harps!/musé .j hzieziii The Catholic Historical Review VOL. LXPOCVIII OCTOBER, 2002 N O. 4 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUITS BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN* I. An English Exile During the Civil War In May, 1645,John Bargrave (c. 1610-1680), a member of a prominent Protestant family from Kent and a former fellow of Peterhouse, Cam- bridge, crossed the Channel to begin, like many other royalist émigrés of the period, an extended peregrination through France and Italy.‘As a Cambridge student, Bargrave had matriculated from St. Peter’s College (Peterhouse) in July, 1629, and had proceeded to B.A. (1653) and MA. (1656) degrees before being elected a fellow in 1637.2In 1645, however, as a firm opponent of Archbishop Laud’s liturgical reforms, he had fallen foul of both the University and college authorities, resulting in the loss of his fellowship. The likelihood of John Bargrave gaining any other form of employment commensurate with his abilities and qualifications was also significantly hampered by his being the nephew of the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, Isaac Bargrave (1586-1643). Dean Bargrave (who had served as King Charles I’s personal chaplain before his coronation in 1625) was a vociferous supporter of the King and had been hounded out of his deanery by the notorious Parliamentarian, Colonel Edwin *Dr. Brennan is a Reader in Renaissance Studies in the School of English at the University of Leeds. ‘See Stephen Bann, Under the Sign. john Bargrave as Collecton T ravelen and W/itness (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1994), for an interpretation of Bargrave’s life, travels, and collec- tions of curios and antiquities made while abroad. 2Alumm' Cmttabrigienses. . . from the Earliest Times to 1900. Part I:Fr0m the Earli- est Times to I 75] , compiled by John Venn and J. A.Venn, 4 vols. (Cambridge, 1922- 1927). 655 656 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUITS Sandys, resulting in a brief incarceration in the Fleet Prison and an early death in January, 1645.5 It seems likely that John Bargrave’s decision to spend an extended period of time traveling abroad was simply the re- sult of no other viable employment options then being available to him. During these travels John Bargrave acted as a tutor—governor to three Kentish youths,Alexander Chapman and John Richards (or Rycaut), and his own nephew, John Raymond, who were probably being sent abroad by their families primarily to avoid the aftermath of the Kentish Rebel- lion of 1643. Both Raymond and Rycaut belonged to prominent Protes- tant royalist families and Chapman was either the son or nephew of Alexander Chapman ((1. 1629), formerly a prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral."*When Bargrave’s small party arrived at Paris, one of his first concerns was to ensure that there would be adequate provision for their spiritual welfare and regular worship, as he recorded in his diary? On Sunday I went to Sir Richard Browns lodgings whoe was Agent for his Maiesty of England, where wee had read the English liturgie, and an English sermon by M‘Crowder, chaplaine to the Lord Germie Earle of Yarmouth; which being ended, wee received the sacrament in the forme appointed by the Church of England. On this day I mett with Dr Cosins att the Loover (or Court) whoe is Master of the same Coll: whereofl am a [member deleted] fel- low. viz. S‘ Pet Coll Cantabrigf In view of this clearly stated commitment to the Church of England, it is interesting to learn from numerous other entries in Bargrave’s diary just 5 See T be Travel Diary of Robert Bargrave, Levant Merchant I 64 7- I 6 5 6, ed. Michael G. Brennan (“The Hakluyt Society,” 3rd series, no. 5 [London, 1999]), pp.7-1 1. “For more details of these three young men, see my “The Exile of Two Kentish Royal- ists During the English Civil War,”Archae0logz'a Comtimza, 120 (2000), 77-105. ‘In all quotations, taken by permission of the Canterbury Dean and Chapter, from Can- terbury Cathedral Archives (U1 1/8),I have retained Bargrave’s original spelling and punc- tuation. Standard abbreviations (such as ‘w°*‘,"w","w‘“,’ etc.) have been silently expanded. Deletions have not been transcribed, unless significant to an understanding of Bargrave’s developing thoughts as he penned his diary entries.I am very grateful to Dr. Michael M. N. Stansfield, formerly Archivist, Canterbury Cathedral (and now Archivist at Merton and Cor- pus Christi Colleges, Oxford), and to Sonia Anderson, Assistant Keeper, Historical Manu- scripts Commission, for their advice and assistance during my work on the Bargrave family. “Bargrave is referring here to Sir Richard Browne (1605-1685), King Charles I’s repre- sentative at the French court; (probably) John Crowther, a fellow of St.John’s College, Ox- ford, from 1628 until 1648 who had been ejected as a prebend of St.Paul’s in 1642; Henry Jermyn (d. 1684), created Baron Jerrnyn of St. Edmundsbury, who was also informally known as the Earl of Yarmouth; and John Cosin (1594-1672), who had been ejected in 1642 from his Mastership of Peterhouse,Can1bridge,for sending some of the college plate to support King Charles 1. He served as chaplain to the Anglican royalists at Paris from 1642 until the Restoration. BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN 657 how extensive his contacts were with French Catholicism, especially through the Society of Jesus. His hitherto unexamined autograph diary, which has recently surfaced in Canterbury Cathedral Archives (U11/8), covers the period May, 1645, until February, 1646, and is crammed with his incidental observations, jottings, sketches, and reminiscences. Al- though many of the surviving records of English travelers in France and Italy during the 1640’s and 1650’s—both Protestant and Catholic alike— reveal a passing interest in the religious practices and church architecture of these countries,John Bargrave’s diary is notable for its detailed record of the Society of Jesus at Bourges. Unlike most of the other surviving Eng- lish travel accounts from the period, which usually satisfy themselves with a cursory description of the buildings and/or educational practices of the various Jesuit colleges visited (or merely passed by), John Bar- grave’s diary records detailed descriptions of the academic pursuits of the college at Bourges (which, as far as I am aware, does not figure in any other of the surviving diaries compiled by seventeenth—century English travelers)fSecondly, the subject matter and argumentative tactics of Bar- grave’s frequent debates with three student members of the Jesuit or- der—tWo Scottish men, named by Bargiave as “Father Sprowd” (Robert Spreule) and “Father Browne” (James Browne), and one English man, “Fa- ther Carew” (Thomas Cary)—are fully documented in his diary? These en- 7John Lough, France Observed in the Seventeenth Century by British Travellers (Stocksfield, 1985), pp. 274-284, details the few other known seventeenth—century Eng- lish diarists and letter writers who provided more substantial comment on Jesuit colleges, including John Evelyn, Richard Symonds, Charles Bertie, Edward Browne, Ellis Veryard, and Joseph Shaw (all at Paris), Peter Heylin and John Lauder (at Orléans), Thomas Went- Worth, Robert Montagu, Thomas Browne, and John Reresby (at La Fleche),John Lauder (at Poitiers), Thomas Coryate, John Locke, and John Northleigh (at Lyons), Richard Ferrier, White Kennet, and Joseph Shaw (at Saint—Omer).Lough also provides (pp. 182-236) an in- formative survey of the attitudes of (largely) Protestant British travelers toward the Catholic Church in France. 