Stratford Caldecott (26 November 1953 – 17 July 2014) was a Catholic author, editor, publisher, and blogger. His work spanned subjects as diverse as literature, education, theology, apologetics, economics, environmental stewardship, sacred geometry, art, and culture. His books include ''Secret Fire'', ''Radiance of Being'', ''Beauty for Truth's Sake'', ''All Things Made New'', and ''Not as the World Gives''. He was a founding editor of the online journal ''Humanum'' and a contributor for several online and print journals. He was inspired by the Catholic author

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

and became known as a

Tolkien scholar The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering many aspects of his High fantasy, fantasy writings. These encompass ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmarillion'', along with Tolkien's legendarium, his legendarium t ...

Early life and education

Stratford Caldecott was born in 1953, in London, England, to parents who had left South Africa in 1951. The family espoused no particular religious beliefs. As a child, he was sickly and bedridden, and developed a close relationship with his mother. His father was a publisher with

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, which fuelled Stratford's love of reading. He attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

. As a teenager he fell in love with America through his exposure to comic books, their portrayal of the fight between good and evil, and the theme of hope. Between Dulwich and university he went to America, earning money as a "mother's help", and stayed first with a family in New England before touring the continent by Greyhound bus. After a year, he attended

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

on scholarship and studied Philosophy and Psychology. Caldecott says that at the age of 14 he had what he terms "a philosophical insight" that there was more to the universe than matter and energy. His metaphysical samplings at Oxford led him to seek a religious tradition. Shortly after graduating, he became a member of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

. He later explored

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, and began a correspondence with the philosopher , author of numerous books on spirituality. After taking his degree, Caldecott pursued a career in publishing and education as a senior editor for the publishers

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, and T&T Clark. In 1977, he married fellow student Leonie Richards. The ceremony was held in an Anglican ceremony, in deference to her family. He and his wife had three daughters. Caldecott came to realize that the stories which had informed his early youth, those of

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

and the

Knights of the Round Table The Knights of the Round Table (, , ) are the legendary knights of the fellowship of King Arthur that first appeared in the Matter of Britain literature in the mid-12th century. The Knights are a chivalric order dedicated to ensuring the peace ...

, the Quest of the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

's ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...

'', and

's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' all reflected a Christian worldview. "All along, my imagination had been built on a Christian foundation, and I had never noticed it before. I knew now that in some sense, on some level, I was already a Christian." His reading then turned to

Étienne Gilson Étienne Henri Gilson (; 13 June 1884 – 19 September 1978) was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy. A scholar of medieval philosophy, he originally specialised in the thought of Descartes; he also philosophized in the tradition ...

Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aqui ...

and

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

. In 1980 he was baptised into the Catholic Church. This was not well received by his father, who viewed Catholicism as "worse than

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

Career

Caldecott taught a course called "Christianity and Society" at

Plater College Plater College was an adult education establishment which was based in Oxford, England. College history The college was founded in 1921 by Father Leo O'Hea, S.J. (1881–1976), director of the Catholic Social Guild, in memory of the Father Ch ...

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire ...

, Oxford. He was a G. K. Chesterton Research Fellow at

St Benet's Hall, Oxford St Benet's Hall (known colloquially as Benet's) was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Catholic church, Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed in 2022. The principal building was located at the ...

. His devotion to Chesterton led to his becoming something of an expert on him. He also served as a commissioning editor for the

Catholic Truth Society Catholic Truth Society (CTS) is a body that prints and publishes Catholic literature, including apologetics, prayerbooks, spiritual reading, and lives of saints. It is based in London, United Kingdom. The CTS had been founded in 1868 by Cardi ...

. From 2010, he and his wife Leonie served as co-editors of the UK and Ireland edition of ''Magnificat''.Jones, Kevin J., "Catholic cultural renewal advocate Stratford Caldecott mourned", ''Catholic News Agency'', 18 July 2014
/ref> He became the founding editor of the journal ''Humanum'', under the aegis of the Washington DC John Paul II Institute.

