Just Finished Reading: The King and the Catholics – The Fight for Rights 1829 by Antonia Fraser (FP: 2018) [281pp] 

I remember, after reading the authors previous book on the Gunpowder Plot, how shocked I was at the treatment of Catholics in England after that event. Some of it I knew in passing – for example the fact that (until VERY recently) a British monarch could not marry a Catholic – but most of it came as somewhere between a surprise and a shock. The author goes into a LOT more detail in this often-fascinating book. 

Starting with the infamous Gordon Riots of 1780 (immortalised in Barnaby Rudge by Dickens) brought on by the Catholic Relief Act which incidentally caused property damage in London not surpassed till the Blitz in the 1940’s, the author follows the arguments for and the protests against the idea that Catholics in England should be treated as normal citizens rather than being automatically suspected of being (at the very least potential) traitors to the State. It was long believed (at least by some) that English Catholics had divided loyalties and when there was a conflict between State and Pope that the Pope would always prevail. No protestations of loyalty or even acts proving such counted for much – religion trumped all other interests. In the first quarter of the 19th century a Catholic could not sit in the House of Lords (despite being a Lord), could not be elected as a Member of Parliament, could not be an officer commanding men in battle [I’m not sure how low in rank this went and certainly rank and file Catholics were accepted as long as they were under English Protestant command], Catholic priests could not openly celebrate Mass nor (legally) perform marriages [Side Note: It was long the process that a Catholic marriage had to be registered officially – for a time TWO marriage services had to be performed, one Catholic and one Church of England. As far as I know my parents had to be registered separately as married AFTER they were actually married in a Catholic ceremony. I understand that in these more enlightened times a registrar attends the Catholic ceremony so that the legality of the marriage is assured without the need of anything further], nor were Catholic schools allowed and SO much more. Catholics, even high-ranking ones, were almost second-class citizens and, as far as I know, there was talk/proposals to make Catholics wear distinctive clothing or something obvious to recognise them in public (all the better to discriminate against them – naturally). Oh, and I almost forgot, religious symbols like the Cross could not be displayed or even imported into the country. 

Things were somewhat different in Ireland (not yet independent or partitioned) and there was a LONG running perception of the ‘Irish Problem’ which had strong links naturally to the ‘Catholic Problem’. It was at least technically possible to elect a Catholic MP in Ireland although it was considered highly unlikely with Protestant landowners essentially running things. But it was such an MP, in the guise of Daniel O’Connell, who finally forced the dam to break resulting in the Act of 1829. Of course, he didn’t do this himself despite being a consummate political operator. The tide was, slowly, moving in the direction of Catholic emancipation (which was believed would lead to ever growing emancipation in other areas – which it did) for a whole host of reasons – many of which hadn’t crossed my mind until the author pointed them out. It’s possible that forces within England and the rest of Europe, indeed in what could later be called the ‘West’ meant that all citizens of all religious affiliations would eventually have been treated equally but things would have moved much slower if a number of very had working and persuasive people had not made herculean efforts to make it so. 

Told with exhaustive (but not exhausting) detail this was an absorbing insight into early 19th century British politics which was in the process of modernising itself to more closely reflect the modern age into which it was moving. I really had no idea just how difficult it was being a Catholic before 1829 and it was really enlightening to discover this aspect of my nominal faith. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in British and Irish history or in the confluence of religion and politics.