English Catholic Colleges Abroad

During the recusancy period, English Catholicism in exile found a home in a number of so-called English colleges on the continent. These colleges were centers of theological study, publication, and missionary work for those English Catholics who refused the acts of uniformity and were thus subject to a series of harsh penalties at home.

William Allen, seeking to create a seminary capable of training an English Catholic clergy in waiting, founded the English College at Douay in France in 1568. As time went on, the college shifted focus to the clandestine missionary work it was carrying out in England itself, where Catholic proselytization was considered treasonous and was punishable by death. During the 16th and 17th centuries, over 150 Catholic missionaries from Douay were executed in England.

In 1593, Robert Parsons, a prominent Jesuit theologian and writer, founded the College at Saint Omer (also in France). Because Catholic education in England had essentially been outlawed, Parsons sought to establish an English college that, unlike its peers in Douay, Rome, and Valladolid, would focus on educating the laity.

Both colleges had active presses, producing primarily Catholic Bibles, controversialist tracts, and theological treatises. This exhibit features several editions from each press.