Robert Hugh Benson AFSC KC*SG KGCHS (18 November 1871 – 19 October 1914) was an English Catholic priest and writer. First an Anglican priest, he was received into the

Catholic Church 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 ...

in 1903 and ordained therein the next year. He was also a prolific writer of fiction, writing the notable dystopian novel '' Lord of the World'', as well as '' Come Rack! Come Rope!''. His output encompassed historical, horror and science fiction, contemporary fiction, children's stories, plays,

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics an ...

, devotional works and articles. He continued his writing career at the same time as he progressed through the hierarchy to become a

Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

to Pope Pius X in 1911, and gain the title of

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

before his death a few years later.

Early life

Benson was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, the Archbishop of Canterbury and his wife,

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

; Benson was the younger brother of E. F. Benson, A. C. Benson and

Margaret Benson Margaret Benson (16 June 1865 – 13 May 1916) was an English author and Egyptologist best known for her excavation of the Precinct of Mut. Early life and family Margaret was born in 1865 near Reading, England, as one of the six children ...

. Benson was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and then studied classics and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, from 1890 to 1893. In 1895, Benson was ordained a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

by his father, who was the then Archbishop of Canterbury.

Career

After his father died suddenly in 1896, Benson was sent on a trip to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

to recover his own health. While there he began to question the status of the Church of England and to consider the claims of the

. His own piety began to tend toward the

High Church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

tradition, and he started exploring religious life in various Anglican communities, eventually obtaining permission to join the

Community of the Resurrection The Community of the Resurrection (CR) is an Anglican religious community for men in England. It is based in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and has 13 members as of February 2021. The community reflects Anglicanism in its broad nature and is stron ...

. Benson made his profession as a member of the community in 1901, at which time he had no thoughts of leaving the Church of England. As he continued his studies and began writing, however, he became more and more uneasy with his own doctrinal position and, on 11 September 1903, he was received into the

. Benson was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

as a Catholic priest in 1904. As the son of the late Archbishop of Canterbury, his conversion, and his subsequent ordination, caused a sensation. His first assignment was as a college chaplain. He had a stutter and is said to have had a 'reedy' voice. Benson was a popular preacher, attracting large audiences wherever he spoke. In 1914, he visited the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

and gave an address on the papacy. Both ''Confessions of a Convert'' (1913) and ''Lourdes'' (1914) were serialized in Notre Dame's ''Ave Maria'' magazine, before appearing as books. He was awarded the Dignitary of Honour of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under ...

Novelist

Benson continued his writing career along with his ministry as a priest. Like both his brothers, Edward Frederic Benson ("Fred") and Arthur Christopher Benson, Robert wrote many ghost and horror stories, as well as children's stories and historical fiction. His horror and ghost fiction are collected in ''The Light Invisible'' (1903) and ''A Mirror of Shallott'' (1907). His novel, '' Lord of the World'' (1907), is generally regarded as one of the first modern dystopian novels. In the speculative 2007 he predicted there, the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

and other Protestant denominations have crumbled and disappeared under a rising tide of secularism and atheism, leaving an embattled Catholic Church as the sole champion of Christian truth. Nations are armed with weapons which can destroy a whole city from the air within minutes, and euthanasia is widely practiced and considered as a moral advance. The

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . ...

is depicted as a charismatic secular liberal who organizes an international body devoted to world peace and love under his direction. In his next novel ''The Dawn of All'' (1911), Benson imagined an opposite future 1973 in which the Catholic Church has emerged victorious in England and worldwide after Germany and Austria won the "Emperor War" of 1914; this book is also notable in its fairly accurate prediction of a global network of a passenger air travel. '' Come Rack! Come Rope!'' (1912) is a historical novel describing the persecution of English Catholics during the Elizabethan era. The bibliography below reveals a prodigious output. Among his historical novels is the Reformation Trilogy: ''By What Authority'' (1905), ''The King’s Achievement'' (1905), and ''The Queen’s Tragedy'' (1907).

Vatican chaplaincy

Benson was appointed a supernumerary private chamberlain to the Pope (

Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...

) in 1911 and consequently styled as

Private life

As a young man, Benson recalled, he had rejected the idea of marriage as "quite inconceivable". He had a close friendship with "Baron Corvo," the ''alias'' of the novelist

Frederick Rolfe Frederick William Rolfe (surname pronounced ), better known as Baron Corvo (Italian for "Crow"), and also calling himself Frederick William Serafino Austin Lewis Mary Rolfe (22 July 1860 – 25 October 1913), was an English writer, artist, ph ...

, with whom he had hoped to write a book on St Thomas Becket, until Benson decided that he should not be associated (according to writer Brian Masters) "with a Venetian pimp and procurer of boys". Nevertheless, he maintained his friendship with Lord Alfred Douglas, the friend and lover of Oscar Wilde, and when an acquaintance protested that the connection with Douglas was inappropriate for him, he replied: "Lord Alfred Douglas is my friend, and he'll come down when he likes!" Like many of his conservative and right-wing contemporaries, Robert Hugh Benson opposed the writings of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...

and similar 19th century writers. Robert Hugh Benson was intolerant of most liberal and left-wing political and economic movements of his day. He regarded them as part of a Communist, Freemason and Jewish cabal. In spite of Robert Hugh Benson's hatred of republicanism, he had a mostly positive view of the United States due to its political conservatism and deeply religious population. He sympathized more with the USA than most Catholics of his time, because he regarded Europe and Latin America as secular, liberal/left-wing and modern.

