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28-782: The arguments came to a head during 1594–5, and were then patched up, but distrust continued; the Stirs foreshadowed two generations of conflict, including the Archpriest Controversy , and the troubles over the Old Chapter , which likewise set part of the Catholic secular clergy against some of the Jesuit missioners concerned with England. In fact there was a long period, from 1587 well into the 17th century, when this division among Catholic priests in England

56-524: A continuation of the institutions of the past. There were also suspicions in England that Jesuit missionaries supported Spanish foreign-policy aims, endangering English Catholics through their political entanglements In 1598, some four years after the death of Cardinal William Allen in 1594, the Cardinal Protector of England appointed an archpriest to oversee the mission in England, with the permission of Pope Clement VIII. Enrico Caetani had taken on

84-655: A decision of the French theologians of the Sorbonne , and had much greater success. As framed by Thomas Graves Law , the controversy turned on Blackwell's relationship to the Jesuits as laid down by Caetani, and this was the central thrust of the appeal of 1600. It was dated 17 November 1600 from Wisbech (where in Wisbech Castle around 30 priests were interned). In 1602, the Pope settled

112-754: A deputation to Rome where for eight months they fought for their petition. Their petition, first for six bishops and then for six archpriests, was refused; but though the archpriest succeeded in maintaining his position, the appellants were acquitted of the charges of rebellion and schism. On his return to England, Mush was one of the thirteen priests who signed the protestation of allegiance to Elizabeth I of England (1603). In his later years he acted as assistant to two successive archpriests, George Blackwell and George Birkhead , in Yorkshire, but he seems to have been acting as chaplain to Lady Dormer in Buckinghamshire at

140-598: A vocal minority of seminary priests refused Blackwell's authority. William Bishop and Robert Charnock travelled to Rome to represent their views and appeal against Blackwell's appointment. They arrived in December 1598; but Parsons had them arrested; and the Pope excluded Bishop from both Rome and England. Some of the seminary priests supported Blackwell, with others continuing to appeal to Rome for his removal. The latter group came to be known as "Appellants". Their leaders included Christopher Bagshaw , Thomas Bluet, John Colleton ,

168-637: The English College, Douai in Northern France, an establishment set up by Cardinal Allen and associated to the University of Douai . The root of the controversy stemmed from two different views of the state of the Roman Catholic Church in post-Reformation England. The Jesuits saw England as a missionary field, almost a clean slate, while many of the secular clergy saw their church's survival as

196-517: The English College, Rome , included also efforts to lobby the secular priests at Wisbech. Contemporary with the later years of the Stirs were disputes in Flanders that Ludwig Pastor regarded as similar. The opposing groups were led by Christopher Bagshaw with Thomas Bluet, and the Jesuit William Weston . The immediate cause of the friction was the keeping of fast days . Peter Burke sees

224-714: The Appellants access to printers during the pamphlet war. However, in 1602, disappointed at the Pope's settlement of the dispute, Elizabeth issued a proclamation accusing the Appellants of disloyalty, offering them mercy only if they gave themselves up and signed a "protestation of allegiance". Thirteen of the Appellants publicly asserted their loyalty to Elizabeth in this manner: they were Bishop, Colleton, Mush, Charnock with Roger Cadwallador and Robert Drury (future Catholic martyrs), Francis Barnaby , Anthony Champney , John Boseville, Richard Button, Anthony Hebourn, John Jackson, and Oswald Needham. A bitter pamphlet war followed from

252-609: The English mission and tensions between Catholic clerics and laymen. At the time, under Queen Elizabeth I 's Protestant religious settlement, the Roman Catholic faith suffered legal disabilities. Foreign powers, most notably Spain and France , supported the training of English Catholic clergy on the European mainland. These priests came principally from two backgrounds: Jesuits and seminary priests . The seminary priests were trained at

280-481: The North, becoming a recognized leader among his brother priests. When the dissensions among the imprisoned priests at Wisbech Castle broke out in 1595 (the so-called " Wisbech Stirs "), he with Dr. Dudley went there to arbitrate. Failing in this, together with John Colleton he set himself to devise some organization of a voluntary character among the clergy which might supply the want of episcopal government much felt after

308-519: The appellants or opponents of the archpriest; the controversy is also widely known as the Appellant Controversy . It produced a rich pamphlet literature. Interpretations of its underlying substance have differed: one question to the fore was the allegiance of recusants to the English crown, but it is now argued that internal church matters were central. Other factors were the role of the Jesuits in

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336-541: The castle, who were almost all priests. A list given by Law (Appendix A) applies to 1595/6, and shows 32. A group of 18 were with the Jesuits Weston and Thomas Pounde (a lay brother) in wishing a separate regular life (on some accounts Pounde was not at Wisbech for the main episodes of the Stirs, however). Henry Garnet , who was Jesuit provincial in the country, consented to this in February 1595. But in practical terms there

364-527: The death of Cardinal William Allen in 1594. Opposed by Robert Persons , it was rendered superfluous by the appointment of an archpriest (1599). In the ensuing archpriest controversy Mush was one of the appellant clergy who appealed to Rome against the archpriest. Against the Adversus factiosos in ecclesia circulated by Thomas Lister , Mush wrote Declaratio Motuum (1601) collecting documentation, and in 1602, with Anthony Champney , Bluet and Cecil, went as

392-469: The faultline, traditionally described as "Jesuits and seculars" (for example in Thomas Graves Law , The Conflicts between Jesuits and Seculars in the reign of Queen Elizabeth , 1889) as between Counter-Reformation Catholics and Catholics of a more traditional mould; he takes as example the strife over a hobby horse brought out for Christmas celebrations. There were perhaps 33 Catholics then kept in

