Barbara Constable
Barbara Constable (1617–1684), professed as Dame Barbara Constable, was an English Benedictine nun, writer and transcriber. Her writing was a support to recusant Catholic communities and some of her transcriptions are the only known copies of Father Augustine Baker's works.[1]
Early life
[edit]Constable, born in 1617, was one of the daughters of Sir Philip Constable, 1st Baronet and Anne Roper; Sir Philip was a baronet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.[1] Barbara Constable and her family were Roman Catholics.
Religious life
[edit]Constable arrived in 1638 at the monastery of Our Lady of Consolation in Cambrai, France, which had been founded in the 1620s; she died there in 1684.[1] Her poor health made contemplative prayer more difficult so she wrote copiously as part of her religious practice.[2]
Writing
[edit]Constable wrote and compiled devotional writing collections as well as transcribing the writings of Father Augustine Baker, spiritual director at Cambrai from 1624 to 1633[3][2] Her writing work at the monastery, which included translations and transcriptions of spiritual works, was intended for fellow religious, laypeople, and for Catholics experiencing difficulty in prayer.[1] One of her works on authority, 'Speculum Superiorum', contained advice on the treatment of nuns by their spiritual superiors and emphasised union and peace.[4] Some of her transcriptions of Baker's writings are the only known copies.[1]
The transcribing, copying, preservation and distribution of Catholic religious works by women like Constable was a support to recusant English Catholic communities during the 16th and 17th centuries.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Wolfe, Heather. "Constable, Barbara". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- ^ a b Wolfe, Heather. "Reading Bells and Loose Papers: Reading and Writing Practices of the English Benedictine Nuns of Cambrai". Early modern women's manuscript writing : selected papers from the Trinity/Trent Colloquium. Burke, Victoria E. (Victoria Elizabeth), Gibson, Jonathan, 1965-, Trinity/Trent Colloquium. Abingdon, Oxon. pp. 144, 137. ISBN 1-351-94235-2. OCLC 975029375.
- ^ Wolfe, Heather (2007). "Dame Barbara Constable: Catholic Antiquarian, Advisor, and Closet Missionary". Catholic culture in early modern England. Corthell, Ronald, 1949-. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press. pp. 158–188. ISBN 978-0-268-07682-5. OCLC 694144532.
- ^ Lux-Sterritt, Laurence. (2017). English Benedictine nuns in exile in the seventeenth century : Living spirituality. Oxford: Manchester University Press. pp. 52, 53. ISBN 978-1-5261-1004-6. OCLC 982018661.
- ^ Walsham, Alexandra, 1966- (28 July 2014). Catholic Reformation in Protestant Britain. Farnham Surrey, England. pp. 247–249. ISBN 978-0-7546-5723-1. OCLC 874557173.
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