The complex period under discussion in this pioneering research by Dr Scholastica Jacob is one that has received very little attention from historians to date, and the study is to be welcomed particularly as the author has a profound understanding of Benedictine life. Dr Jacob sets out the arrival and gradual acceptance of the Benedictine convents in nineteenth-century England. She describes it as ‘a forced repatriation’, a phrase which immediately draws attention to some of the key problems faced by the English communities (both men and women) who were driven from the continent by the French Revolution and associated wars, arriving in a country whose welcome was by no means certain. Between 1794 and 1795, most of the exiled communities of English women religious left their convents because of the dangerous conditions they were experiencing. The big question raised in this book concerns their reception in England. It was nearly 200 years after individuals seeking the religious life had to go into exile in order to establish convents for English women on the continent. At the end of the eighteenth century, had conditions in the mother country changed sufficiently to welcome the refugees from the continent or even tolerate their presence? Many of the members of the Benedictine communities had family members living in England, but they still faced many problems in becoming settled. Dr Jacob graphically describes the complex challenges they faced – first in finding suitable lodgings and the means of supporting themselves financially – whilst at the same time trying to follow the central pillars of the Benedictine Rule: wearing the religious habit (currently forbidden), monastic enclosure (impossible in a secular building) and the horarium – the daily office, reading and prayer while also negotiating domestic premises and earning their keep. As Jacob points out in the early years 1795−1810, the nuns’ energies were centred solely on survival. A number of their members were elderly and had suffered serious privations on the journey, which had damaged their health; yet still they faced public hostility in some places. They also faced government controls on their activities: for instance, they were not allowed to accept new members in the early years.

Long-term survival was a real issue as they faced these difficulties: were they as severe as those faced by the founders in the early years on the continent? This is the key question of Jacob’s thesis and this book. If they were managing to find accommodation, some financial support, enough to eat and gradually add elements of the religious life, should the period up to 1840 really be called ‘a second exile’? The British government had already passed a series of measures reducing the penalties for lay Catholics in 1788, 1791 and 1793. The anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in 1780, however, had clearly shown how precarious peaceful co-existence might be. Although a few measures that assisted the recently returned nuns were passed, it was not until 1829 that Catholic Emancipation was secured. It would have been worthwhile extending the discussion about ‘refugee’ and ‘exile’ here to add weight to the argument about the severity of the problems faced and to reinforce the concept of experiencing a second exile. The Benedictines were not alone. Evidence surviving from other English communities expresses strong views regarding the challenges of their arrival in England and shows how much they missed their former homes. Although in exile, membership remained predominantly English – they had built strong connections in the areas surrounding their convents. Landing in England did not seem to them to be a homecoming; even after Emancipation in 1829, many still felt displaced. After all, they had left substantial purpose-built properties created since their foundation: many were still recruiting successfully at the end of the eighteenth century, and they had effective schools as well as other sources of income. Culturally, Jacob argues, the English communities belonged to continental Catholicism, which itself aroused some suspicion in England, even though many sympathized with them over their experiences in France and their treatment by revolutionary governments. Some in England even hoped that the convents would quietly disappear if recruitment was forbidden. Over time, the Benedictines persevered. Although running schools did create tensions for those attempting to reintroduce elements of Benedictine religious life, the schools still served a number of functions, not least to connect the nuns more closely to Catholic families with daughters, to attract future members once this was allowed and to raise funds. Jacob argues that the period before 1840 can be seen as a ‘bridge’ to a position whereby the Benedictines were able to grow sufficiently to influence future developments in religious life in England and influence the growth of the active congregations in the later nineteenth century.

The complexity of the period before 1840 as discussed by Dr Jacob leads me to one criticism of this book – that is her frequent use of the word ‘exile’ or ‘second exile’ to define the period in the text with too little further discussion of her understanding of its meaning. The terms were certainly used by contemporaries comparing the challenges and the negative responses to their presence in England after 1794/5 with their sense of exclusion from England at the end of the sixteenth century. Some communities felt unease so strongly that they returned to the continent: for instance, the Augustinians from Bruges voted as a community to return to their home during the truce reached at Amiens in 1802 and remain there to this day; some Poor Clares attempted a return to Gravelines at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and the Augustinian Canonesses from Paris only left the city following the secularization laws at the start of the twentieth century. Jacob’s argument is that for the members of the community whose lives continued to be governed by restrictions in the early years – for instance, on what they were allowed to wear, what they were allowed to do and being prevented from professing new members – it did indeed seem like a second exile in a country where they did not belong. However, using the label too frequently runs the danger of oversimplifying her argument.

The chapters on Benedictine religious life in the new convents in England covering devotional practices, reading, lectio divina and study are of particular interest to general readers and scholars alike. Dr Jacob’s careful explanations and analysis reveal the depth of her knowledge and understanding of Benedictine religious life in a period of real complexity and substantive change and challenge. She demonstrates how the Benedictine communities, in spite of the hardships they faced, gradually regained equilibrium by adopting new practices as well as reviving old, and in turn influenced the apostolic orders for women in nineteenth-century England. Their very presence contributed to the Second Spring. In doing so, Jacobs adds nuance to the arguments of those historians who have written about the apostolic congregations and contributes significantly to the history of religious life for English women in the nineteenth century.