Adrian Henry Timothy Knottesford Fortescue (14 January 1874 – 11 February 1923) was an English Catholic priest and

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

. An influential

liturgist Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

, artist,

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

, composer,

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, amateur photographer,

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

scholar, and adventurer, he was also the founder of the Church of St Hugh of Lincoln in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990. Letchworth ...

Biography

Early life and education

Adrian Fortescue, a direct descendant of the martyr

Adrian Fortescue Adrian Henry Timothy Knottesford Fortescue (14 January 1874 – 11 February 1923) was an Catholic Church in England and Wales, English Catholic priest and polymath. An influential liturgist, artist, calligrapher, composer, Polyglot (person ...

(died 1539), was born on 14 January 1874 in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, London, into a Midland county family of high position. His father was Edward Fortescue, a renowned

high church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

clergyman who was "highly regarded as a preacher and retreat master" and an active participant in the

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...

, before he was received into the Catholic Church. His mother, Gertrude Martha Robins, was the daughter of Sanderson Robins, another Anglican clergyman, and Caroline Gertrude Foster-Barham, the scion of the Foster-Barham family of Jamaican plantation owners and granddaughter of the 8th Earl of Thanet. In 1891 Fortescue entered the Scots' College in Rome, where, due to his exceptional musical talent, he was soon appointed organist. He was awarded the degree of

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

in 1892 and his PhD in 1894, when he entered the theological faculty at

Innsbruck University The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian Bundesland of Tirol, and the th ...

. He was ordained to the priesthood on 27 March 1898 by Simon Aichner,

Bishop of Brixen The Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen (, , ) is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Italy, with its seat in the city of Bolzano. Its territory corresponds with that of the province of South Tyrol with its predominantly German ...

. Between 1899 and 1905 Fortescue passed doctoral examinations in

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dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

ecclesiastical history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the ...

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

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, and biblical science—passing the examination in

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with great distinction, a rare achievement. On 10 June 1905 he was awarded the degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

, making him the very rare recipient of a triple doctorate. The level of his scholarship was so exceptional that he was awarded a prize presented to him personally by the

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Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

. Fortescue was also a well-known adventurer, travelling to the Middle East,

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, and

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, among other places. In the process, he learned Syrian Arabic, some Turkish, and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

(he was already fluent in

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from his academic studies). At the time of his death, Fortescue was professor of church history at St Edmund's College, Ware, the oldest Catholic school in England.

Ministry

After a number of temporary positions, interrupted by his doctoral examinations, Fortescue was eventually appointed

Missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Rector of

in Hertfordshire in November 1907. There he faced the task of building a church from scratch. Much of the church he designed and paid for personally, and parish records show that he in fact donated more each year than he received in his annual

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

. In time the beautiful little church, dedicated to Hugh of Lincoln, became renowned for its music and rich liturgical life. Although Fortescue's personal inclination was for the life of a scholar, his sense of duty would never allow him to put his scholarly pursuits before the care of the souls entrusted to him. He would give the last penny in his pocket to help a needy parishioner, and frequently found himself in financial difficulties as a result of his generosity. He never refused to see a caller, however inconvenient it might be for him to interrupt his work.

Death

On 20 December 1922, Fortescue was diagnosed with cancer. He preached his last

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

on 31 December, a simple but profound lesson on the reality of the Incarnation of Christ, ending with the words, "That is all I have to say." On 3 January 1923 he left Letchworth for Dollis Hill Hospital, where he died of cancer on 11 February. Against the wishes of his family, he was buried at Letchworth Cemetery, among his own parishioners.

Works

The best-known of Fortescue's publications during his lifetime was ''Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described'', which he actually wrote not out of academic interest but to raise funds for construction on his church. In 1913 Fortescue compiled a book of ''Latin Hymns'' which he originally gathered for the use of his parishioners, providing his own English prose translations. He also contributed many articles to the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'' (1907–1913), and it is in this context that his work has the most public familiarity today. With his love of history and skill with languages, Fortescue devoted much study to the origin and history of the

Eastern Churches Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...

, both

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and Orthodox. Among his most famous works are ''The Orthodox Eastern Church'' and '' The Lesser Eastern Churches''. Fortescue was also an artist of considerable talent, especially in the media of

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

, drawing and

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

. He was also a recognised authority on

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

, and his own designs were widely admired in his day. A memorial exhibition of Adrian Fortescue's work was organised in the Letchworth Public Library in 1923.

Memorials

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

about Fortescue and the Church of St Hugh of Lincoln he founded was produced by the First Garden City Heritage Museum, in Letchworth Garden City. The exhibition featured rare and special objects relating to Fortescue and the church, and ran from 5 November 2007 until 26 January 2008. The First Garden City Heritage Museum holds material relating to Fortescue, as well as copies of the exhibition text, images and display material. There are plaques dedicated to Fortescue in the Church of St Hugh of Lincoln in Letchworth.

Selected bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

*
The Genius of Adrian Fortescue, Priest and Scholar
by Madeleine Beard
''The Greek Fathers''
1908
''The Mass: A study of the Roman Liturgy''
1913
''Donatism''
1917

by Nicholas Schofield

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortescue, Adrian 1874 births 1923 deaths 19th-century English Roman Catholic priests 20th-century English Roman Catholic priests British Byzantinists Burials in Hertfordshire Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia English Roman Catholic writers

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the ma ...

Liturgists People educated at St Edmund's College, Ware People from Hampstead Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Semiticists University of Innsbruck alumni Scholars of Byzantine theology Alumni of the Scots College, Rome