Radical Poverty: The Capuchins and Catholicism in Britain, 1850-2022

This incisive work offers the first comprehensive analysis of the history of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in Britain. Drawing on previously closed archives, this book dives into their origins and their presence in Britain as missionaries between the Reformation and the French Revolution. It then explores the establishment of a permanent province from the 1850s onward. Using manuscripts, letters, diaries, logbooks, mission reports, and unpublished accounts, this book explores how the Capuchin archives bring new perspective on a range of important historical moments, including nineteenth century anti-Catholicism, Catholic emancipation and the rebuilding of Catholicism in Britain, both World Wars, the impact of Vatican II, and the decline of the religious orders in Britain in recent decades.