The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest

A strange little book this: one of the very early examples of an autobiography, written by an English Jesuit priest at the beginning of the seventeenth century. It's only about two hundred pages long, but it's packed full with the event of an extraordinary life, much of it spent in covert work as a Catholic missionary in England under the reign of Elizabeth I. It's one of the few, if not the only, complete first-hand accounts we possess of that world; an account which is made even more interesting by the fact that Gerard was involved, at least tangentially, in the infamous Gunpowder Plot. Fascinating primary source material, and really worth dipping in to if you have an interest in the religious and social history of the period

After the pope declared Elizabeth I of England illegitimate in 1570 and released her subjects from obedience to her, several conspiracies threatened her life, all of which were defeated with the help of her ministers' secret service. Agents in the field were the ardent pursuivants, a new word to me I actually first learned on recently reading Sea Changes: British Emigration and American Literature. Not covered in their Wikipedia article, in Elizabethan England they chased around secret priests and sought out their artfully constructed hiding places in the homes of well-heeled protectors. Once caught, these were interred, tortured, and often martyred. 2 of the 3 happened to the author here, including imprisonment in The Tower as The show more Clink. (I didn't there was one, so this adds to my etymological knowledge, too.)

Active during the final period of Elizabeth's reign, John Gerard (1564-1637) was an English Jesuit priest, operating covertly in England where the Catholic Church was subject to persecution. He successfully hid from the English authorities for eight years before his capture, endured torture, escaped from the Tower of London by rope and boat and continued his covert mission. This is a rare, first-hand account of the deadly cloak-and-dagger world of a Catholic priest in Elizabethan England that would make for a great movie! show less

Points of interest:
Fr Gerard taught people to go to communion weekly.
William Wiseman in his book emphasised value of Devotion.
Priests in the Pale said "it was lawful to fight against the Catholic Faction, [ie Hugh O'Neill] because no one had seemed at all clear why they had taken up arms."
Person's Spiritual Directory, published 1581, had largest sale of any English spiritual work in its day. 12 Protestant editions came out before 1600.
In all prisons it seemed easy to have visitors and presents and quite possible to escape. Prisoners communicated with each other quite freely. [Presumably Government could not afford reliable jailors.]

Extraordinarily well translated and quite gripping to read. Beyond praise.