always enforced with equal intensity.
The first statute to address sectarian dissent from the England's official religion was issued in 1593 under Elizabeth I and specifically targeted Roman Catholics, under the title "An Act for restraining Popish Recusants". It defined "Popish Recusants" as those "convicted for not repairing to some Church, Chapel, or usual place of Common Prayer to hear Divine Service there, but forbearing the same contrary to the tenor of the laws and statutes heretofore made and provided in that behalf." Other acts also targeted Roman Catholic recusants, including statutes passed under James I and Charles I, as well as laws defining other offences deemed to be acts of recusancy.
Recusants were subject to various civil disabilities and penalties under English penal laws, most of which were repealed during the Regency and reign of George IV (1811–30). The Nuttall Encyclopædia notes that Dissenters were largely forgiven by the Toleration Act of William III, while Roman Catholics "were not entirely emancipated till 1829".
Early Recusants included Protestant dissenters, whose confessions derived from the Calvinistic Reformers or Radical Reformers. With the growth of these latter groups after the Restoration of Charles II, they were distinguished from Roman Catholic recusants by the use of the terms "nonconformist" or "dissenter".
[edit] Modern usage
Insofar as the term is used of people living today, recusant tends to be applied, as a term of pride, by the descendants of continuously Roman Catholic English gentry and peerage families, most dating their Catholicism back to the first millennium, centuries before the Reformation. Although most contemporary English Roman Catholics are at least partly descended from immigrants into England (particularly from Ireland) or converts, Roman Catholicism remained the majority religion in various pockets, notably rural Lancashire and Cumbria. Some modern-day English-speaking sedevacantist Roman Catholics also use the term (incorrectly) to describe their movement.
The Howard family who are the longstanding Dukes of Norfolk, are the most prominent recusant family in England. Recusancy has been historically focused in Northern England. The Acton (also known as Dalberg-Acton) family is also a well-known recusant family.
Other Recusant families include Ainscough, Arden of Longcroft, Bedingfeld, Berkeley (of Spetchley), Cary-Elwes (or Elwes), Clifford (of Chudleigh; since 1673), Coates, De Lisle (or de Lisle), Fitzherbert (of Swynnerton), Fitzherbert-Brockholes, Gillibrand, Holman, Hornyold, Petre (some branches), Scarisbrick (some branches), Scrope (of Bolton), Stonor, Stourton, Stukley (also spelled as Stucley, Stukely, Stukeley), Swarbrick, Talbot, Throckmorton, Towneley, De Trafford (or de Trafford), Trappes-Lomax (Trappes of Nidd), Vavasour, Ward, Weld, Weld-Blundell (or Weld Blundell), Winter, as well as branches of less notable or wealthy families with such surnames as Blount/Blunt, Jerningham, Mattingly, Pope, Payne, Simpson, Turner, Wilson, and Young, among others.
The will of a William Latewise who died in 1603 in Goosnargh - part of the parish of Kirkham - which states he was 'of Culcheth in the parish of Winwick'. One of those preparing his inventory in 1608 was John Sterrope - possibly his son-in-law? About this time the area around Goosnargh was home to several Catholic families - Keighley, Beesley, Hesketh, Marsden, and Threlfall. Records show that various members of the Latewysse (of Goosnargh) family were fined for recusancy.
In Wales, the few Recusant families include the Mostyns of Mostyn, the Herberts of Treowen, the Morgans of Llantarnam, and the Vaughans of Courtfield, near Ross-on-Wye (the family of Cardinal Vaughan).
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of wealthy families embraced Roman Catholicism, including branches of the Bellingham (Ireland), Fraser (Scotland), Lane-Fox, Noel (Gainsborough), Ashton Case (or Ashton-Case; England), Radcliffe (England), Pontifex (England), Crichton-Stuart (Scotland) and Strickland (Counts of Catena, Malta)[1] families. They provided a resurgent English Roman Catholic Church with much-needed financial support.
Conversely, some old Recusant families, such as the earls of Shrewsbury, the viscounts Gage, and the Giffards of Chillington, embraced Anglicanism.[citation needed]
The principal growth in the numbers of Roman Catholics in modern Britain has been through immigration. In the past Catholic immigrants were Europeans, most notably Irish, and, later in the 20th century, from Poland and Lithuania. There has been a steady flow of Anglican lay people and clergy into the Roman Catholic church over the last two decades, the most prominent being Graham Leonard, former Anglican bishop of London; Katharine, Duchess of Kent; her son and grandson, Lord Nicholas Windsor and Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick, respectively; and most recently, Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister.
[edit] Individuals
A notable English Roman Catholic, possibly a convert, [2] was composer William Byrd. Some of Byrd's most popular motets were actually written as a type of correspondence to a friend and fellow composer, Philip de Monte. De Monte wrote his own motets in response, such as the "Super Flumina Babylonis". These correspondence motets often featured themes of oppression or the hope of deliverance.
One infamous Recusant was Guy Fawkes (aka Guido Fawkes), an English soldier. He was arrested while attempting to carry out his part in the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament on 5 November 1605. Other Recusants include a large proportion of Jacobites, such as the Earl of Derwentwater, and particularly those ennobled in the Jacobite Peerage.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Stricklands of Sizergh were a Roman Catholic family from at least the reign of James I and probably earlier. The Maltese title of Count della Catena was acquired in 1882 from a Maltese marriage
- ^ John Harley. "New Light on William Byrd", Music and Letters, 79 (1998), 475-88
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
[edit] External links
"English Recusants". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/English_Recusants.- "Thames Valley Papists" from Tony Hadland, Reformation to Emancipation, 1534 - 1829,(published 1992 in hard copy as ISBN 0950743143; electronic version of 2001 added illustrations).
- "Lyford Grange Agnus Dei", Global Net, banned Papal medallion, hidden in roof timbers for 400 years, found in 1959.
- "Recusant". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
