At some point on 29 or 30 June I will be speaking at a conference at Ushaw College organised by Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies, entitled ‘What is Early Modern English Catholicism?’.
The conference will run from 28-30 June and the plenary speakers will be Eamon Duffy (Cambridge), Brad Gregory (Notre Dame), Thomas McCoog (Fordham) and Alexandra Walsham (Cambridge).
Celebrating the contribution of Eamon Duffy’s work to changing notions of how early Modern English Catholicism is understood, the aim of the conference is to discuss different ‘sorts’ of Catholicism in evidence – exploring whether the term covers a broad spectrum of interest groups or is more narrowly defined. As such, it will change perceptions of the subject, the conference including those who approach the material from very different angles, questioning perceived notions of what is actually meant when Early Modern Catholicism is mentioned in the English context. The period under consideration will be in the long-term, from the 16th century break with Rome, the years of uncertainty and the Marian restoration, through the periods of recusancy, persecution and the Glorious Revolution, to the Jacobite movement and the Catholic survivalism of the 18th century.
My paper will be entitled ‘Neo-Latin in the English Catholic Community’ and will address the marginalised area of Latin literature produced by the Catholic community, arguing that Latin was as important as English as a lingua franca amongst English Catholics.
Francis Young 