Centre for Faith & Culture

In 1994 the Caldecotts founded a research centre in Oxford called the Centre for Faith & Culture (CFC), associated with '' The Chesterton Review'' and the international review ''Communio''. Its newsletter, the ''Faith & Culture Bulletin'', was offered free of charge. The Oxford Centre was initially a partnership between

Westminster College, Oxford Westminster College, originally the Westminster Training College, was a teacher training college and college of higher education in England. The college was founded in London in 1851 as a training institute for teachers for Wesleyan Methodist ...

and the Edinburgh theological publishers T&T Clark. The two partners divided the costs between them, and the Centre's activities were equally divided between conferences and publications. Before long it also provided a home for the G. K. Chesterton Library created by Aidan Mackey. In 1998, after Westminster College was acquired by

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

, the CFC moved to

, maintaining its activities with partial support from T&T Clark and from the G. K. Chesterton Institute, founded by Rev. Ian J. Boyd, publisher of ''The Chesterton Review''. In 2002, after the demise of Plater College, the Centre for Faith & Culture merged for several years with the G. K. Chesterton Institute, creating the "G. K. Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture", which was eventually based at

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

in New Jersey with its Oxford Centre in King Street, Oxford. After 2006 Seton Hall ceased to support the Centre in Oxford and it became independent again.

''Second Spring''

Caldecott was a co-director of ''Second Spring'', (named after

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal. He was an ...

's famous sermon of 1852, in which Newman predicted a revival of Catholicism in England). ''Second Spring'' initially appeared in 1992 as an 8-page quarterly supplement in the American ''Catholic World Report''. In 2001 ''Second Spring'' merged with the Newsletter of the Centre and started to appear as an 80-page journal twice a year. The Caldecotts, together with the artist David Clayton, started a company called "ResSource" to develop educational projects in the spirit of Second Spring, but it ceased trading after Clayton took up a post at the

Thomas More College of Liberal Arts The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts is a Private college, private Catholic liberal arts college in Merrimack, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1978, it emphasizes Classical education movement, classical education in the Catholic ...

in New Hampshire. The Caldecotts, along with their eldest daughter Teresa, eventually founded their own company, Second Spring Oxford Ltd, in order to manage several editorial contracts as well as undertaking their own publishing programme. Thomas More College became the distributor of Second Spring Journal, as well as sending students to a summer school organised by Second Spring in Oxford. Caldecott's blogs "Beauty in Education", "The Economy Project", and "All Things Made New" serve as resource collections on the topics of education, economics and social justice, and perennial wisdom, and served also as forums for a growing network of friends who, under the banner "Second Spring Associates", hoped to expand the reach of his Second Spring work internationally. The work in this direction was temporarily suspended at his death, but in 2017 Leonie used her own funds to re-launch the website at second spring.co.uk, including an online version of the journal, Second Spring Current.

Writing

Catholicism

Caldecott's writing draws on the work of Catholic intellectuals including

Hans Urs von Balthasar Hans Urs von Balthasar (; 12 August 1905 – 26 June 1988) was a Swiss theologian and Catholic priest who is considered one of the most important Catholic theologians of the 20th century. With Joseph Ratzinger and Henri de Lubac, he founded the th ...

Joseph Ratzinger Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as po ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

Henri de Lubac Henri-Marie Joseph Sonier de Lubac (; 20 February 1896 – 4 September 1991), better known as Henri de Lubac, was a French Jesuit priest and Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal who is considered one of the most influential Theology, theologia ...

, Luigi Giussani, G. K. Chesterton,

, and

. Caldecott's articles appeared in ''Oasis'', the ''

National Catholic Register The ''National Catholic Register'' is a Catholic newspaper in the United States. It was founded on November 8, 1927, by Matthew J. Smith as the national edition of the '' Denver Catholic Register''. The ''Registers current owner is the Ete ...

'', '' Touchstone'', '' This Rock'', ''Radical Orthodoxy Journal'', '' The Chesterton Review'', ''Communio'' and ''

Parabola In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is Reflection symmetry, mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. It fits several superficially different Mathematics, mathematical descriptions, which can all be proved to define exactl ...