8 “Father Sprowd” is Robert Spreule, who was born on March 12, 1612, at Glasgow and entered the Society at Rome, August 14/15, 1639. He was ordained priest sometime be- tween 1645 and 1649, probably at Bourges; professed his final vows at Edinburgh on Au- gust 15, 1656; served at the Scots College, Douai, 1663-1665 before returning to Scotland; and died at Edinburgh on March 19, 1688. “Father Browne” is James Browne (alias Le Brun), who was born in August, 1620, at Galloway, Scotland. He entered the order at Paris on November 2, 1641, and was ordained priest sometime between 1649 and 1651. He professed his final vows at ‘Ambiane’ (probably Amiens) on April 3, 1657, and died in Scot- land on December 20, 1676. “Father Carew” is Thomas Cary, who was born on July 22, 1621, in Suffolk and entered the Society at Rome on September 7, 1639. He was sent to France in 1645 and ordained priest in about 1648, probably at Bourges. He was at Rouen in 1649, preparing to teach at the English College, St. Omers. He professed his final vows on October 29, 1656, and died 658 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUITS tries reveal that such associations were far from being merely unsolicited contacts but rather, from Bargrave’s point of view, a valued source of vig- orous theological and spiritual debate, as well as (it may be surmised) an increasingly welcome source of companionship for a lonely Englishman who was clearly missing the familiar landscapes of Kent and Cambridge. While these three young Jesuits were certainly motivated by a prose- lytizing zeal in their associations with John Bargrave and his charges, as his diary entries reveal, Bargrave remained no less confident in his res- olute adherence to the Church of England. It seems as though Bargrave positively welcomed the opportunity to test his Cambridge—honed de- bating techniques and detailed theological knowledge against the renowned skills of the intellectual elite of the European Catholic Church. His account of the Jesuits of Bourges suggests that he was not only a man who regarded himself as their intellectual equal but also one who held in considerable respect the scholastic rigor of a Jesuit educa- tion. As a Protestant exile at large amongst the Jesuits of France, Bar- grave’s diary provides evidence of the informal and friendly interaction possible between English Protestants abroad and members of the Soci- ety of Jesus during the English Civil War. Bargrave was, of course, very well aware that the Jesuits at Bourges were ultimately intent upon con- verting him to their faith; and his diary offers a rare and remarkably de- tailed account of exactly how this kind of work was determinedly, but also subtly, conducted by the Jesuits among English émigrés. As Robert Dallington had warned the readers of his A Method for Travel (1605?) some forty years previously, the English Protestant traveler in France al- ways needed to be wary of such approaches: I must precisely forbid him the fellowship or companie of one sort of people in generall: these are the Jesuits, underminders and enveigler of greene wits, at St. Omers on June 10, 1672. For the Catholic Car(e)y family of Melford, Suffolk, see The Responsa Scholarum of the English College, Rome, Part Two: 1622-] 685, ed. Anthony Kenny (“Catholic Record Society,” Vol. 55 [London, 1963]), p.501. Edward Carey, the son of John and Lucy Carey, was admitted to the English College at Rome in December, 1646, and had four brothers and five sisters who were known Catholics. See also Geoffrey Holt, S.J., St. Omers and Bruges Colleges, 1593-1 773.A Biographical Dictionary (“Catholic Record Society,”Vol. 69 [London, 1979]), pp. 57-58. I am very grateful to Father Thomas M. McCoog, S.J., Archivist of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, for identifying these three individuals (see his English and Welsh Jesuits, I 555 —1 65 0 (“Catholic Record Society,”Vol. 75 [London, 1994]), p. 1 56, for Thomas Cary); and for providing me with as yet unpublished biographical information (for Robert Spreule and James Browne) from his research on Scottish Jesuits. BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN 659 seducers of men in matter of faith, & subverters of men in matter of State, making of both a bad christian, and a worse subject?’ John Bargrave’s own intellectually testing (but also friendly and will- ingly pursued) contacts with the Jesuits of Bourges demonstrate how cliched this kind of mindlessly Protestant propaganda had become by the mid—1640’s-—when an Englishman might be an unquestionably loyal Protestant but, at the same time, because of his political or per- sonal affiliations, an unwilling exile from his own country, bereft of a liv- ing, intellectual company, and a regular place of worship. II. The Jesuits of Bourges Like many of his fellow countrymen traveling on the continent,John Bargrave always considered himself gainfully employed when acting out the role of an ecclesiastical tourist. Typically, on arriving at a town or city, he at first found suitable lodgings for his small party and then, at the earliest possible opportunity, began to explore the local churches. At Calais, for example, he visited the Gothic church of Notre Dame and a Franciscan monastery: this day being Whitsonday eave, we went to the greate Church where was a solemne procession and good musick. On the Sunday morning wee went thither againe and on the after noone wee went to see, first the Nunnerie and its chappell. then the Monasterie of the Franciscan Fryers. One of them (which could speake English but no Latine) treated us courteously, and when wee were in, he first locked the doore after us, and then he shewed us the li- brary, hall, chappel, Conclave, and dormitories, which are harde places to sleepe on with owt any beding, but only a bedsted with girts and cannvess) they goe with haire next to theire skinn and bare footed except on the soale, the whole place was darke and meane except a hansome walke in the gar- den, theire whole number he saide was but 17 but that there was 30000 of that order in the Christian world (fol. 5‘) 9Robert Dal]ington,A Method for Travell. Shewed by Taking the View of France.As it Stoode in 1 5 98 (1605?), p. [V]. Lough, op. cit, pp.207-213, provides a representative sam- ple of the kinds of predictably negative comments made on the Jesuits by British travel- ers. For the disputational and proselytizing practices of the Jesuits, see Michael C. Questier, Conversion, Politics and Religion in England, 1580-1625 (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 178-186; and Thomas M. McCoog, S.J.,“‘Playing the Champion’: The Role of Disputa- tion in the Jesuit Mission,” in The Recleoned Expense. Edmund Campion and the Early English jesuits. Essays in Celebration of the First Centenary of Campion Hall, Oxford (I896-1996) (Woodbridge, Suffolk, and Rochester, New York, 1996), pp. 119-135. 660 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUITS Later during the same day, Bargrave took his party on a visit to the com- munity of mendicant friars, known as Minims, founded by St. Francis de Paola, the patron saint of seafarers. He conversed in fluent Latin with an extremely aged member of the order who, in return for the customary donation, provided a guided tour of the cloisters and “their Colledge” (fol. 3-V). As Bargrave and his charges steadily worked their way down through France, they continued to occupy much of their spare time seeking out churches to explore, admiring the Cathedral of St.-Pierre at Beauvais (fol. 5“) and N otre—Dame at Paris (fol. 7").At Paris Bargrave also commented approvingly on the “Jesuit church newly built” (fol. 7"), a reference to the church of St—Louis (now known as St.—Paul-St.-Louis) on the rue St.