420-718: The inflammatory manuscript Adversus factiosos in ecclesia circulated in 1598 by Thomas Lister . The royal policy of helping the appellants print pamphlets was implemented by Richard Bancroft as bishop of London . Leading printers were used: Robert Barker , Thomas Creede , Richard Field , James Roberts and three others. The authors included the French writers against the Jesuits, Antoine Arnauld and Étienne Pasquier . Bancroft cultivated his contacts with individual appellant priests. He supported Thomas Bluet's wish to travel to Rome and see Pope Clement VIII, with permission and contacts in Parliament. In September 1601 William Watson

448-500: The last bishop of the Catholic hierarchy in England who commanded general allegiance. Thomas Metham had informally acted as Watson's successor at Wisbech; he died in 1592. Cardinal William Allen died in 1594. A group around Charles Paget opposed the appointment of the Jesuit Robert Parsons as his replacement, supporting instead Owen Lewis . Lewis died also in 1594, but Parsons was not made Cardinal, and campaigning involving

476-407: The layman Anthony Copley , John Mush and William Watson . Bagshaw and Parsons had been at odds since 1574. Henry Constable , a poet and theological polemicist, was a prominent lay Catholic advocate for the appellant side. The approach taken in appealing against Blackwell changed over the space of about four years. The first appeal of 1598/9 was quite clumsy. In 1602 negotiations were backed by

504-434: The quarrel by reaffirming Blackwell's authority in a brief of 11 October, but making concessions to the Appellants. He ordered that the next three vacancies among Blackwell's assistants were to be filled from among the Appellants, and he rescinded the instruction that Blackwell was to consult with the Jesuits, instead forbidding such consultation. Relations between the two factions of seminary priests then improved; though there

532-598: The reason for intrigue; but so did local factors, including Bagshaw's abuse of those wishing to have a more regulated communal life, with comparisons to Puritans and Calvinists . The conflict had wide ramifications: Bagshaw was in touch not only with Paget, who had backing from William Gifford in France, but with another group with connections in Rome (Hugh Griffin and Nicholas Fitzherbert ). John Bavant and Alban Dolman were called in first, but they were split as to what to do. Bavant

560-524: The role of Cardinal Protector, given that the obvious successor to Allen in terms of involvement in the English mission, Robert Parsons , was not broadly acceptable. There were early misgivings about Caetani's choice, however. The archpriest was to have authority over all secular clergy in England, and George Blackwell was chosen: he was close to the Jesuits, and his letter of appointment included instructions to co-operate with them. The new nuncio in Brussels

588-499: Was Ottavio Mirto Frangipani who had jurisdiction over the archpriest, and he believed the arrangement gave excessive control to the Jesuits. At the same time, Richard Barret was given control of secular priests in the Spanish Netherlands other than those answerable to the nuncio there, and was told to co-operate with Blackwell, and to act against disruptive English priests. Affronted, and fearing their loss of independence,

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616-647: Was a transfer of 36 priest prisoners at Wisbech Castle to Framlingham Castle in Suffolk . Archpriest Controversy The Archpriest Controversy was the debate which followed the appointment of an archpriest by Pope Clement VIII to oversee the efforts of the Roman Catholic Church 's missionary priests in England at the end of the sixteenth century. The discussion became an acrimonious church intrigue, active approximately from 1598 to 1603. The English government saw advantage in its continuation and supported

644-491: Was an English Roman Catholic priest, the confessor to Margaret Clitherow . Having spent six months in the English College at Douai , he went to Rome (1576) where he studied for seven years. Ordained priest, he returned to England (1583) and laboured at York , being confessor, to Margaret Clitherow who was executed for harbouring him, and Francis Ingleby . Arrested 28 October 1586, and condemned to die, he escaped with two other priests. For many years he worked on mission in

672-516: Was an attempt to make out the fine print of the brief to disadvantage three appellant clergy (Bluet, Watson and William Clark ). Some Appellants went to the Queen, requesting religious toleration in return for their declaring allegiance to her and for her expelling the Jesuits from England. Seeing a chance to divide the Catholics, Elizabeth initially welcomed these approaches, and her government gave some of

700-408: Was hardly room for two groups living separately. In 1584 a maximum of 20 had been set. Garnet's handling of the issue set off vehement protest from Bagshaw and his supporters. In his later book on the affair, Bagshaw blamed the Stirs on Weston, as emissary of Parsons. The underlying tension over Parsons and the vacuum caused for the English mission by the death of Cardinal Allen played a part, and were

728-529: Was not a Jesuit, but participated in an administrative network set up by the Jesuits, for which he took responsibility in East Anglia . Dolman was in the Servants of Mary . In October 1595 two more arbitrators, John Mush and Richard Dudley, intervened to mediate, with greater success; Mush was more sympathetic to the anti-Jesuit group led by Bagshaw. But the problem returned in 1596. In late 1600 or early 1601 there

756-541: Was prominent. The idea that there was a continuous strand of anti-Jesuit agitation in these troubles was launched early by Jesuit Robert Persons , but is not now accepted in unqualified form. Wisbech Castle at this time was an episcopal palace of the Bishop of Ely . From 1580 it was used to detain Catholic clergy who had been arrested under penal laws , in a policy of internment. The problems that surfaced at Wisbech went back at least 15 years. Thomas Watson died in 1584,

784-571: Was resident at Fulham Palace , under the protection of Bancroft. Francis Barnaby was another appellant contact of Bancroft's, who communicated for him with Christopher Bagshaw, in Paris, and had worked with William Clark in writing a 1603 pamphlet against the English Jesuits. John Mush John Mush (alias Ratcliffe) (b. in Yorkshire , 1551 or 1552; d. at Wenge , Buckinghamshire , 1612 or 1613)

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