Faith of Our Fathers: A History of True England

by Joseph Pearce

The Catholic Church has been a part of English history since the arrival of Christian missionaries to Roman Britain in the first century AD. England was evangelized in these early centuries to such an extent that, by the time the Romans withdrew in the fifth century, the Celtic population was largely Catholic.

Anglo-Saxon England has rightly been considered a land of saints. From St. Bede's account of the history of the early Church to the reign of the holy king, St. Edward the Confessor, Saxon England was ablaze with the light of Christ.

This Catholic heart was ripped from the people of England, against their will and in spite of their heroic resistance, by the reign of the tyrannical Tudors. This made England once again a land of saints, though it was now a land of martyrs, Catholic priests and laity being put to death for practicing the Faith. The martyrdoms continued for 150 years, followed by a further 150 years of legal and political persecution.

In the nineteenth century, against all the odds, there was a great Catholic revival, heralded by the conversion of St. John Henry Newman, which would continue into the twentieth century. Much of the greatest literature of the past century has been written by literary converts, such as G. K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene and J. R. R. Tolkien.

This whole exciting, faith-filled story is told within this single-volume history of "true England", the England which remained true to the Faith through thick and thin, in times both merry and perilous. It is a story which is not only worth telling but worth celebrating.

Genres: History, Catholic, Church History, Religion, Nonfiction, Christian

384 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author with this name on GR

Joseph Pearce (born 1961) is an English-born writer, and as of 2004 Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida; previously he had a comparable position, from 2001, at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is known for a number of literary biographies, many of Catholic figures. Formerly aligned with the National Front, a white nationalist political party, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1989, repudiated his earlier views, and now writes from a Catholic perspective. He is a co-editor of the St. Austin Review and editor-in-chief of Sapientia Press.

Reviews

[Fonch · Rating 5 out of 5]