-Antoine, which had been built for the Society by King Louis XIII between 1627 and 1641. It was at Orleans that Bargrave first had an opportunity to examine Jesuit facilities in more detail, although still essentially in the role of a tourist. He recalled: I went into the College of Jesuites, which is the University:‘°where is writt over severall doores in golden letters: Thus. Prima classis, Seconda Classis, 5“ Classis, 4“ Classis. Logica. And over the greate dore in the middle, Theologia Moralis: Phisica. Over the Owtmost gate ther is a printed paper, wherein is contayned what bookes every Classis learned for that yeare 1645, from gram- mer to Aristotle. As I was reading of it there came one to me in preists habit. I asked him in Latine whether I might see the library and Chappel: he an- swered mee that he cold not speake Latine, and so I left him. It is a neate new built College . . . (fols. 8”-9‘) Bargrave also noted ruefully that Germans were allowed to borrow books from the library of the Jesuit College, unlike English visitors who were denied this privilege because of previous thefts by some of their countrymen. Perhaps conscious of the special privileges granted to German visitors at Orleans (“which causes,” according to John Evelyn, “the English to make no long sojourne here”), Bargrave soon had his party on the move again. Arriving at Bourges on June 23, 1645 (New Style), they found lodgings in the rue des Juifs at the house of a Mon- sieur Taupin, who taught the lute and dancing at the nearby “greate Schooles.” “’The University at Orleans is described in more detail by Peter Heylin,A Full Relation of Two journeys: T he One into the Mainland of France. T he Other into Some of the Ad- jacent Islands, Performed and Digested into Six Boolees (1656), pp, 145-151. For the history of the Jesuit College royal at Orleans (founded 1617), see Pierre De1attre,Les étab- lissements desjésuites en France depuis qaatre siécles, 5 vo1s.(Enghien, 1949-1957 edi- tion), III, 1001- 1018. “ The Diary ofjohn Evelyn, ed. E. S. de Beer, 6 vols. (Oxford, 1955), II, 138. BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN 661 On June 29 Bargrave unexpectedly received two visitors at the rue des Juifs: there came two Jesuites to my lodging (I having binn to see theire Coll. be- fore) Father Sprowd [Robert Spreule] a Scottish man and Father Carew [Thomas Cary] an English man.”the Scoth man fell presantly upon the argu- ment of infallibility and from thence the visibility and certainty of the true church, and the uncertainty of the Protestants that had (as he saide) only the private spirit for their guide.I returned him these 4 grownds for Christianity which I conceived the Church of England relyed on viz. 1. The Scripture it selfe, or the matter of it. 2 the testirnonie of the Churches tradition. 3 the as- sistance of gods grace or spirit. 4 reason, by way of counsel] and disputation: that we tooke neither of these single; for our grounds all of them ioyned to- gether: hee seemed to approove of my assertion and then he told me there was a young gentleman that kept his philosophie at that after noone for his degree of Master in arts, and he invited us to it. So wee all went, and so soone as wee came in, were placed in the formost seats, had the Theses given us in printed sheets of paper, and abowt an howre wee stayed at the dispu- tation, which was performed very well and learnedly, but mixt with some- what too much heate of words, and interpositions of the French tongue. (fols. 9"~ 1 0‘) One of the principal surviving guides to Jesuit proselytizers, distilling the methods of Campion and Persons, is George Gilbert’s 1583 tract (Bodleian Library, Jones MS 53). It explains how various combinations of psychology and theological learning might be used to draw in the Jesuit’s intended target; and it is clear that Spreule and Cary, although still students, were already well versed in such techniques.” The Jesuits were provided by their college tutors with a “sophisticated knowledge of scripture and controversial theology” and: The seminarians were trained for disputations. With an eye on current con- troversial issues, they studied Scriptural passages that either confirmed the truths of Catholicism or were favoured by Protestants in their arguments. Replies to the latter were clearly formulated. Once a week there was a pub- lic disputation in which selected students would not only defend Catholic doctrine against Protestant assault but also sharpen their skills by maintain- ing Protestant views against their colleagues.” As is clear from the seminarians’ choice of preliminary topics (“the argument of infallibility” and “the Visibility and certainty of the true church”), they were keen to engage Bargrave in exactly this kind of Catholic versus Protestant classroom debate. Nevertheless, according to 12 See note 8 for‘Sprowd’ and ‘Carew.’ ‘~‘Gilbert’s manuscript is examined in Questier, op. cz't., pp. 178-179. 1* McCoog,“‘P1aying the Champion,” p. 122. 662 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUITS the manuals, disagreements over doctrine were to be strategically de- ployed merely as a means of opening proceedings; and it was advised that student proselytizers should take care not to get themselves em- broiled in “high-powered academic debate?” Unfortunately for Robert Spreule and Thomas Cary, in John Bargrave they had picked upon the wrong man.As a Cambridge—educated member of Canterbury’s leading Anglican family, Bargrave was not only (at the very least) their equal in scriptural knowledge and expertise in controversial theology but was also by June, 1645, patently starved of the intellectual stimulation pre- viously provided by his college fellowship at Peterhouse. Quite simply, the seminarians faced one recurrent problem in their dealings with Bar- grave: whenever they initiated a theological debate in the hope of then moving on to more subtle means of proselytizing,John Bargrave readily seized upon this academic invitation and was keen to prolong such de- bates for as long as possible. It seems that all three men knew from the outset that they were playing a game for the highest of all stakes—a man’s immortal soul—but for Bargrave this chance to test out his spiri- tual endurance against high quality Catholic opposition was too good to resist. Stimulated by the challenge, it was probably all the more at- tractive to Bargrave that he was always outnumbered by two to one (the Jesuit students habitually visited him in pairs). Although most of Bargrave’s youth had been spent amidst the privileged and sheltered worlds of Canterbury and Cambridge, when he became in his thirties a royalist émigre’, he also proved himself to be a physically bold and re- sourceful traveler.“ Apparently relishing the new-found freedom of his wandering life, the meticulous recording in his diary of his debates with the Jesuits suggests that Bargrave was also self-consciously choosing to test out his own spiritual mettle at Bourges. Unfortunately, no evidence has been traced in Jesuit archives to suggest what the Jesuit seminari- ans, or their superiors, really thought of Bargrave’s sometimes extrava- gantly deployed rhetorical skills. Bargrave was a member of an English family in which church and court service had been closely intertwined for over three decades. He would also have been keen, it seems, to acquire firsthand familiarity with the workings of a religious order which had exerted considerable spiritual (and, to many eyes, political) influence in France since the be- ginning of Henri III’s reign,when in 1575 the Jesuit Pere Edmond Auger 1’ Bodleian Library, Oxford, Rawlinson MS D 53, fols. 20", 22-23‘; and Jones MS 53, fol. 220", cited in Questier, op. cz't., p.178, note 45. “See, for example, Bargrave’s own account (detailed in note 30) of his confrontation with a group of hostile German travelers soon after crossing the English Channel. BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN 665 (1515-1591) was appointed as the king’s personal confessor. In 1595 those members of the Society under the jurisdiction of the Parlement of Paris (including Bourges) had been banished from France, following the attempted assassination on December 27, 1594, of Henri IV by Jean Chastel (one of their former students). However, even the apostate Henri IV perceived advantages in supporting the Jesuits; and, following personal pressure from Pope