“POPISH LEGENDS AND BIBLE TRUTHS”: ENGLISH PROTESTANT IDENTITY IN CATHERINE SINCLAIR'S Beatrice

Abstract

IN THE AUTUMN OF 1850 a change occurred in the way the Roman Catholic Church in England governed its affairs. Since the Reformation, Catholic priests in England had worked under the authority of four Vicars-Apostolic, who derived their titles from the points of the compass. By 1850, however, that arrangement had become impractical; Irish-Catholic immigrants had been pouring into England attempting to escape the potato famine, and the Pope responded by appointing twelve bishops to such cities as Birmingham and Manchester. In retrospect, this restoration of the Catholic hierarchy appears to be nothing more than a practical measure, which indeed had the effect of giving English Catholics greater independence from Rome, for where the Vicars-Apostolic had answered directly to the Pope, these new bishops were led by an English Cardinal, Nicholas Wiseman, who in 1850 became the newly appointed Cardinal of Westminster. From Wiseman's point of view, however, the new hierarchy symbolized much more than a mere practicality: it represented the first step in what he fondly envisioned as the eventual reclamation of England from heresy. Wiseman's inflammatory language sparked a widespread and furious agitation on the part of English Protestants. The restoration of the Catholic hierarchy quickly became known as the Papal Aggression, and it was met with a fierce and prolonged outcry. Protesters wrote pamphlets, got up petitions, and even participated in riots and bonfires where the Pope was burned in effigy. The agitation went on for well over a year and involved people from virtually all walks of life.