''. He was a senior contributor to ''

The Imaginative Conservative ''The Imaginative Conservative'' (''TIC'') is an American online conservative journal, founded in 2010. History The co-founders of ''TIC'' were Bradley J. Birzer, the holder of the Russell Amos Kirk chair in American Studies at Hillsdale Colleg ...

''. He organized conferences such as "Beyond the Prosaic" on the reform of the Liturgy and "Eternity in Time" on Christopher Dawson's contribution to the Catholic idea of history.

On Tolkien

was among the writers whose works influenced Caldecott's conversion to Christianity. Caldecott became an authority on the Christian themes in Tolkien's

. Caldecott was a contributing editor to ''A Hidden Presence, the Catholic Imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien''. In ''Catholic Literary Giants'', Joseph Pearce notes Caldecott's contribution to ''A Hidden Presence'' and recommends the volume as a valuable scholarly contribution to the literature on Tolkien's work. Caldecott's essay, "The Lord & Lady of the Rings", describing Marian influences in Tolkien's work, was cited by Sarah Jane Boss in her work on traditions of Marian doctrine and devotion. ''The Power of the Ring: The Spiritual Vision Behind The Lord of the Rings'' (Crossroad, 2005, 2011) was originally called ''Secret Fire'' when first published by DLT. It was translated into Spanish, Italian, and Russian, and re-issued by Crossroad in an expanded edition in 2012. ''The Power of the Ring'' explores the spiritual, theological, and philosophical meaning of the work – Tolkien's faith, which was influenced by the Oratory of St Philip. The historian Bradley J. Birzer, in '' The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia'', calls ''Secret Fire'' "the best of the post- Pearce Christian works" on Tolkien. Mike Foster, in ''

Tolkien Studies The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering many aspects of his High fantasy, fantasy writings. These encompass ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmarillion'', along with Tolkien's legendarium, his legendarium t ...

'', writes that "this self-described search for 'Tolkien's secret fire' finds it in the author's devout Catholicism". He finds Caldecott's blending of criticism and Catholicism problematic, as "the reader perforce has two subjects to weigh and balance: literary scholarship and theological interpretation". Among other things, Foster notes that Frodo "fails his last temptation", as it is

Gollum Gollum is a Tolkien's monsters, monster with a distinctive style of speech in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth. He was introduced in the 1937 Fantasy (genre), fantasy novel ''The Hobbit'', and became important in its sequel, ' ...

's action that destroys the Ring. Foster finds Caldecott's interpretation, that "in the end it is not Frodo who saves Middle-earth at all ... nor Gollum, who took the Ring into the Fire. It can only be God himself, ... using even our mistakes and the designs of the Enemy ... to bring about our good" to be "simply too forgiving of Frodo, whose will fails him". Colin Duriez, reviewing the book for ''

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

'', calls it a "perceptive and well-reasoned book" that examines Tolkien's appeal to people "from Christian to

neo-pagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

". Among these reasons, writes Duriez, is the rooting of his writing in the First World War, and Tolkien's experience of loss and death; and "his love affair with language". Duriez remarks, too, on Caldecott's account of Tolkien's "veneration of Mary" and its impact on the Elf-lady

Galadriel Galadriel () is a character created by J. R. R. Tolkien in his Middle-earth writings. She appears in ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion'', and ''Unfinished Tales''. She was a royal Elf (Middle-earth), Elf of both the N ...

and "the angelic Elbereth".

Death

As a teenager Caldecott had fallen in love with America because of its

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

s. He loved the fight between good and evil, and the theme of hope that the comics portrayed. When he was dying from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

in May 2014, he was too ill to see the latest Avengers movie, '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', in the cinema and he was not expected to survive long enough for the

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

release. His daughter, Sophie Caldecott Lippiatt, used an online campaign to persuade the producer

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...

and distributor

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

to send a copy so that he could watch it at home. Many actors who had portrayed Marvel characters posted selfies in support. Marvel arranged an exclusive advanced screening on DVD for Caldecott at his home. Caldecott's final thoughts on life and faith, death and eternal life were presented in an essay in the online journal ''The Imaginative Conservative''. His funeral Mass was celebrated at the