Clement VIII, he readmitted the order to France in September, 1605, and appointed the Jesuit Pere Pierre Coton (1 564- 1626) as his confessor. Henri IV continued to assist their growth during his reign, most notably through the foundation in 1605 of their great college at La Fleche and the development of their overseas mis- sions to Canada and the Levant. By the time of the king’s murder in 1610 at the hands of Ravaillac, thirty—nine Jesuit colleges were firmly es- tablished in France. Inevitably, the Parlemem‘ sought to exploit this fresh opportunity to persecute the Jesuits but, as with the Chastel as- sassination attempt, the Society weathered the storm. By Louis XIlI’s death in 1645 the Society had almost tripled in size and had five sepa- rate French provinces, with that of Paris alone supervising some 1 5,000 college students. The Jesuit college at Bourges, le College Sainte-Marie (1575—1762), was founded by the immensely wealthy former diplomat, l‘abbé Jean Nicquet (d. 1580), and was granted the status of a Collége royal by the newly crowned Henri III. Thriving under this royal patronage, the years between 1565 and 1575 were a period of major growth in France for the Jesuits, with new colleges also being founded at Avignon, Cham- béry, Toulouse, Rodez, Verdun, N evers, Bordeaux, and Pont-a-Mousson. Although forced to leave the college at Bourges in 1595, they were al- lowed to return in October, 1604, and the following fifteen years saw an extensive rebuilding program which greatly improved the teaching fa- cilities and refurbished their church of Notre-Dame de la Comtale. Dur- ing Bargrave’s visits in 1645, the then rector, Louis Le Mairat, was presiding over a sustained period of academic excellence and public prestige for the college.” Alongside his academic diversions at the college, Bargrave began to explore his new environment more systematically. He took great plea- sure, for example, in the quality of church music at Bourges, noting that the “Chorus or Quire” was very well accompanied by music played upon the serpent (“it is wrethed two and againe like a snake, it being very smale at one end and bigg at the other,” fol. 10‘), an instrument 17 Delattre, op. cz't., I, 867-875. 664 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUTTS which he had not previously encountered. But the Jesuit seminarians proved nothing if not determined in their attempts to befriend Bargrave and his party of travelers. On July 21 Bargrave, Chapman, Richards, and Raymond were invited by their new acquaintances to the Commence- ment of the Masters of Arts “at the College of the Jesuites in the newe Hall (being then in building) between 3 and 4 in the after noon.” Bar- grave’s vivid description of this ceremony, which he compares at several points to a Cambridge graduation, begins with the seating arrangements and the opening procession: the gentlemen and strangers being conveniently placed in the midst of the Hall below, at the one end was a scaffold for the musick, at the other end a lower scaffold with seates for the commencers. In the midst before the strangers, chaires for the Heads of the university. The Rector came in in the first place then (an Ancient man) the Chancellor, after him the Doctors in theire scarletts according to theire severall faculties differing little from Cam- bridge order of gownes, Onely the Chancellor was in purple with close sleeves, the others Scarlett with wide sleeves faced with blak velvet or plush: then came in the heads or Abbats of the several] monasteries, whereofl was told that some of them were D‘in Theologie. Once these individuals were all seated, a series of musical interludes (performed on “a [Harp?]sicon, a Harpe, le Serpente, vialls and voices”) and orations took place, addressed variously to the Chancellor and the Rector (“a D‘ of phisick a young man”). A final musical flourish pre- ceded the Chancellor’s speech to the graduands, before the first student (who had delivered the opening oration) was called forward to receive his degree. Kneeling before the Chancellor he dutifully took the “Oath to the keeping of the statutes of the Church and university” and was awarded his Master of Arts. As a Cambridge graduate himself, Bargrave then closely observed the symbolic, and in many ways entirely familiar, gestures performed by the student: The Chancellor first gave him a booke (which was a rich bound quarto and one of the Jesuits told me that it was a part of Aristotle)“ but his authority I finde is not Ipse dixit with them) the booke being shut: then he tooke it owt of his hand and returned it open: (which doth intimate that now he under- stood philosophie plainely) Then he unloosed his girdle which was bound abowt him (as all the young ones have above theire gownes) and gave it him into his hand (which intirnateth that now he was not bound as before, but was free and at libertie) Then he putt on his square capp. (which intimated he might now be covered before those to whome before he stood bare) Then “‘Ibz'd., I, 881-882, details the kinds of volumes presented to successful students at these prize—giving ceremonies, held both at the end of the academic year and at Easter. BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN 665 making a Cross he Admitted him in Nomine Patris filii &r. All which forme dif- fereth but little from that of Cambridge, that of the girdle being excepted. The thirty-four remaining graduands were then obliged to take the oath of allegiance, each answering “with a lowde voice JURAMUS,” before be- ing admitted to their degrees and donning the formal Jesuit garb of “a square capp, and a blake cassock buttoned downe before” (except for one student,“which being of the order of the Carmes had a white cas- sock”). As Bargrave meticulously noted down in his diary, each student was then expected to make a brief and entertaining demonstration of his newly confirmed rhetorical skills (thereby once again reminding Bargrave of his own now lost university home at Cambridge): Then every one in his order tooke that fore named rich bound booke, and seemed to reade in it some short problematicall sentence or Thisis, naming the chapter and text and booke from whence he had it, but I perceived thay had the sentence by hart, and some cited Tullie in one place some the same Author in another: Others cited Seneca for the Author of his position, some Aristotle:As if all Philosophers were bound up in that one booke. Every man made a short, very short speach upon his sentence, not sillogisticall, yet mostly concluding with an Ergo, and then his WORD or sentence; The sen- tences and speeches on them were tending to mirth, and sometimes Jeering one another. As one of them being a greate Youth and sitting next to one of smale growth had his Word Maximus est melius minimo: and then in his speach he abused the lesser one. The lesser one speaking in the next place, had his Word Quo minor eo melior, and in his speach he abused the greater one next to him. A Third that had a long nose seemed to read his Word owt of the booke,Thus, N asus simus est nasus ingeniosus (or to that purpose) Ci- cero, lib. sic, chap sic. And his speech was the Commendation of a Roman nose. Mulier barbata est Vere Mulier, was anothers: Asinus bipes non est mon- strum a siths, and for the rest (except some more serious) All this was not much unlike the Priorums in Cambridge,where every one makes iests (at the taking the degree of bachelor of arts) upon such a subiect as is given him. but this at Burges is better, civile, and not so rudely carryed as that at Cambridge. The final stages of the ceremony entailed further musical interludes (which had also taken place at every tenth student’s oration) and the distribution among the more distinguished members of the audience, including Bargrave and his friends, of pairs of “white gloves with a smale blake ribon on the topp” as a memento of the occasion. Clearly in- trigued by what he had