Recusant Readership and the Library of Catherine of Braganza

Professor Dorothy Kim & Nicholas Hoffman ‘14 

Catherine of Braganza is seldom discussed both within and outside of the academic sphere. An Infanta of Portugal, she is usually mentioned in the context of her marriage to Charles II of England, and a poor, often neglectful marriage it was. However, a closer analysis of her life reveals a rich history—of scandal, isolation, and recusant readership. A staunch Catholic, she was forced to navigate the complicated and often dangerous socio-political playing field of the English Restoration. During the hysteria of the Popish Plot, Titus Oates even accused her of being an agent of the Vatican sent to orchestrate the assassination of the King. In defiance of suggestions that she convert (or that Charles should divorce her or even have her kidnapped), she disregarded the volatility of her political status and commissioned the printing of numerous Catholic texts, in some cases at the expense of her printers who were arrested and thrown in prison for their dissension.

I had the privilege of working with Professor Dorothy Kim on evaluating and expanding upon a complete bibliography for Catherine, reading through each text in search for clues as to how she was able to publish and maintain this private library of what her public saw as “licentious” or “libelous” texts. I researched London printers, the migration of her private chapel between Whitehall and Somerset House, all mentions of her reading habits, her correspondence back home in Portugal, the various laws passed against her form of readership, and inventories of her goods (some of these sources only available in Portuguese) and delved into any mention of her religion. A majority of my time was spent poring over the Calendar of State Papers: Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles II—an exhaustive volume that chronicles all the internal affairs of Charles’ reign.

Using resources online and at the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California, significant headway has been made in the scholarship surrounding Catherine of Braganza. The endeavor was fruitful, revealing links between Catherine and various monasteries, both in England and on the Continent. One volume that can be traced back to her was discovered in Australia. In addition, the original bibliography of all texts that mention her has been greatly expanded.

by Samantha Smith (’14) and Malinda Kathleen Reese (’16)

This summer we worked with Professor Christine Howlett in Nansana, Uganda, collaborating with a Japanese organization called the Ashinaga Foundation, which helps orphans achieve higher education in Japan and Uganda. At their Ugandan location, Ashinaga has over 800 registered orphans, all of whom lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. In addition to providing psychological care and scholarships for everyone at Ashinaga Uganda, they also house the Terakoya School, a primary school for P1 to 4, and these were the kids that we saw everyday. “Madam” Christine, as the kids knew her, taught music to all 70 students in rotating groups, but we focused on 30 exceptional students who will ultimately meet with the Vassar College Choir in Tokyo in the spring of 2014 to workshop a show that will then make a world tour in the summer of 2015.

As Christine’s assistants, we worked with the students in class on perfecting their solfège (a teaching technique using hand symbols to represent pitch) and on learning several new songs. The repertoire included American, Hebrew, and South African folk songs as well as contemporary choral works. Most of our students also regularly train in traditional Ugandan dance, and they brought their love of movement into our classroom, creating a dance to every song or even adding gestures to accompany lyrics. In addition to getting to know all of the students at school, we accompanied the teachers and staff of Ashinaga on several home visits, where we would meet their families. This home visit system is a way for Ashinaga to ensure that the kids have as stable a home situation as possible, and for us it was a window into a completely different side of these kids’ lives.

The most moving thing about working with the students at Terakoya was seeing the sheer joy that they could find in any activity, whether it be school work, singing or dancing. Their dedication to performing their best and sharing that joy with others was a major catalyst behind the remarkable improvement that we saw in their pitch, listening skills, and vocal control in just three weeks.

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