REVIEW OF THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. By Joseph Pearce.
Ladies and gentlemen as I promised you now I write the review of what for me at the moment is the best non-fiction book of the year surpassing "It gets late, and dusk" by Cardinal Robert Sarah https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., and "An Amendment to the Totality" " of my most admired Juan Manuel de Prada https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... @bibliothecahomolegens. It's no surprise that this book was in the lead. Of the living writers there are three or four for whom I feel something akin to veneration. One of them is Juan Manuel de Prada, another is my admired Manuel Alfonseca (the Professor) https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... Another could be my friend the white blackbird @jorgesaezcriado https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and although I am not very quota if you want to get my attention write good books, but to quote a woman I will mention two @martalujanescritora https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/series/3304... (by the way, this month she publishes a novel in Uzanza, and I highly recommend her) and the Japanese writer Miyuki Miyabe https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... (edited by @quaterni_editorial ). But if there is a writer who has been decisive in my life it has been @jpearce_official and his book "Converted Writers in an Age of Unbelief" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... edited by @ignatius_press and @palabraes is with the exception of the Bible https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... It's the most important book I've ever read. I wouldn't be lying if I said it's one of the five most important books in my life. It's no surprise that he considers "The Faith of Our Fathers" (for now) to be the best nonfiction read to date. In this book Joseph Pearce tells us not about the history of England, but about Catholicism in England. That is why there will be some events that he does not talk about. I missed the 100 Years' War, or the War of the Roses (for example). But to be honest, these facts have not influenced the Catholicism of the English people. It is true that Joseph Pearce is conditioned by the sources, and in the first chapters of this book history, and legend go hand in hand (remember that according to J.R.R. Tolkien https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... myths are not lies, and that there are true myths that is why it is as important to know the legend as the facts). Being so dark everything does not contribute as much as we would like. However, it has a great success, and that is to begin this story with the arrival of Saint Joseph of Arimathea to the island. I don't know the ancient history of England, but I can tell you what happens. We knew them as the Island of Cassiterides because of the tin. He ignored when it was settled, but everything is clearer when from the culture of Halstat, and La Tene come the Celts, who would stay until the first meeting of Rome with them when Caesar fights Cassivelanus, and then the reigns of Claudius, Nero, and Vespasian, when the island passes to Roman power with the defeats of Caractaco (although it is not historical since Shakespeare dramatized the life of Cymbeline the father of Caractacos). There are legends about the possibility that the sons of Caractaco the Siluros had converted to Catholicism. However with Pearce there is some evidence although it seems that the story of St. Alban the English saint could have occurred at the time of Emperor Diocletian it sounds to me that Pearce could have advanced it to the time of Septimius Severus. I liked that he played the Arthurian theme very helped by Charles A. Coulombe https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (who by the way looks a lot like my dear, and admired Don Juan Manuel de Prada) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... . I would have liked him to have touched on a subject that has provided me with many tasteless due to the current fiction that tends to present us with a pagan, heretical Arthur, or in the worst case as an antichrist on earth as Bernard Cornwell does https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/series/2505..., and that was refuted in the criticism he made of "The Druid" by Steven A. McKay https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... demonstrating the Catholicism of St. Illyud. If Arthur had been a pagan, a Pelagian, or an Arian, St. Gildas would never have put him as a model in his writings. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... .
All in all it is reaching the Saxons and the Middle Ages, and each chapter is better than the previous one (we learn of the second evangelization carried out by St. Augustine of Canterbury. We become familiar with the stories of the holy kings from Alfred, Edwin, or St. Edward the Confessor. We see the importance of the synod of Whitby, the immense work of St. Bede the Venerable https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., the making of the Beowulf https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5.... In the Middle Ages Joseph Pearce has broken the myth that I had of the idyllic condition of the Church with the Normans, showing that it was a hard period with William II, Henry I, and Henry II with the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket in 1170. I liked that he spoke of Lanfranco, and of the Norman bishops, and Saxons alike (it collects the different visions that J.R.R. Tolkien had being critical of the conquest of England by the Normans, while for Hilaire Belloc https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... it was the union of relations between England, and Europe. It has taught me the importance of the reign of Richard II. A reign, which despite the praise of G.K. Chesterton https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... me because of John Wyclif https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... and the revolts of Wat Tyler, and John Ball I had seen as a period of decline, and instability. But thanks to Pearce we know that at that time England was consecrated to the Virgin Mary.
But it is above all from the Tudors showing us is the Stalinism of Henry VIII (in this he coincides with C.J. Sansom https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...), the bloody reign of Elizabeth I so different from the vision of Ken Follet https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... , and Shekar Kapur (he goes over all the martyrdoms, and the trail of blood left by those reigns). I have been particularly interested in his vision of the seventeenth century, and eighteenth (especially the eighteenth century) because it was what I knew least. The nineteenth century tells us Newman's catholic revival to our ideas. Those who have read "The Converted Writers in an Age of Unbelief" may feel that they are experiencing a Deja Vú, but I like it so much that I do not mind that Joseph Pearce tells us again, because like good stories one does not get tired of hearing them (read them in this case), and each time tells it better. The last three chapters of "The faith of our Fathers" are perfect, from the last converts, the return of the Queen (I won't say who she is, but every Catholic knows who she is), and the final Narnian epilogue is beautiful. It is a book that goes from less to more. It does not matter that it mixes legend, and fiction since legends are myths, and serve to tell what we do not know. It is a book that should be in any library whether urban, rural, college, or university (in fact, this book should be in the Faculty of Philosophy, and Letters). Pearce despite not being an extraordinary historian, and during the reading of his book I have not found a single error. Not even in the battle of Tours, which for us is that of Poitiers. His book can be considered as a great exercise of interdisciplinarity in this case of literature with History as Anale de Lefebvre taught us, and Marc Bloch https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... whose approach I distrust, but I do agree not to discard the contributions of disciplines other than History.
I must confess to the users of Goodreads, that I was so eager to read, and to own this book, that I bought it in English (you know that due to my inability with languages most of my readings are in Spanish). The only reproach I can make to this beautiful incunabulum is that, although Joseph Pearce has included bibliography in the footnotes. I would have liked him to have had a bibliographic index at the end of the book (if he manages to edit it into Spanish he begged him to include it). If you are an Anglophile, and you love the real England, this book cannot be missing from your library. In fact, it should be in all the libraries of the colleges, and universities. It only remains for me to unite and exhort that one day we may see the Return of the Queen, and the return of Catholicism. But I am pessimistic because of the low birth rate, and the very strong Muslim population in England. I hope @jpearce_official this one right, and I don't. I would particularly like to send you "Shakespeare's Censor" by Federico Trillo-Figueroa https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6.... I am sure Mr Pearce would have loved to write it. Even though I don't understand Spanish, I would like to be able to send it to you. My note for "The faith of our fathers" is (5/5) PS. Despite being in English, I was able to understand the vast majority of what I wrote. Pearce's English is for its totally angelic beauty.