witnessed and flattered by his status as an hon- ored guest at the event, Bargrave noted down how a series of solemn orations brought the afternoon’s events to a close: The gloves being distributed, the musick ceased and then there were several Orations, The Two first, To God and Heaven for bringing them to this knowl- 666 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUITS edge in philosophy. The 5“ To the Blessed Virgin. The 4 To the Rector and Chancellor. The 5*‘ to the Divines: the 6 to the Lawyers and Phisitians, the 7“‘ to The Mayor and the Towne. the 8”“ To the Schoole master or Regent Jesuite (or head lecturer at Cambrige) whoe tooke off the youth in the midst of his speach Crying owt alowd Parce laudes Parce laudes. (I did not well under- stand whether it were good latine) Parce in quam laudes, nam, laudes meae sunt laudes tuae. Then Another made an oration to the whole company, and so clapping hands the solemnity ended. (fols. 1 1 “— 14‘) Along with such intellectual stimulation, Bargrave’s fascination with the sheer spectacle of Catholic ceremonial and the historic grandeur of French church architecture was well catered for at Bourges. On July 22 he witnessed a grand procession of all the city’s religious orders, orga~ nized in thanksgiving for the “Dukes taking of Le Mot a strong towne in Artois neere Flanders” (fol. 14"). He whiled away numerous hours ex- ploring the exterior and interior of the striking Gothic cathedral of St.- Etienne and drew in his diary a full-page “prospect of the City” taken from the top of the steeple (fol. 15‘). On August 1 Bargrave went about two miles from Bourges to visit the Archbishop’s house, which he thought was “something like (but nothing so large as) Leeds castle in Kent” (fol. 20). Church matters, for which he seems to have an insa- tiable appetite, occupied most of Bargrave’s spare time at this period. On August 4 he attended the funeral at St.—Etienne of a Prior of St.—Ursin; and two days later he watched the induction of three women, two dressed all in white and the other in black, into the convent of La Char- ité (fol. 22”’). On August 10 a great fair was held to mark the feast of St. Lawrence, and, amidst the various commercial attractions of the event, Bargrave also noted the offering of indulgences to the local people and the spectacle of a bizarrely dressed Italian pilgrim arriving in the city. On August 12 he joined the stately progress of a processional cross from St.-Etienne to the “Nunnery of S” Clara” (fol. 23V-24‘). Much to Bargrave’s fascination, other grand processions occupied the next ten days of August, culminating in the arrival of the Bishop of Paris to take the Bourbon waters (fol. 25‘), and, finally, on August 28 a huge proces- sion of the bones of St. Ursin, which brought the whole city to a stand- still, to pray for much—needed rain for the drought-threatened vintage (fol. 26‘). Probably desirous of more intellectually stimulating (and sedentary) company, immediately after watching this rain processional John Bar- grave was minded to seek out the company of his Jesuit friends: I went to visit Father Carew the English, and Father Sprowd the Scottish Je- suite. Young Mr Rickad Sir Peter Richads sonn Of Kent in England being my BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN 667 companion: thay had us up into the library (which is the topp of theire high building) there wee fell upon severall points’. (fol. 27‘) Once again, the seminarians could not dislodge Bargrave from pro- longed theological debates. Their ensuing discussions covered, in often heated interchanges, such topics as the Jesuits’ claim that “the church of England were Jovinians because thay not onely preferd marriage before virginety, but allsoe abhord virginity and the vowing of it”; the issue of celibacy and the priesthood; transubstantiation; the uses of relics and images; and the invocation of the saints (fol. 27‘). Amidst a flurry of au- thorities cited from both sides, Bargrave defended his position with both dexterity and vigor. From these diary entries, it is easy to see how that this kind of testing interchange was fulfilling a craving for the kind of searching theological discussion which he would have been well used to both from his family life at Canterbury and as a student and fel- low at Cambridge.” Their debate was finally brought to a close when the “Greate bell then rang to a procession” which Bargrave, as usual, wished to witness; but the Jesuits declined to join him since they never processed with other religious orders.” Bargrave’s concluding com- ment at this point in his diary: “Thay are exceeding courtious” (fol. 27V), confirms the cautious but amicable relationship which had developed by this stage in their conversations. Two days later Thomas Cary and Robert Spreule returned to visit Bar- grave’s nephew, John Raymond, who had been “sick of a violent feavor for 3 weeks, and at that time kept his bed.” \While they were presumably taking advantage of this circumstance to develop a closer personal re- lationship with Bargrave, it also seems reasonable to assume that (as ex- iles themselves) they would have been genuinely sympathetic toward a young man who was sick and far from home. They each brought for Raymond gifts to assist his recuperation, which were received with grateful thanks:“the one a glass of vigan raisons or grapes preserved, the “’The vigor of the Jesuits’ debating technique was renowned. Peter Heylyn recorded: “Nor do they only teach their Scholars an exactnesse in those several parts of Learning which they handle, but they also endeavour to bred in them an obstinacy of mind, and a sturdy eagernesse of spirit to make them thereby not prosecutors of their own opinions, and impatient of any contrary consideration. That is it which maketh all those of their ed- ucation, to affect victory in all the controversies of wit or knowledge, with such a vio- lence, that even in their Verry Grammatical] disputations, you shall find little boyes maintaine arguments with such a fierie impatience, that you would think it above the na- ture of their years.” Op. cz't., p.153; quoted in Lough, op. cit, p. 275. 2° See Lough, op. cit., p. 207, for comments from other English travelers on the Jesuits’ practice of never appearing alongside other religious orders in processions held for church festivals. 668 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUITS other a glass of preserved cherries?“ Not even Raymond’s ailments, however, seemed to be able to impede the by now predictable vigor of their ensuing debates. This time, the Jesuits raised their Order’s strong reservations over “having of the scripture in the vulgar tongue comon to all,” suggesting that “the warrs of England at that present to have sprang from thence” (fol. 27"). Bargrave argued his corner strongly, proposing that “one mans or 10 or 100 or 1000 mens abuse did not take away the lawfull use of a thing” and that “S‘ Paule writ to all the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians &c and not to the learned onely” (fol. 27V). Per- haps eventually mindful of Raymond’s illness—or they may even have finally begun to realize the futility of attempting to convert Bargrave by theological persuasion alone—the Jesuits gradually grew milder in their replies and before leaving:“Thay exceeding courteously spake to John praysing God for his hopes of recovery, and desiring him to make good use of gods blessing on him &c, And so tooke theire leaves” (fol. 28‘)? On September 16 Robert Spreule, arriving in the company of Thomas Cary, informed Bargrave that because of his failing health he was leav- ing Bourges for the renowned Jesuit College at La Fleche, near Angers, “where those that write against the protestant, and other works, are res- ident for the most part” (fol. 53’). But both Bargrave and Spreule seem to have been determined to squeeze the last drop of controversial debate out of their acquaintanceship, and