Oxford Oratory The Oxford Oratory Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga (or Oxford Oratory for short) is the Catholic Church, Catholic parish church for the centre of Oxford, England. It is located at 25 Woodstock Road (Oxford), Woodstock Road, next to Somerville Col ...

on 31 July 2014. He is buried in

Wolvercote Cemetery Wolvercote Cemetery is a cemetery in the parish of Wolvercote and district of Cutteslowe in Oxford, England. Its main entrance is on Banbury Road and it has a side entrance in Five Mile Drive. It has a funeral chapel, public toilets and a small a ...

, Oxford, near Tolkien's grave."Catholic Author to be Buried beside his Inspiration, Tolkien"
Dodd, Liz., ''

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic Church, Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by ...

'', 21 July 2014 Many tributes appeared after his death. Kathy Schiffer of Ave Maria Radio described Caldecott as "a giant in the Catholic world". Pierpaolo Finaldi, managing editor of the

, noted Caldecott's "encyclopaedic knowledge of the faith". Michael J. Lichens, editor of the website Catholic Exchange, described Caldecott as "...without a doubt, the most powerful voice for Catholic culture in the Anglophone world." David B. Burrell recommends ''The Grandeur of Reason'' and notes particularly Caldecott's approach to the problem of a perception of polarity between faith and reason by explicit attention to culture. Peter Casarella cites "The Marian Dimension of Existence" in Healy and Schindler, eds. ''Being Holy in the World'' in "Public Reason and Intercultural Dialogue" in ''At the Limits of the Secular: Reflections on Faith and Public Life'', William A. Barbieri Jr. ed, Eerdmans 2014.

Awards and distinctions

* Honorary doctorate in theology by the John Paul II Institute in Washington DC * Paideia Prize for work in education * A volume of essays in his honour, ''The Beauty of God's House'' was published posthumously in 2014. Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet and Nottingham Professor

John Milbank Alasdair John Milbank (born 23 October 1952) is an English Anglo-Catholic theologian and is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham, where he is President of the Centre of Theolo ...

contributed.

Bibliography

Books

* ''Secret Fire: The Spiritual Vision of J.R.R. Tolkien'' (Darton, Longman, & Todd, 2003) ** revised as ''Power of the Ring: The Spiritual Vision Behind The Lord of the Rings'' (Crossroad, 2005 and 2012) * ''The Seven Sacraments: Entering the Mysteries of God'' (Crossroad, 2006) * ''Beauty for Truth's Sake: On the Re-enchantment of Education'' (Brazos, 2009; 2nd edition: 2017) * ''All Things Made New: The Mysteries of the World in Christ'' (Angelico/Sophia Perennis, 2011) * ''Beauty in the Word: Rethinking the Foundations of Education'' (Angelico, 2011) * ''The Radiance of Being: Dimensions of Cosmic Christianity'' (Angelico, 2013) * ''Not as the World Gives: The Way of Creative Justice'' (Angelico, 2014)

Booklets

* ''Catholic Social Teaching: A Way In'' (Catholic Truth Society, 2001) * ''Companion to the Book of Revelation'' (Catholic Truth Society, 2008) * ''Catholicism and Other Religions: Introduction to Interfaith Dialogue'' (Catholic Truth Society, 2009)

Books from conferences

Stratford both edited and contributed to these volumes. * ''Beyond the Prosaic: Renewing the Liturgical Movement'' (T&T Clark, 2000) * ''Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Sources of Inspiration'' (Co-editor: Thomas M. Honegger, Walking Tree, 2008) * ''Eternity in Time: Christopher Dawson and the Catholic Idea of History (T&T Clark, 1997)''

References

External links

* Dwight Longnecker
"Stratford Caldecott – a Tribute"
''Patheos'', 18 July 2014, includes Caldecott's account of his conversion, "Gnosis and Grace", first published in Longnecker's ''The Path to Rome – Modern Journeys to the Catholic Church''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Caldecott, Stratford 1953 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford People educated at Dulwich College Tolkien scholars