Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/604

 WALSH

542

WALSINGHAM

sent by his Protestant mother to the grammar school at St. Albans. Through his uncle, a priest of the London District, who obtained his admission to the college of St. Omer, his faith was saved. He shared in the imprisonment at Dourlens, and then continued his studies at Old Hall Green, where he was confirmed on 19 December, 1795. When Dr. Stapleton was made Vicar Apostohc of the Midland District, he took Walsh, then deacon, as secretary (1801). Walsh con- tinued with Bishop Milner as chaplain and missioner at Longbirch until October, 1804, when he was sent to Sedgley Park School as spiritual father. In 1808 he went to Oscott as vice-president and spiritual father and later he became president (1818-26). On 1 May, 1825, he was consecrated titular Bishop of Cam- by sopoUs, as coadjutor to Bishoj) Milner, whom he succeeded as vicar Apostohc on 19 April, 1826. His rule of the district was marked by great progress, both spiritual and material. The College of St. Rlary, Oscott, the two cathedrals of Birmingham and Not- tingham, besides numerous churches and religious foundations, bear witness to the greatness of his ideals and his unwavering faith. From July, 1840, his juris- diction was over the newly-constituted Central Dis- trict; and on 28 July, 1848, he was translated to the London District, against his o^vn desire. But he was too old and infirm to take any active part in its affairs, and he left its administration in the hands of his coadjutor, Bishop Wiseman. Cardinal Barnabo re- ported the resolve of Propaganda that Walsh should be the first metropohtan of the new hierarchy, in the words "Whether hving or dying he shall be the first Archbishop", but death prevented the fulfilment. He is buried in St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham.

Weedall, Funeral Discourse (London. 1S49|: Br,\dy, Epi.-^copal Succession (Rome, 1876-77); Ward, History of St. Edmund's Col- lege (London. 1893); Hcsenbeth, Life of Milner (Dublin. 1S62); Idem, Life of Weedall (London, 1860).

J. L. Whitfield.

Walsh, William, Bishop of Meath, Ireland (1554- 77); b. at Dunboyne, Co. Meath, about 1512; d. at Alcald de Henares, 4 Jan., 1577. He joined the Cistercians at Bective, Co. Meath, and being sent to study at Oxford took a doctor's degree in divinity either there or elsewhere. The suppression of relig- ious houses must have driven him from Oxford in 1536, and the confiscation of Bective in 1537 left him homeless. Going abroad, he became chaplain to Cardinal Pole at Rome. It was now probably that by papal dispensation he exchanged into the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, and was made prior of their suppressed monasteries of Duleek and Colpe. Walsh returned when Pole came as legate to England, for in 1554 he was in the Irish commission for depriving married clergy. Staples, Bishop of Meath, being thus deprived, Walsh, already nominated by the Crown, was appointed by the legate, IS Oct., 1554, subject to seeking papal confirmation within twelve months. He assumed his charge immediately, retaining, as the see was impoverished, the rectory of Loughsewdy and his priories. Henceforward he was busied in eccle- siastical and civil affairs, and the Government em- ployed him in many commissions until the second year of Queen Elizabeth. But when she introduced a Protestant liturgy into Ireland, Walsh resisted strenu- ously in Convocation, and preached at Trim against the Book of Common Prayer. On 4 Feb., 1560, he refused the oath of supremacy, was deprived of his temporalities, and by the Queen's order committed to custody. Divested of royal favour and withdrawn from secular afTairs, he recalled the condition of his appointment, and when released, some eighteen months later, he submitted his case at Rome. In consistory held 6 Sept., 1564, the legate's provision was declared void, and the pope, in the circumstances, reappointed Dr. Walsh. About the time when this would have become known in Ireland, Walsh was cited

before the Ecclesiastical Commission, and on refusing the oath of supremacy or to answer interrogatories, was committed to Dublin Castle, 13 July, 1565.

Loftus, the Protestant primate, advised his removal to England that the learned bishops there might win him to conformity; he was, he said, of great credit among his countrymen, who depended whoUy on him in religious concerns. Nevertheless he was left in Dublin, and lay fettered in a dark and filthy cell imtil Christmas, 1572, when his friends contrived his escape to Nantes in Brittany. After six montlis of destitu- tion he was aided by the nuncio in France to proceed to Spain. He reached ^\lca!a almost moribund through privations, fatigues, and festering wounds from his fetters, and was first received in the house of a pious lady, who herself dressed his sores and nursed him with tender sohcitude. Afterwards he removed to the Cistercian convent and expired among his former brethren, esteemed a martjT of the Faith. He was buried in the Church of St. Secundinus and the Bishop of Grenada erected a monument to his memory.

Brady, Episcopal Succession in Great Britain and Ireland (Rome, 1876-77); O'Reilly, Memorials of those who suffered for the Catholic Faith in Ireland (London, 186S); Moran, Cath- olic Archbishops of Dublin (Dublin, 1SG4): Cogan, Diocese of Meath (Dublin, 1862).

Charles McNeill.

Walsingham, Thomas, Benedictine historian, d. about 1422. He is supposed to liave been a native of Walsingham, Norfolk, England; he was educated at St. Albans Abbe}', and having become a monk there was made precentor and placed in charge of the scriptorium. Little is known of his life beyond his historical work and the fact that in 1394 he was made superior of the dependent priory of WjTnondham, where he remained until 1409, when he returned to St. Albans.

Six chronicles have been assigned to him: (1) "Chronica Majora", now lost, but which was written before 1388 and was well known at that date as a work of reference. (2) "Chronicon AngUa?", cover- ing the years 1328 to 1388. In this work the actions and character of John of Gaunt, the father of Henry IV, are somewhat severely criticised. It was pub- lished in the Rolls Series in 1874 (ed. Thompson).

(3) The "Gesta Abbatum" of St. Albans Abbey, compiled between 1390 and 1394. The earlier por- tions of this record were taken largely from Matthew Paris. Also published in the RoUs Series, lSt)7-69.

(4) A chronicle of St. Albans, compiled about 1393, the original manuscript of which is in the British Museum. This covers the years 1272 to 1393, and incorporates the previous clironiclcs of Matthew of Westminster and others. Up to the year 1369 its text agrees with the "Chronicon Angliae" (no. 2 above), but after that date it varies considerably, chiefly in the way of toning down the aspersions on the character of John of Gaunt. It is supposed that on the accession of Henry IV the monks suppressed the earlier chronicle, being afraid of the consequences of the attacks contained in it on the king's father, and that this work was written to take its place.

(5) "Historia Anghcana", also called "Historia Brevis" by earlier writers. It co\-ers the years 1272 to 1422. Some authorities are of opinion that only the portion extending from 1377 to 1392 was Walsing- ham's own work, basing their view on the fact that one MS. of the history terminates at the latter year, and also because after that date, in the other manu- scripts, the narrative is not so full and s.ati.sfactory .as the earlier portions. Professor Gairdner contro- verts this theory, holding that the defects of the later portions are suflicicntly explained by the author's removal to Wymondham in 1394. The style of the writer, he maintains, is the same throughout the entire work. Printed in the Rolls Series in 1863, ed. Riley. (6) "Ypodigma Ncustrix", a compilation