they immediately lauched into a pro- longed discussion over such disparate topics as “the true Catholique Church” (fol. 55‘), “the argument of sanctity” (fol. 53“), and the lack of Protestant saints’ lives——a point vigorously defended by Bargrave:“That wee were not so vaineglorious as to write mens lives” (fol. 55V). At one point, Spreule became enraged when Bargrave used the word “ridicu- lous” (fol. 54‘) to describe some aspects of Catholic hagiography, neces- sitating the more gentle intervention of Cary to calm his colleague’s temper (fol. 54"). Following the dictates of good manners (and probably 21 This visit recalls the cynical comments of John Lauder: “The Jesuits be the subtilist folk that breathes, which especially appears when under the pretext of Visitting they fly to a sick carkcass, especially if it be fat, as ravens do to their prey” Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhalljournals with his Observations on PublicAflm'rs and Other Memorcmda, 1 665-1 6 76, ed. D. Crawford (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 42; quoted in Lough, op. cit., p. 207. However, at Bourges the Jesuits enjoyed a genuine admiration for their care of the sick, dating from a notorious outbreak of the plague in the city in 1582, which claimed more than 9,000 lives. Throughout this epidemic the populace had relied heavily on the Soci- ety for medical care and spiritual comfort. Delattre, op. cz't., 1,872. 22 George Gilbert had reminded the readers of his 1583 manual: “the heretical spirit is so much given to pride that few of them are converted by argument” (MS Jones 53), cited in Questier, op. cit., p. 179. BY MICHAEL G, BRENNAN 669 itching to continue their debates), Bargrave took it upon himself to visit the Jesuit College on the next morning:“to returne his visit and bid him adeue.” Bargrave and Spreule only made it as far as the College Hall be- fore their various debates flared up again, all of which were meticu- lously recorded in Bargrave’s diary as a means of demonstrating, as was Bargrave’s now well—established custom as a diarist, that the eloquent Jesuits never once defeated him in theological debate (fols. 54-35). One other tactic used by the Jesuits in their proselytizing work was to introduce lonely English exiles to fellow countrymen who, if not al- ready Catholics, were sympathetic to their cause. Hence, later that af- ternoon Thomas Cary and James Browne (another Scottish student from the Jesuit College) brought to Bargrave’s lodgings a servant of the Prince of Condé: “he said his name was M‘ Lamborne a Westmorland man, whoe told mee how his Lord the Prince of Condie had heard the state of England stood at that time, of which I had not heard a word 10 weeks before” (fols. 35"")? The Prince,who was of royal blood, was the Jesuits’ most important local patron, and his arrival at Bourges was re- garded as a major event.2“Bargrave witnessed his stately entrance at the Cathedral, attending a Te Deum in celebration of the taking of “some fort neere St Orners” (fol. 55"); and enjoyed the festivities surrounding the Prince donating the venison from a hunt to the local Capuchins (fol. 56’). He also noted how the Princes own nephew was a Jesuit priest: One day we walked unto A pretty country howse which the Jesuites have, abowt a mile from Bourges called l’Asenay. 25 The howse is not bigg, but there is a very faire Orchard with a large wall about it, inclosing fish ponds, a moate, and a stately walke. Father [space] the Prince of Condies Nephew came to the dore and lett us in. and afterwards hee sent Father Browne (a Scotch man) to us to walke abowt with us.“ The Jesuits speake much in a 23 As with Mr. Lamborne’s information, most of the news about the political problems back home in England were randomly gleaned. Two Germans, for example, who resided at Bargrave’s lodgings at Bourges, assured him “(as diverse others both French and Almons had donn before) That the Cardinal of Richlieu was the Cause of our wars in England.” Raising this rumor with Father Browne, Bargrave was assured that “it was very certayne that he [Richelieu] had treated with the Earle of Argile and put him upon the business” (fol. 50"). 2‘ For the lavish financial and academic patronage of the Jesuits’ college at Bourges by the Prince of Condé and the Duke d’Enghien, see Delattre, op. cz't., I, 877—878.At the time of Bargrave’s Visit, the col1ege’s most illustrious alumnus was Louis de Bourbon, Duke d’Enghien, known as le Grand Condé and recently acclaimed for his military exploits at the Battle of Rocroi in 1643 (1,885). 35The Jesuits’ country house of Lazenay had been given to them by l’abbé Nicquet. See Delattre, op. cit, 1,883. 26 See note 8 for ‘Browne.’ 670 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUITS bragging way that thay have so great a man as the Prince of Condies nephew, one of theire Society. Every tewsday the Jesuites goe to dine at the howse for theire recreation: and in the vacation (as now it was) being also the time of vintage) many of them continue there. (fol. 43") On New Year’s Day 1646 Bargrave, in return for Thomas Cary’s kind- ness to John Raymond during his illness, presented the Jesuit with a small collection of sacred Latin epigrams, which he also transcribed into his diary as:“a paper of verses upon the gospells of the severafl holy dayes” (fols. 58V—59"). Perhaps knowing that Bargrave planned to leave Bourges for Sancerre at the end of January, the Jesuits then gave the most explicit expression of their true intentions: ' The Jesuits tooke these verses very thankfully, and solicited mee the more to turne to the Church of Rome, saying it was pity my Nephew and I shold be lost. (fol. 59") Bargrave, of course, remained umnoved by these pleas. HI. Jesuit Drama at Bourges At the prize—giving ceremonies in Jesuit colleges held at the end of the academic year and Easter, theatricals on moral or religious subjects (secular love and relationships were rigorously excluded) played a key role, with the main parts reserved for the most outstanding students of the year, usually the second— and third-year laureates in rhetoric." On September 10, 1645, Bargrave recorded in his diary that his Jesuit friends had sent,via a servant,“4 little books to mee (for each of us one)” and invited his party to the Archbishop’s Hall on the following day where their pupils were to stage a Latin play, “Henricus A Tragedie.” His diary entry continues: the 2 Scotch Jesuits came and fetched us, and provided the best places for us, next to Monsieur [blank space] who was then treasurer of St Chapell, and brother to the Lord that was at the charges of the tragedie, and guifts that were given to the best deserving boyes. and just behinde us sat the Mayor, and the Rector of the C011: and Chancellor. The Tragedie was the History of Henry 3“ Emperor. who being deposed by force and the policy of his sonn, had his Crowne, sceptor, robes &t violently taken from him, and his sonn crowned in his place. Which donn he came to so greate misery, that at Spira he begged foode of the Bishop, and wold have binn made one the Quire, because hee was learned and cold sing: but thay re- Delattre, op. cz't., I, 882-883, lists various plays performed at this period, including L’/llcestus seu Pietas (1648) but makes no reference to the play seen by Bargrave. BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN 671 fused to receive him, although he him selfe was founder of that place upon which he sighting saide—You that shold bee my friends at the least have some pitty towards mee, for the hand of the Lord is upon mee. His greife at the [slight?] kild him, and he was so hated of all men that his body lay 5 yeares in a by place of that chappell which he had built at Spira, before it was buryed He being a very wicked man had this iudgement falen on him. The bookes which were sent us were the argument of this tragedy, and the ab- breviated some of every Act, composed