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‘Have we any mother Juliana’s among us?’: The multiple identities of Julian of Norwich in Restoration England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2017

Liam Temple
Liam Temple*
Affiliation:
14 Staindrop Crescent, Darlington, Co. Durham DL3 9AQ, UK. Email:[email protected]
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Abstract

The true identity of the fourteenth-century anchoress Julian of Norwich has been lost to history. Yet in the seventeenth century Catholic and Protestant polemicists created different ‘Julians’ to construct and contrast their own confessional positions. This article traces the different identities prescribed to Julian and argues that they allow us fresh insight into some of the most prevalent religious and political issues of Restoration England. It begins by tracing the positive reception of Julian’s theology among the Benedictine nuns of Paris and Cambrai, including the role of Augustine Baker in editing Julian’s text. It then explores how the Benedictine Serenus Cressy and the Anglican Edward Stillingfleet created different identities for Julian in their ongoing polemical battles in the Restoration period. For Cressy, Julian was proof of the strength of Catholic devotional and spiritual traditions, while Stillingfleet believed she was evidence of the religious melancholy encouraged by monasticism. By exploring these identities, this article offers new perspective on issues of Catholic loyalty, enthusiasm, sectarianism and doctrinal authority.

Keywords

Julian of NorwichMelancholyRestorationAnti-CatholicismEnthusiasm
Type
Research Article
Information
British Catholic History , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , May 2017 , pp. 383 - 400
Copyright
© Trustees of the Catholic Record Society 2017. Published by Cambridge University Press 

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Footnotes

*

I am grateful to Gaby Mahlberg and Neil Murphy for reading a draft version of this article. I am also indebted to Howard Wickes for introducing me to Julian of Norwich many moons ago when I was an eager undergraduate. My thanks also to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and pertinent remarks.

References

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66 Ibid., 57–8.

67 Stillingfleet, A discourse concerning the idolatry practised in the Church of Rome, 244

68 Ibid., 248.

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70 Ibid., 324.

71 Ibid., 340.

72 Ibid., 260.

73 Edward Stillingfleet, A defence of the discourse concerning the idolatry practised in the Church of Rome in answer to a book entituled, Catholicks no idolators (London, 1676), sig. A4r.

74 Stillingfleet, A discourse concerning the idolatry practised in the Church of Rome, 258.