[Michael Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd read only a few articles by Mr. Pearce in the past, and I found this newest book riveting, inspiring and terribly tragic. The story of England's embattled, persecuted and ultimately vindicated Catholic minority is both horrifying and instructive, and as someone with ancestors on both sides of this conflict I was frequently left wondering at the way things might otherwise have gone. Mr. Pearce does a splendid job of clearing away the false narratives created and propagated by the first totalitarian regime in western Europe -- Tudor England -- to show the heroic but heartbreaking reality. Well done, sir.

[Kaycee Monnens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible volume, and a great way to spend a week sick. Joseph Pearce pulls so many references, authors, and quotes together for a total experience.

We are truly indebted to the martyrs of England, who recognized that the beauty, truth and goodness of the mass was worth dying for. Of course, the book encompasses the entirety of Catholic history in England, but this period stands out the most. The literary revival (which included GK Chesterton) was a second most interesting period for me!

[Almachius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what is needed. Get this onto your bookshelf now, and read it to your teenager.

[Jacob Florez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Paul A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Filled in so many gaps left wide open during history classes at a Catholic High School in the 1980s. Thank you Mr. Pearce.

[Marie Brousseau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend Joseph Pearce's book: "Faith of Our Fathers: A History of True England", published by Ignatius Press. Learn about England's Catholic history, from the first Christian missionaries in the first century after Christ, all the way to the persecution of Catholics under the Tudor years and the revival of Catholicism in the 19th century, thanks in part to St. John Henry Newman's conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism. 5 Stars.

[Jeffrey A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this while visiting England and it added depth to the Catholic history, events and figures of “Our Lady’s Dowery.” Many great Saints and martyrs as well as unbelievable perseverance of ordinary lay Catholics and parish priests to preserve the faith through 300 years or more of intense persecution and attempted extermination. To finally emerge in the 19th century free of the oppressive laws against the Catholic Church and its liturgies and artwork. And celebrated by many famous literary converts. Easy to read yet well cited with sources.

[Lucas Sipe · Rating 3 out of 5]