in very good latine, together with the Actors names. It was performed exceeding well (if not over acted) and not any stopp or hesitation. (fols. 50"") While they sat together in the audience waiting for the play to begin, Bargrave and Robert Spreule discussed the writings of Thomas a Kem- pis on transubstantiation; the achievements of “S” Xeverius that Turned the Japonians to embrace Christianity”; and the elevating example of the lives of other Catholic saints. Spreule concluded that those of Bar- grave’s faith could “shew no lives of any Protestant sett forth to the glory of god and the confirming of the truth of our Religion,” provoking the prompt retort from Bargrave that “we had many which lived most piously, but wee were not vaineglorious in writing theire lives.” Fortu- nately for those sitting around them, while Spreule was answering this claim,“T he Tragedy begann and broake off our discourse. He argued so lowde that wee had many eyes and eares upon us” (fols. 50V—31V). This very public demonstration of theological debate within a prominent Catholic institution (the Archbishop’s House) is perhaps the most strik- ing example of how a Protestant Englishman abroad could openly en- gage in controversial discussion with a member of the Society of Jesus without, apparently, having any fears for his safety and well-being. While, in one sense, the diary’s account of this episode expresses a self- conscious sense of bravado on the authors part, casting him as a Protes- tant Daniel in the den of the Jesuits, it also illustrates just how determined the Jesuits were to convert Bargrave who, if he had em- braced Catholicism, would have been—-as a nephew of the Dean of Canterbury——a highly prestigious catch for the Jesuits of Bourges. Bargrave also recorded in his diary a detailed account of the events immediately following the presentation of the main play: The Tragedy being ended There was a very prety Pastorall to the Honor of him whoe was at the charges of the tragedy and bookes which were given to the best schollers. which pastorall was all French (the Tragedy being before in Latin). The Pastorall ended, There was some 20 or 30 very faire bownd bookes, some folio’s, some 80, 4&, broth owt on the table. Then He that Personated 672 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUTTS the Emperor in his glory, and ritch clothes (which they had from Paris) Re’dd over the names of the best deserving boyes and caling them on after another in order, thay (in vew of all the people) went up a lather to the stage, and there with the sownd of Drum and Trumpets were first crowned with bayes, and then according to his men and one of those bookes given him. some boyes had 2 some 3 bookes and three crownes, at 3 severall times, as thay prooved to be best both in Latine and greeke, in Poetry or Prose, in each sev- erall classes of which there is 5. the upper most being counted the first. This is an excellent way to encourage boyes, and stirr them up to emulation: And thus thay doe in all the Jesuits Coll: both in Italie and France, as Father Sprowd told mee. There are Electors chosen, who take a solemne oath to give the rewards to the best deserving boyes.(fo1s. 51v—52v)28 Well aware that Bargrave was missing his former academic life at Cambridge, on November 4 James Browne and another unnamed Jesuit called at Bargrave’s lodgings to invite him to a public oration at their College on the following day.29Although interested by the subject mat- ter, Bargrave was rather less impressed by the mode of delivery: I went to heare the Oration at the time apoynted, which was performed in eloquent good latine, but with too much affected and Theatrical action (but it is the fashion so to doe, and it may bee it wold not please those auditors if not so acted). he speakeng of the severall heresies, which had binn beaten downe together with theire Authors, by the pens of the learned Fathers and Roman Catholiques, Comming up to Moderne times, saide—Quis Lutherum. in Germania, Calvinum In Nostra hac Gallia ! Henricum Octavum. in Anglia suppressisset si &t. (fol. 52‘) Attending a public paper at the Law Courts on November 7, Bargrave commented that the speaker “delivered it with far less action and farr more gravity then the Jesuite did his” (fol. 55‘). Nevertheless, such di- vertissements were always welcome to Bargrave and his party, who oth- erwise sought to occupy themselves with lessons from local masters in the French language and music. When in the middle of January, 1646, James Browne and Thomas Cary called at their lodgings, Bargrave was delighted to be invited to another dramatic presentation, recording in his diary how the two Jesuits: 28 For an examination of the importance placed on dramatic exercises by the Jesuits, see William H. McCabe, S.J.,An Introduction to tbejesuit T beater, edited and completed by Louis J. Oldani, S.J. (St Louis, 1983), PD. 19-66, 299-302. “Bargrave records the title of the oration as:“D O M / Christianam / Rempublicam / Vexauit Nero / Dum ferrum adhibuit / Dioclesianus / Ignem / Traianus / Leones / Max- iminus / Rotas” (fols. 51""). BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN 673 brought us a sheete of paper wherein was the Contence of a Comedy, or rather a Shew (as thay call it at Cambrige) by reason it was not divided into exact Acts; and thay invited us to come to see it which we did the day fol- lowing. (fol. 59") Having seen the play, however, Bargrave began to realize that even when involving him in such apparently innocent academic pursuits, the Jesuits never lost sight of their ultimate goal of conversion. He recorded in his diary how the plot had dealt with the story of the conversion to Christianity of “Josaphatus the sonn of Abenner King of India” by “Berlaamus a monck, who came to him in the habit and furniture of a Merchant that sold Jewells.” Pointedly, Josaphatus’s companions had also chosen to follow their friend’s embracing of Christianity, prompt- ing Bargrave to speculate: I being at this time Governour to 3 young gentlemen, and having had much discource with some of the Jesuits, and opposed theire Arguments which thay used to draw mee to the Romish Religion, I tooke the Argument of this Comedy to reflect somewhat on my selfe, but whether thay Intended any such thing I cannot say. (fol. 60") Even when he had left Bourges for Sancerre, Bargrave was still subject to approaches, albeit indirect, from the Jesuits. He noted in his diary (fols. 70"—71‘) on February 21, 1646, how he had received a long letter from Jean Jacques Bourguignon, the son of his landlord at Bourges, de- tailing the argument, acts, and cast—list of a tragedy on “Crisantus et Daria,” which had recently been performed at the Jesuit College,where Jean Jacques was a pupil. As Bargrave would have readily deduced, this missive was almost certainly penned with the full approval (and proba- bly at the direction of) the young Bourguignon’s Jesuit school—masters. John Bargrave was now fully aware that the determined Jesuit sought to pursue his proselytizing work even through the respectable academic allure of Latin drama. IV. A “true sone of the Church of England” It remains to consider for whose eyes John Bargrave’s French travel diary was compiled. On one level (as is evident from the signs of haste in the handwriting and gaps left in the text to be filled in later), it was primarily intended as his own private record of his travels, probably written up either in the evening after a day’s activities or at other spare 674 JOHN BARGRAVE mo THE JESUITS moments. On another level, although an essentially private document, Bargrave’s self-irnage as a resolute and resourceful Protestant English exile is always carefully maintained throughout the diary 3° Further- more, the considerable amount of detail expended on recording the in- tricacies of his theological and doctrinal interchanges with the Jesuits suggests that he may have intended these notes to be circulated (per- haps even in print) at some later stage as either a longer autobiograph- ical memoir of his experiences abroad or as an exposure of the Jesuits’ proselytizing tactics. Certainly, John Bargrave was well aware of the po- tency of the printed word, and it seems virtually certain that a now lost section of his travel diary (recording his early experiences in Italy in 1646-1647) formed the basis of the most famous English guidebook to the Civil War period, An Itinerary Contayning a Voyage Made Through Italy, in the Yeare I 646, and J 647 (1648)——the preliminaries of which provided a veiled but powerful condemnation of the current Parliamentarian attack on monarchic power.