Francis Aidan Cardinal Gasquet (born Francis Neil Gasquet; 5 October 1846 – 5 April 1929) was an English

Benedictine monk , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

and historical scholar. He was created

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

in 1914.

Life

Gasquet was the third of six children of Raymond Gasquet, a physician whose French naval officer father had emigrated to England during the British evacuation of Toulon in 1793. His mother was a Yorkshirewoman. He was born at 26 Euston Place,

Somers Town, London Somers Town is an inner-city district in North West London. It has been strongly influenced by the three mainline north London railway termini: Euston (1838), St Pancras (1868) and King's Cross (1852), together with the Midland Railway Some ...

. Educated at

Downside School Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Originall ...

, he entered the Benedictines in 1865 at Belmont Priory. He moved to

Downside Abbey Downside Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged eleven to eighteen. Both t ...

where he was professed and, on 19 December 1871, ordained a priest. From 1878 to 1885 he was prior of Downside Abbey, resigning because of ill health. Upon his recovery he became a member of the Pontifical Commission to study the validity of the Anglican ordinations (1896) leading to ''

Apostolicae curae ''Apostolicae curae'' is the title of a papal bull, issued in 1896 by Pope Leo XIII, declaring all Anglican ordinations to be "absolutely null and utterly void". The Anglican Communion made no official reply, but the archbishops of Canterbur ...

'', to which his historical contribution was major. In 1900, he became abbot president of the English Benedictines. He was President of the Pontifical Commission for Revision of the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

, 1907. He also authored the major history of the

Venerable English College The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...

at Rome. He was created

Cardinal-deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

in 1914 with the titular church of

San Giorgio in Velabro San Giorgio in Velabro is a church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to St. George. The church is located next to the Arch of Janus in the rione of Ripa in the ancient Roman Velabrum. According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built wh ...

. He was conferred the titular church of

Santa Maria in Portico Santa Maria in Campitelli or Santa Maria in Portico (''Santa Maria in Portico di Campitelli'') is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the narrow Piazza di Campitelli in Rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy. The church is served by the Clerics Re ...

in 1915. In 1917, he was appointed Archivist of the

Vatican Secret Archives , seal = Seal of the Vatican Secret Archives.svg , seal_width = 200 , seal_caption = Former seal of the Vatican Apostolic Archive , logo = , formed = , jurisdiction = , headquarters = Cortile del Belvedere, Vatican City , coordinates ...

. In 1924, he was appointed Librarian of the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

. He died in Rome.

As a historian

Gasquet's historical work has been attacked by later writers.

Geoffrey Elton Sir Geoffrey Rudolph Elton (born Gottfried Rudolf Otto Ehrenberg; 17 August 1921 – 4 December 1994) was a German-born British political and constitutional historian, specialising in the Tudor period. He taught at Clare College, Cambridge, and w ...

wrote of "the falsehoods purveyed by Cardinal Gasquet and

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

". His collaboration with

Edmund Bishop Edmund Bishop (17 May 1846 in Totnes – 17 February 1917 in Barnstaple) was an English Roman Catholic historian of Christian liturgy. He collaborated with Francis Aidan Gasquet, OSB, in the writing of two notable works in this field. Life Bish ...

has been described as "an alliance between scholarship exquisite and deplorable". A polemical campaign by

G. G. Coulton George Gordon Coulton (15 October 1858 – 4 March 1947) was a British historian, known for numerous works on medieval history. He was known also as a keen controversialist. Coulton was born in King's Lynn and educated at King's Lynn Grammar S ...

against Gasquet was largely successful in discrediting his works in academic eyes. One of his books contained an appendix "A Rough List of Misstatements and Blunders in Cardinal Gasquet's Writings. David Knowles wrote a reasoned piece of apologetics on Gasquet's history in 1956, ''Cardinal Gasquet as an Historian''. In it he speaks of Gasquet's "many errors and failings", and notes that he "was not an intellectually humble man and he showed little insight into his own limitations of knowledge and training". Coulton, though, he felt was in error, through over-simplifying the case.

Eamon Duffy Eamon Duffy (born 1947) is an Irish historian. He is a professor of the history of Christianity at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow and former president of Magdalene College. Early life Duffy was born on 9 February 1947, in Dundalk, I ...

said in an interview: A biography, ''Cardinal Gasquet: a Memoir'', (

Burns & Oates Burns & Oates was a British Roman Catholic publishing house which most recently existed as an imprint of Continuum. Company history It was founded by James Burns in 1835, originally as a bookseller. Burns was of Presbyterian background and he g ...

1953), was written by

Shane Leslie Sir John Randolph Leslie, 3rd Baronet (Irish: ''Sir Seaghán Leslaigh''; 24 September 1885 – 14 August 1971), commonly known as Sir Shane Leslie, was an Irish-born diplomat and writer. He was a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill. In 1908 ...

, who knew him personally.

Works

A little book of prayers from Old English sources A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

Catholic Truth Society Catholic Truth Society (CTS) is a body that prints and publishes Catholic literature, including apologetics, prayerbooks, spiritual reading, and lives of saints. It is based in London, the United Kingdom. The CTS had been founded in 1868 by ...

, 1900.
''The Old English Bible and Other Essays,''
John C. Nimmo, 1897.
''Henry VIII and the English Monasteries,''
John Hodges, 1888.
''Edward VI and the Book of Common Prayer,''
John Hodges, 1890 (with Edmund Bishop).
''The Eve of the Reformation,''
G. Bell & Sons, 1923 st Pub. 1900
''Parish Life in Mediæval England,''
Methuen & Co., 1922

st Pub. 1905 ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

''The Greater Abbeys of England,''

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

, 1908. (illustrated by

Warwick Goble Warwick Goble (22 November 1862 – 22 January 1943) was a British illustrator of children's books. He was educated and trained at the City of London School and the Westminster School of Art. He specialized in fairy tales and exotic scenes f ...

)
''The Last Abbot of Glastonbury and Other Essays,''
George Bell & Sons, 1908.
''The Black Death of 1348 and 1349,''
George Bell & Sons, 1908.
''A History of the Venerable English College, Rome,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1920.
''Monastic Life in the Middle Ages,''
G. Bell & Sons, 1922.
''His Holiness Pope Pius XI,''
Daniel O'Connor, 1922.
''The Religious Life of King Henry VI,''
G. Bell & Sons, 1923.

Articles

"Roger Bacon and the Latin Vulgate."
In: A.G. Little (ed.), ''Roger Bacon Essays.'' Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1914.

Miscellany

* William M. Cunningham
''The Unfolding of the Little Flower,''
with a Preface by Cardinal Gasquet. London: Kingscote Press, 1916. * Father Stanislaus
''Life of the Viscountess De Bonnault D'Houet,''
with an Introduction by Cardinal Gasquet. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1916.

References

External links

Great Letter Writers

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gasquet 1846 births 1929 deaths English Benedictines English archivists 20th-century British cardinals 19th-century English historians Italian archivists English abbots People educated at Downside School Roman Catholic titular archbishops Cardinals created by Pope Pius X 20th-century English historians