Queen Saint Margaret, Jesuit Devotion, and Seventeenth-Century Scottish Catholicism

Abstract

From one small devotional book about Queen Saint Margaret and its three translations we can learn much about the nature of post-Reformation, seventeenth-century Scottish Catholicism. First, the style of the book’s meditation informs us of the influential role that the Jesuits played in forming the next generation of Scottish men and priests, as well as shaping the intellectual and devotional culture of post-Reformation Scottish Catholicism. Second, this book was part of a larger movement of writings and devotional practices designed to emphasize the “Scottishness” of Catholics’ faith while in exile among other Western European traditions. Third, the paratextual elements provide evidence that the Scots colleges were closely aligned with the royalist cause. And finally, this book and others like it were used to solicit aid and support for the Scots colleges.