Cuthbert Butler (born Edward Joseph Aloysius Butler; 6 May 1858 – 2 April 1934) was an Irish ecclesiastical historian much of whose career was spent as

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Downside Abbey Downside Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged 11 to 18. Both the abbey ...

in England. He was sometimes referred to as Dom Cuthbert Butler. Butler is known for ''The Vatican Council: The Story from Inside in Bishop Ullathorne's Letters''. Described by Michael J. G. Pahls as " e standard nglish-languageaccount of the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

", the book is based on the correspondence of Bishop

William Bernard Ullathorne William Bernard Ullathorne (7 May 180621 March 1889) was an English prelate who held high offices in the Roman Catholic Church during the nineteenth century. Early life Ullathorne was born in Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, the eldest o ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Gertrude Himmelfarb Gertrude Himmelfarb (August 8, 1922 – December 30, 2019), also known as Bea Kristol, was an American historian. She was a leader of conservative interpretations of history and historiography. She wrote extensively on intellectual history, ...

describes ''The Vatican Council'' as designed to support

papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...

. He also wrote on

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

Early life

Edward Joseph Aloysius Butler was born on 6 May 1858 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, to Edward Butler (1812-1902) and Mary (Cruise) Butler. His father was the first professor of mathematics at the

Catholic University of Ireland The Catholic University of Ireland (CUI; ) was a private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University of Ireland and its assoc ...

, from 1854 to 1859, before and after that having worked for the Commission of National Education in Ireland. His mother came from a Norman Irish Catholic family and was a sister of the eminent consulting physician Sir Francis Cruise. Butler was educated at

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

, an English

school, from 1869 to 1875. During his time at the school, he was greatly influenced by the Benedictine priest

William Petre Sir William Petre (c. 1505 – 1572) (pronounced ''Peter'') was Secretary of State to three successive Tudor monarchs, namely Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Mary I. He also deputised for the Secretary of State to Elizabeth I. Educated ...

who, along with the prior, Bernard Murphy, advised him as he discerned his vocation. As his parents did not want him to enter the Benedictine noviciate immediately after finishing at Downside, he spent a brief period at the short-lived Catholic University College in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, as well as travelling throughout Europe.

Monastic life

Butler entered the noviciate at Belmont Abbey in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

in 1876. Reflecting on his entry into the abbey in a manuscript written between 1891 and 1892, he wrote: He was ordained in 1884, the same year he got an MA from the University of London, under his birth name, and then became headmaster at Downside School. In 1896 he moved to Cambridge, and soon thereafter he founded Benet House there for Benedictines attending that university. He was a student at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, now using the name Edward Cuthbert Butler, and was awarded BA 1898 and MA 1903. In 1906 he was elected Abbot of Downside Abbey, a post he held until his resignation in 1922. He spent the rest of his life preaching in London and writing the books for which he is now remembered, in particular ''Western Mysticism'' (1922) and ''The Vatican Council'' (1930). He had earlier contributed dozens of articles to the 11th edition of the ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' (1911). He died at his home in London on 2 April 1934.

Published works

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References

Citations

Works cited

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Cuthbert 1858 births 1934 deaths Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge English historians English Benedictines 19th-century English Roman Catholic priests 20th-century English Roman Catholic priests English Roman Catholic writers Historians of the Catholic Church People educated at Downside School Benedictine scholars Abbots of Downside Burials at Downside Abbey Mysticism scholars 20th-century Christian abbots