Death and legacy

Benson died of pneumonia in 1914 in Salford, where he had been preaching a mission; he was 42. As he had requested, he was buried in the orchard of

Hare Street House Hare Street House is a Grade II* listed building in the hamlet of Hare Street that lies between Buntingford and Great Hormead in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is mainly associated with the Roman Catholic priest a ...

, his house in the Hertfordshire village of Hare Street. A chapel, dedicated to St Hugh, was built over the site. Benson bequeathed the house to the Catholic Church as a country retreat for the Archbishop of Westminster. The Catholic church in the nearby town of Buntingford, which he helped finance, is dedicated to St Richard of Chichester, but also known as the Benson Memorial Church. In 2019, the house was put up for sale. Benson's body was exhumed and moved to the crypt of St Edmund's College in Old Hall Green. The Benson Club is a Catholic reading group named in his honour at Fisher House, Cambridge.

Gallery

File:Color Portrair of Robert Hugh Benson.jpg, Portrait of Benson File:The Master's Lodge, Wellington College, 1868.jpg, Benson's birthplace. From the book ''Hugh, Memoirs of a Brother'' File:Robert Hugh Benson and Beth at the Chancery, Lincoln, in 1876, aged 5.jpg, Benson, aged 5, with Beth at the Chancery, Lincoln, in 1876. From the book ''Hugh, Memoirs of a Brother'' File:A. C. Benson, R. H. Benson, and E. F. Benson, 1882.jpg, A. C. Benson, R. H. Benson and E. F. Benson, 1882. From the book ''Hugh, Memoirs of a Brother'' File:Robert Hugh Benson in 1889, aged 17. As Steerer in the St. George, at Eton.jpg, Benson in 1889, aged 17, as Steerer in the St George at Eton. From the book ''Hugh, Memoirs of a Brother''

Works

Science fiction
''A Mirror of Shalott,''
Benziger Brothers, 1907.
''Lord of the World,''
Dodd, Mead & Company, 1908 st Pub. 1907
''The Dawn of All,''
B. Herder, 1911. Historical fiction
''By What Authority?,''
Isbister, 1904.
''Come Rack! Come Rope!,''
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1913 st Pub. 1912
''Oddsfish!,''
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1914.
''The King's Achievement,''
Burns Oates & Washbourne, Lrd., 1905.
''The Queen's Tragedy,''
Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd., 1907.
''The History of Richard Raynal, Solitary,''
Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd., 1912.
''Initiation,''
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1914.Cooper, Frederick Taber. "The Accustomed Manner and Some Recent Novels," ''The Bookman,'' May 1914. Contemporary fiction
''The Light Invisible,''
Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons Ltd., 1906.
''The Sentimentalists,''
Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons Ltd., 1906.
''The Conventionalists,''
Hutchinson & Co., 1908.
''The Necromancers,''
Hutchinson & Co., 1909.
''A Winnowing,''
B. Herder, 1910.
''None other gods,''
B. Herder, 1911.
''The Coward,''
B. Herder, 1912. *
An Average Man
'' Dodd, Mead & Company, 1913.
''Loneliness?,''
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1915. Children's books
''Alphabet of Saints,''
with Reginald Balfour and Charles Ritchie, illustraded by L. D. Symington, Oates & Washbourne, 1905.
''A Child's Rule of Life''
illustrated by Gabriel Pippet, digitized by Richard Mammana. *''Old Testament Rhymes'', illustrated by Gabriel Pippet. Devotional works
''Vexilla Regis: A Book of Devotions and Intercessions,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1915 st Pub. 1914
''A Book of the Love of Jesus: A Collection of Ancient English Devotions in Prose and Verse,''
Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1915.
''The Friendship of Christ,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1914 st Pub. 1912 Apologetic works
''The Religion of the Plain Man,''
Burns & Oates, 1906.
''Papers of a Pariah,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1907.
''Non-Catholic Denominations,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1910.
''Christ in the Church: A Volume of Religious Essays,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1911.
''Confessions of a Convert,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1913.
''Paradoxes of Catholicism,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1913.
''Lourdes,''
The Manresa Press, 1914.
''Spiritual Letters of Monsignor R. Hugh Benson: to One of his Converts,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1915.
''A Book of Essays,''
Catholic Truth Society, 1916.
''Sermon Notes, First Series: Anglican,''''Second Series: Catholic,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1917. Plays
''The Cost of a Crown, a Story of Douay & Durham; a Sacred Drama in Three Acts,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1910.
''A Mystery Play in Honour of the Nativity of Our Lord,''
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1908. * ''The Maid of Orleans, a Drama of the Life of Joan of Arc'', Longmans, Green & Co., 1911. * ''The Upper Room, a Drama of Christ's Passion'', Longmans, Green & Co., 1914. Selected articles
"The Conversion of England,"
''The American Ecclesiastical Review,'' Vol. XXXIV, 1906.
"The State of Religion in England,"
''The Catholic World,'' Vol. LXXXIV, October 1906/March 1907.
"A Modern Theory of Human Personality,"
''The Dublin Review,'' Vol. CXLI, 1907. * "The Dissolution of the Religious Houses." In: ''Renascence and Reformation'' (From The Cambridge History of English Literature, 15 Vols.), 1908.
"Letters of Queen Victoria, 1837-1861,"
''The Dublin Review,'' Vol. CXLII, January/April 1908.
"Christian Science,"
''The Dublin Review,'' Vol. CXLIII, No. 286, October 1908.
"Spiritualism,"
''The Dublin Review,'' Vol. CXLV, No. 290-291, July/October, 1909.
"A Catholic Colony,"
''The Dublin Review,'' Vol. CXLVI, January/April, 1910.
"Catholicism and the Future,"
''The Atlantic Monthly'', Vol. CVI, 1910.
"Phantasms of the Dead,"
''The Dublin Review,'' Vol. CL, No. 300-301, January/April, 1912. * "Cosmopolitanism and Catholicism," ''The North American Review,'' September 1912.
"Cardinal Gasquet,"
''The Dublin Review,'' Vol. CLV, July/October, 1914. Other
''The Holy Blissful Martyr Saint Thomas of Canterbury,''
Benziger Brothers, 1910.
''The Life of Saint Teresa,''
Herbert & Daniel, 1912. (Preface only (20 pages), author is Alice Lady Lovat)
''Poems,''
Burns & Oates, 1914. * ''Maxims from the Writings of Mgr. Benson, By the compiler of "Thoughts from Augustine Birrell,"'' R. & T. Washbourne Ltd., 1915.

