English Catholics & anti-Catholicism in the mid-Victorian era : anti-papal or anti-imperialist?.

Abstract

The primary intent of this research is to evaluate and deduce events, leading up to, during, and after, the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in Great Britain. The culmination of this work questions the perception of how reactionist British Protestants opposed this sudden policy stemming from the Vatican and if such opposition vilified English Catholics, despite their own national distinction. These accounts will also establish both political and public responses against these papal designs and conclude that the traditional Catholic vs. Protestant remained a secondary priority, this British opposition sought to limit and restrict the influence of a foreign institution upon a susceptible minority of the population. This culminated in a mass of public outcries and governmental policies directed against the pope, his Catholic bishops, and institutions in an effort to regulate and contain papal influence. Hence, despite the traditional Protestant arguments, these measures still, to an extent, recognized English Catholics as British subjects and ultimately resulted as an anti-imperialist response to thwart a foreign outlet in the heart of the British Empire. This area of study commences with controversy surrounding the Oxford Movement in the 1840s, the climatic events that occurred in 1850, and ends with circumstances leading up to radical church renovations and demolitions in the following decades. Given the immense public pressure being exerted upon Parliament during the early months of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy, a considerable number of sources are surrounding policy and public opinion within London. Yet other materials also consider anti-papal reaction directed towards the Oxford Movement. The dichotomy of the newspapers of this mid-Victorian Era include, The Era, The Times, The London Standard, The Morning Chronicle, The Worcester Journal, and others. Primary sources reflect the public statements and correspondence of Prime Minister Lord John Russell, Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, and Archbishop Archibald C. Tait. These particular sources are indicated the British Library and Lambeth Palace Library. The British Library consisted of a majority of correspondence letters, some within manuscripts and other published, sent to and from the prime minister addressing the problem of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy. A considerable number of published sources from ultra-conservative Protestants is considered. To this effect, the archives within Lambeth Palace and published works within the British Library have contributed a host of rare and unique sources attributing to this research.