Britain And The Papacy In The Age Of Revolution, 1846-1851 (royal Historical Society Studies In History New Series)
by Saho Matsumoto-Best /
2003 / English / PDF
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From the time of the Reformation Anglo-Vatican relations have
typically been seen as a long history of unending antagonism and
mutual suspicion, but this has not always been the case. This book
sheds light on one of the most curious episodes in early Victorian
history when, around the time of the 1848 revolutions in Europe, a
rapprochement almost developed between Britain and the papacy, and
British politicians and writers referred to the new head of the
Catholic Church, Pius IX, as 'the good pope'.Integrating
diplomatic, political, ecclesiastical and social history, Saho
Matsumoto-Best traces the factors that brought these two
traditionally hostile powers together and the reasons why this
rapprochement was doomed to failure. She demonstrates how the
desire to support constitutional government in Italy and to curb
the activities of the Irish Catholic church led the government of
Lord John Russell to build a close relationship with Pius IX, and
how failure to understand the Vatican's priorities and anti-papal
and anti-Catholic feeling in Britain, particularly in the context
of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in 1850, eventually
destroyed this policy.BR>This study is an important and original
contribution to the current debate about the nature of mid
nineteenth century-Britain and sheds new light on the British role
in Italian unification. It will also be of great interest to
students of nineteenth-century European international and
ecclesiastical history, and of the 1848 revolutions.
From the time of the Reformation Anglo-Vatican relations have
typically been seen as a long history of unending antagonism and
mutual suspicion, but this has not always been the case. This book
sheds light on one of the most curious episodes in early Victorian
history when, around the time of the 1848 revolutions in Europe, a
rapprochement almost developed between Britain and the papacy, and
British politicians and writers referred to the new head of the
Catholic Church, Pius IX, as 'the good pope'.Integrating
diplomatic, political, ecclesiastical and social history, Saho
Matsumoto-Best traces the factors that brought these two
traditionally hostile powers together and the reasons why this
rapprochement was doomed to failure. She demonstrates how the
desire to support constitutional government in Italy and to curb
the activities of the Irish Catholic church led the government of
Lord John Russell to build a close relationship with Pius IX, and
how failure to understand the Vatican's priorities and anti-papal
and anti-Catholic feeling in Britain, particularly in the context
of the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in 1850, eventually
destroyed this policy.BR>This study is an important and original
contribution to the current debate about the nature of mid
nineteenth century-Britain and sheds new light on the British role
in Italian unification. It will also be of great interest to
students of nineteenth-century European international and
ecclesiastical history, and of the 1848 revolutions.