“ It is even possible that Bargrave was planning to use this record of his travels through France as material toward a more detailed exposition of the Catholic Church on the continent. Certainly, he seems to have gone out of his way to acquire firsthand knowledge of Catholic institutions and the working practices of the papacy. He paid, on his own account, four separate visits to Rome itself (during his 1646- 1647 trip to Italy; in 1650 and in 1655; and finally in 1659-60). On this last visit he pur- chased at Rome,“T he Pope, and Colledge, or Conclave of Cardinalls,” an extensive set of prints of Pope Alexander VII and his cardinals“ He then heavily annotated these portraits with his own comments on both the individuals represented and papal history, as well as adding numerous 3° In one memorable episode, he recounts how he got the better of a group of German fellow-travelers who became increasingly aggressive. Eventually challenging one of them to a duel, who desired “to know my affections in the difference that was betweene the King and his subiets.” Bargrave told them that he “was of no party, but by my Oathes I was bound to be obedient to my Sovereign and all the iourny after thay were my very good freinds, and Tres humbles Servitures but I had an ey to the shavers pistolles” (fols. 5"'6’). “This guidebook was also commonly known as Il Mercurio Italico from the phrase used on its illustrated frontispiece. After the Restoration its popularity among English travelers to Italy was superseded by Edmund Warcup’s Italy, in its Original Glory, Raine and Revival (1660). Although this volume bore on its title page the initials of John Ray- mond, Bargrave’s nephew and traveling companion throughout the years 1645 to 1647, it seems likely that Raymond’s manuscript was compiled with full access to John Bargrave’s own notes. See also Pope Alexander the Seventh and the College of Cardinals, ed.James Craigie Robertson (“Camden Society,”Vol. 92 [1867], p.xxi; and Bann,op. cit., pp. 107- 1 13, 132. 52 Canterbury Catherdral Archives, Lit MS E 59a—c. BY MICHAEL G. BRENNAN 675 incidental and fragmentary memoirs of his own travels abroad—thus transforming the prints into another kind of sporadic and disordered travel diary in themselves. Above all, he was at pains in his annotations to indicate that he had seen in the flesh many of the Catholic dignitaries depicted in the prints. If possible, he always commented on whether the illustration of a cardinal was a good likeness or not, and he also de- lighted in recounting various tales he had heard of their public and pri- vate lives.” Most importantly, “The Pope, and Colledge, or Conclave of Cardinalls” commemorated Bargrave’s own Protestant fortitude in re- maining untainted by Catholicism despite such proximity to its most powerful figures. For example, at the bottom of the pubIisher’s Latin ded- ication to Pope Alexander VII, following the title-page, Bargrave penned in 1662 the following explanatory (and clearly triumphant) note: The College of Cardinalls when I was my fourth and laste tyme at Rome,I be- ing then there when King Charles the Second was restored to his three crownes, and to my knowledge to the greate greife of that triple crowne and that college, whoe thought to have binn masters of England, 1660.34 The message delivered by this inscription was unequivocal: the restora- tion of King Charles II (and, by association, the return home of those ex- iled royalists who had supported him throughout the Civil War) marked the final defeat of the Catholic Church’s attempts to take control of Eng- land. Although, when the later succession problems of Charles II and James II are considered, Bargrave’s constitutional optimism was sadly misplaced, it seems evident that this particular record of his experi- ences abroad, along with his French travel diary, was intended to com- memorate the preservation of his own (and by implication his country’s) Protestant integrity. The implicit message of Bargrave’s self-depiction as a traveler is that an Englishman who is truly loyal to both his king and the established Church of England can live with integrity anywhere in 33 He wrote of Cardinal Carlo de’ Medici:“I have very often seen him, and am sure this picture is very like him . . . J. B. 1662.” He also recorded the personal assistance granted to him by Cardinal Capponi; the “extraordinary avarice” of Cardinal Ginetto; how the poet Richard Crashaw was a member of the personal retinue of Cardinal Palotta; and how the haughtiness of Cardinal Maculano was deflated by his “several brothers, who, being rude clowns.” Bargrave strongly dissapproved of Cardinal Azzolini’s salacious reputation: “his amours to all kinds of ladies ecclipse all his parts; his poor and abject spirit in that kind yieldeth himself up to certain doxies brought into his chamber by a certain fyer, his pan- dor.” In contrast, Bargrave found Cardinal d’Este to be “a person of an angelical life, of great splendor, cheerful, affable, courteous, and officious.” Pope Alexander the Seventh, pp. 10-12, 27, 37,43, 57,68. 3‘ 1?9z'd., p. 6. 676 JOHN BARGRAVE AND THE JESUITS Western Europe, even at Rome, the geographical and spiritual center of the papacy, or amidst the centers of Jesuit learning in France. Nor, as time was to prove, was John Bargrave’s self-confidence in his own faith misfounded. After the Restoration his fellowship at Peter- house was immediately restored and he was recommended in Novem- ber, 1660, by royal mandate for the degree of Doctor of Divinity. On December 25 of the same year he was ordained to the priesthood and appointed as a preacher at Canterbury Cathedral.” In May, 1662, John Bargrave personally petitioned King Charles II for the prestigious posi- tion of a prebend at Canterbury. The exact phrasing of this document pointedly recalled Bargrave’s personal loyalty to the king and sufferings for his allegiance to the established church: To the King’s Most Excellent Majestie The humble petition of John Bargrave, D.D., Humbly sheweth, That there being a Prebendaries Place m the Cathedrall Church of Canter- bury now voyd by the death of Doctor Paske, and your petitioner being of knowne loyalty to your Majestie and a true sone of the Church of England, for which he hath beene a great sufferer, Most humbly prayes that your Majestie wilbe gratiously pleased to conferr the said Prebendaries place upon him. This application, supported by Gilbert Sheldon, Bishop of London, was successful and on September 26, 1662, in what must have been an es- pecially poignant moment, John Bargrave was inducted into the fifth stall at Canterbury Cathedral, which had previously been occupied by his uncle, Isaac Bargrave, before his elevation to the Deanery.“ Thus he was publicly confirmed in 1662 as a “true sone of the Church of Eng- land.” Bargrave’s widow also ensured with the bequest of his personal papers to Canterbury Cathedral, following his death in 1680, that a record of John Bargrave’s unwavering loyalty to the English monarchy and established church would be preserved for posterity. “Bargrave’s financial position was also enhanced by his being presented to the church livings of Harbledown (1661) and Pluckley (1662). “Pope Alexander the Seventh, pp. xii—xiii.