What is recusancy?
What is recusancy?
by David Powell
The word comes from the Latin ‘recusare’ to refuse. Recusants were people who refused to accept the practices of the Church of England or the role of the monarch as head of the Church, as established by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. They followed the Catholic Faith, Yr Hen Fydd (the Old Faith), as it was known in Wales.
Catholic clergy and lay people faced penalties of varying severity for practising the old faith in a period sometimes referred to as ‘penal times’. This lasted for almost 300 years, from Henry VIII’s time until at least 1689, although restrictions still faced hostile legislation until well into the 18th century. Lay people were fined, often heavily, for refusing to attend Anglican services. Priests were regarded as having been guilty of high treason for being ordained abroad and returning to England and Wales to celebrate Mass and tending to the Catholic faithful. They faced the death penalty.
In Monmouthshire, there were many recusants among the gentry, such as the Somersets at Raglan and the Morgans of Llantarnam. The powerful gentry gave some protection to other Catholics, and to the clergy who kept Catholicism alive. Catholicism was relatively strong in the county.
Catholic clergy and lay people faced penalties of varying severity for practising the old faith in a period sometimes referred to as ‘penal times’. This lasted for almost 300 years, from Henry VIII’s time until at least 1689, although restrictions still faced hostile legislation until well into the 18th century. Lay people were fined, often heavily, for refusing to attend Anglican services. Priests were regarded as having been guilty of high treason for being ordained abroad and returning to England and Wales to celebrate Mass and tending to the Catholic faithful. They faced the death penalty.
In Monmouthshire, there were many recusants among the gentry, such as the Somersets at Raglan and the Morgans of Llantarnam. The powerful gentry gave some protection to other Catholics, and to the clergy who kept Catholicism alive. Catholicism was relatively strong in the county.
The Gunters at Abergavenny made the Gunter Mansion a centre of Catholic worship. The Vicar of Abergavenny complained in the 1670s that there were large numbers of Catholics seen leaving Mass at the Gunter house when there were only 40 or so at worship in the parish church.
Fines were often not imposed – many magistrates owed their appointment to the gentry – and Catholic religious practices allowed to continue unless the level of alarm in the country demanded action. The intensity of persecution ebbed and flowed with perceived political threats from foreign Catholic powers, for example, at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 16th century, and at the time of the alleged Popish Plot of 1678-9 as a result of which Saint David Lewis was executed.
The Plot, David Lewis’ execution, and the dispersal of the Jesuits, who had been so active in keeping Catholicism alive in Monmouthshire, brought an end to the period of relative tolerance, although Catholic recusancy persisted in the 18th century, if in somewhat diminished strength, thanks to the work of the Franciscan Order.
Fines were often not imposed – many magistrates owed their appointment to the gentry – and Catholic religious practices allowed to continue unless the level of alarm in the country demanded action. The intensity of persecution ebbed and flowed with perceived political threats from foreign Catholic powers, for example, at the time of the Spanish Armada in the 16th century, and at the time of the alleged Popish Plot of 1678-9 as a result of which Saint David Lewis was executed.
The Plot, David Lewis’ execution, and the dispersal of the Jesuits, who had been so active in keeping Catholicism alive in Monmouthshire, brought an end to the period of relative tolerance, although Catholic recusancy persisted in the 18th century, if in somewhat diminished strength, thanks to the work of the Franciscan Order.
Plas Gunter Mansion Trust
39a Cross Street, Abergavenny NP7 5ER
39a Cross Street, Abergavenny NP7 5ER
Company no: 7705089
Registered charity no: 1144813
Registered charity no: 1144813