What to make of a history that is more concerned with how things ought to have been than with how things necessarily were? That isn't a bad thing, as I think Pearce hits at something crucial and missing in today's historical scene. The facts of history don't matter as much as the truth they represent and Pearce hits at that when he talks about "True" England, as a land of faith, Marian devotion, and people willing to die for their faith. Sure, there might have been traitors, terrible people, and other blemishes, but Pearce recounts the history of how England was at its best and how great it really was. There really is a nostalgia for Merrie England. At the same time, however, Pearce often goes overboard and I think loses the thread. It's one thing to demonstrate the great love England had for the faith, but it's quite another to never address any legitimate questions about the extent to which that "True" England existed. Pearce would respond that I'm too concerned with, what he calls "subjecting the broader truth to a narrow minded understanding of the facts." Maybe he's right, but I think it's dubious to suggest that the characters depicted in Chaucer actually prove how true Merrie England was. It's dubious that every criticism of the church, such as peasant revolts against their landlords/ masters, are always pointed to a criticism of the government and aristocracy (even though later in the narrative, it's the aristocracy who are taking the land from the Church). Not to say Pearce is incorrect, but he's doing a lot of work to make True England more real than it might be. Later in the work, he references Platonic forms and I think that fits the story much better than his attempt to make "True" England historically real like he does earlier in the work.
There's also quite a few moments of reckless speculation that aren't ever explained so they remain speculation. For example, Pearce quotes a source about reporting on Catholics in the era after Henry VIII and then says suggests that as a result of that direct quote, new laws or legislation are put into place. He might be right but I find such claims to be crazy to make and unneeded. It's like a high schooler trying to make his paper more interesting. But the majority of the work is solid and provides an interesting account of the period of Christian England. (Although his more than a few "modern historians refuse to publish this" are brought into doubt when looking at even Wikipedia. Mary, Queen before Elizabeth, is a good example. The Wikipedia Page on her is pretty flattering and not at all propaganda, even if it's not as flowery as Pearce might like."
In the final analyses, this is a good work but highlights the flaws with a lot of apologetics (this might not even be one). The main audience for them isn't the opposition but those who already agree with the position. I still enjoyed large chunks of the work. Also, it's funny for a book about Catholic England, he ends the Epilogue recounting basically only C. S. Lewis.

[Thomas Colsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I've ever read I give 10/10. The caveat is to fully enjoy or appreciate it, you need a passionate interest in either the Faith or Anglia. It helps if you have both.

CS Lewis was converted, as Pearce notes at the end, by arguments with JRR Tolkien and– crucially for us– GK Chesterton's Everlasting Man. Of which he said:

"Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense."

Ergo, don't underestimate the power of historiography. As Pearce notes in the rather superb prologue, metaphysically and intellectually, we know who we are only via the past in this reality.

I'm a (cultural) Anglican > Traditional Catholic convert. I wouldn't regard myself historically illiterate either. But Pearce's enchanting history brings you closer to the true soul of Albion and Anglia. To Arthur, Alfred, Becket, the monasteries, the martyrs, and the great Victorian and Edwardian converts.

The Reformation is simultaneously more infuriatingly scandalous than I thought, as the Merrie England of old is more transfigured than I imagined. As Pearce explains the unexplainable, it is a trace and reflection of the divine light and a platonic form of the world that awaits the faithful with the bridegroom in the world beyond.

There is a powerful Faith which lays dormant in England. Our ancestors were more faithful than both. Like the relics and statues at Durham Cathedral, they have been buried– not obliterated. And we await the Return of the Queen, as Pearce so poetically puts it.

This is a must read. It will convert plenty who love England and love Christ. And Pearce shall join his heroes Belloc and Chesterton as a jolly Englishman who has made his contribution to the revival of the faith in his beloved gifted home in this life.

Our Lady of Walsingham, opn.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent Catholic history of England. As an American it gave me a better understanding of how the "greatest hits" of British history we get in our general education fit together. Further, it integrates the social and political movements in the country to give a fully-rounded picture of what life was like going from paganism to Catholicism to Anglicanism, and the struggles that accompanied each transition. It lost a star because I sometimes lost track of the chronology of the book, when the author would jump ahead or back to certain figures in the narrative, which was sometimes confusing. But that is a minor quibble on an otherwise magnificent work.

[ltcomdata · Rating 3 out of 5]

A popular history of the Catholic faith in England, from its beginnings to modern times. It is a good counterbalance to the Anglophile histories that tend to overlook the disgraceful way in which Catholics were treated during the English reformation and for much longer afterwards. The book gave me a wealth of references to continue my reading on this subject.

[Joseph Streight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much I didn’t know about English Catholic history. I also learned how much I wasn’t taught or was taught wrong. I had no idea how awful Elizabeth I was to Catholics. I was told that she instituted tolerance but that wasn’t the case at all. The book does leave me with a lot of hope for Catholicism in England though!

[John Heid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every once in a while I come across a book that almost seems like God ordained it to be written specifically for my tastes. This is one of those books. As an Anglophile of English descent, and a Catholic, I absolutely loved this history of Catholicism in England.

[Maximilian · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book.