Sister Catharine Magdalen , born Elizabeth Evelinge, (1596/1597 – 1668) was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

abbess and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translator whose work has been confused with that of Catherine Bentley.

Life

Evelinge was born in 1596 or 1597 and she is thought to have had two sisters, Rose and Mary Evelinge. She and Rose were already at the

Convent of Poor Clares, Gravelines The Convent of Poor Clares at Gravelines in the Spanish Netherlands, now northern France, was a community of English nuns of the Order of St. Clare, commonly called "Poor Clares", which was founded in 1607 by Mary Ward. The order of Poor Clares ...

where

Elizabeth Tyldesley Elizabeth Tyldesley (or Clare Mary Ann, OSC) (1585–1654) was a 17th-century abbess at the Poor Clare Convent at Gravelines. Life Elizabeth Tyldesley born in 1585, was the daughter of Thomas Tyldesley of Morleys Hall, Astley and Myerscough Hall ...

was the abbess in 1620. They took vows on 22 July 1620 and Mary Evelinge joined them in 1621. The convent thrived and it created three new dependant communities including one in 1629 in

Aire-sur-la-Lys Aire-sur-la-Lys (, literally ''Aire on the Lys''; vls, Ariën-aan-de-Leie) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Geography The commune is located 16 kilometres (10 mi) southeast of Saint-Omer, at the junction ...

. Evelinge moved to Aire-sur-la-Lys and after serving as Portress and Mistress of Novices. In about 1633 she became the abbess there. She was abbess for 25 years and she died there in 1668. After she died her obituary noted that she had translated "The History of the Angelicall Virgin Glorious St. Clare" by

Luke Wadding Luke Wadding, O.F.M. (16 October 158818 November 1657), was an Irish Franciscan friar and historian. Life Early life Wadding was born on 16 October 1588 in Waterford to Walter Wadding of Waterford, a wealthy merchant, and his wife, Anastasia ...

which was published in 1635 in Dobai. Wadding was an influential Irish historian and theologian. However the book in question states that it was translated by another nun Catharine Bentley aka Sister Magdalen Augustine. Catherine Bentley had become a nun in 1611 and she died in 1659 as the abbess of the convent in Aire. They may have both worked on it or the historical records disagree.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evelinge, Elizabeth 1596 births 1668 deaths 17th-century English Roman Catholic nuns 17th-century English translators English Roman Catholic abbesses Poor Clare abbesses