Exile, Radicalisation and Reconciliation

Abstract

Abstract This chapter uses Henrician and Edwardian émigrés’ changing relationships with their compatriots in England in order to assess the development of their religious beliefs and identities. Using a series of detailed case studies, it traces the development of a growing rift between the émigrés and religious conservatives who were conforming with the Reformation back home—a rift seemingly linked to a hardening understanding in the émigrés’ minds as to what was and was not consonant with Catholic orthodoxy, and a more uncompromising and militant desire to enforce it. Thus, somewhat paradoxically, at the same time as the experience of exile appears to have functioned as a fillip to inter-confessional dialogue and exchange (as discussed in Chapter Two), this chapter suggests that it may also have catalysed a process of intra-confessional radicalisation. After exploring why exile might have had such effects upon these émigrés’ religious identities, the conclusion attempts to explain this paradox.