Bibliography

* Beesley, Thomas Quinn (1916)
"The Poetry of Robert Hugh Benson,"
''The Catholic Educational Review,'' Vol. XII, pp. 122–134. * Benson, Arthur C. (1915)
''Hugh: Memoirs of a Brother.''
London: Smith, Elder & Co. * Bleiler, Everett (1948). ''The Checklist of Fantastic Literature.'' Chicago: Shasta Publishers. * Bour'his, Jean Morris le (1980). ''Robert Hugh Benson, Homme de Foi et Artiste.'' Atelier Reproduction de Thèses, Université de Lille III. * Braybrooke, Patrick (1931). "Robert Hugh Benson; Novelist and Philosopher." In: ''Some Catholic Novelists.'' London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne. * Brown, Stephen J.M. & Thomas McDermott (1945)
''A Survey of Catholic Literature.''
Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company. * Concannon, Helena (1914)
"Robert Hugh Benson, Novelist,"Part II
''The Catholic World,'' Vol. XCIX, pp. 487–498, 635–645. * Gorce, Agnès de La (1928). ''Robert Hugh Benson: Prêtre et Romancier, 1871-1914.'' Paris: Plon. * Grayson, Janet (1998). ''Robert Hugh Benson: Life and Works.'' Lanham, Md.: University Press of America. * Marshall, George. "Two Autobiographical Narratives of Conversion: Robert Hugh Benson and Ronald Knox." ''British Catholic History'' 24.2 (1998): 237–253. * Martindale, C.C. (1916)
''The Life of Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson,''Vol. 2
London: Longmans, Green & Co. * McMahon, Joseph H. (1915)
"The Late Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson,"
''Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia'', Vol. XXVI, pp. 55–63. * McMahon, Joseph H. (1915)
"Robert Hugh Benson: A Personal Memory,"
''The Bookman,'' Vol. XLI, pp. 160–169. * Monaghan, Sister Mary Saint Rita (1985). ''Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson: His Apostolate and Its Message for Our Time.'' Brisbane, Qld.: Boolarong Publications. * Parr, Olive Katherine (1915). ''Robert Hugh Benson: An Appreciation.'' London: Hutchinson & Co. * Ross, Allan (1915)

The Catholic Truth Society. * Shadurski, Maxim (2020). ''The Nationality of Utopia: H. G. Wells, England, and the World State.'' London; New York: Routledge. . (Chapter 3 features an in-depth discussion of ''The Dawn of All.'') * Shuster, Norman (1922)
"Robert Hugh Benson and the Aging Novel."
In: ''The Catholic Spirit in Modern English Literature.'' New York: The Macmillan Company, pp. 208–228. * Warre Cornish, Blanche (1914)
''Memorials of Robert Hugh Benson.''
New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons. * Watt, Reginald J.J. (1918)
''Robert Hugh Benson: Captain in God's Army.''
London: Burns & Oates Ltd.

References

External links

* * *

Online editions

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Robert Hugh 1871 births 1914 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English Roman Catholic priests 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English Roman Catholic priests Anti-Masonry People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Anglican priest converts to Roman Catholicism

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

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