‘That silken Priest’: Catholic disguise and anti-popery on the English Mission (1569–1640)

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘That silken Priest’: Catholic disguise and anti-popery on the English Mission (1569–1640)

AU - Johanesen, Sarah Linda

PY - 2020/2

Y1 - 2020/2

N2 - Disguise was essential for gaining access to Roman Catholic sacraments in post-Reformation England. This article considers the role of such non-devotional materials in confessional conflict and Catholic religious life. It discusses how the materiality and language of clothing, accessories and personal appearance could be used to emphasize disguise, and its wearers, as a threatening force. It then analyses how anti-papal narratives compared to the reality of Catholic disguise strategies, before demonstrating how those strategies complicated Catholic self-representation. Both in conflict with Protestants and intra-Catholic disputes, the materiality of Catholic appearance could become a political weapon.

AB - Disguise was essential for gaining access to Roman Catholic sacraments in post-Reformation England. This article considers the role of such non-devotional materials in confessional conflict and Catholic religious life. It discusses how the materiality and language of clothing, accessories and personal appearance could be used to emphasize disguise, and its wearers, as a threatening force. It then analyses how anti-papal narratives compared to the reality of Catholic disguise strategies, before demonstrating how those strategies complicated Catholic self-representation. Both in conflict with Protestants and intra-Catholic disputes, the materiality of Catholic appearance could become a political weapon.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85083057698&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/hisres/htz010

DO - 10.1093/hisres/htz010

M3 - Review article

SN - 0950-3471

VL - 93

SP - 38

EP - 51

JO - HISTORICAL RESEARCH

JF - HISTORICAL RESEARCH

IS - 259

ER -