Shee deals in Popish Books:’ Early Modern English Women and the Transnational Distribution of Illicit Catholic Books

This paper focuses on the involvement of women in the transnational distribution of illicit Catholic texts in early modern England. Books were an essential devotional tool for early modern English Catholics. In an era in which the practice of Catholicism was officially criminalised by the state, and many did not have access to a priest, and English Catholics relied on religious texts for solace and daily instruction. These books, largely smuggled into England from the Continent, provided English Catholics with a link to the wider Catholic world, and allowed for the transfer of the intellectual, theological and spiritual ideas of the Catholic Reformation, from its centres in mainland Europe, to its peripheries in England. Such books on English soil could provoke religious discussion, and even conversion among English subjects. The transnational circulation of Catholic texts thus became an integral part of the English Mission, and it was something in which women played a vital role. 

The circulation of these texts relied on a complex network of individuals located on either side of the Channel, and English Catholic women made use of their connections within the extended international network of English Catholics to source, import and distribute religious books. By doing so these women were able to aid in the preservation of their community and to also help in its growth. English Catholic women spread these texts in a variety of ways, by smuggling, selling and delivering them, and also by using them in the proselytization of their peers. This paper will discuss the multitude of ways early modern English Catholic women sought to contribute to the English Mission through the distribution of Catholic books. 

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