Elizabeth Tyldesley (or Clare Mary Ann, OSC) (1585–1654) was a 17th-century

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

at the Poor Clare Convent at Gravelines.

Life

Elizabeth Tyldesley born in 1585, was the daughter of Thomas Tyldesley of

Morleys Hall Morleys Hall, a moated hall converted to two houses, is situated at on Morleys Lane, on the edge of Astley Moss in Astley in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester, England. It was largely rebuilt i ...

, Astley and Myerscough Hall and Elizabeth Anderton of Lostock, in Lancashire (now

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

). Her family were

recusants Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

and her mother arranged a pension for the Roman Catholic priest,

Ambrose Barlow Ambrose Edward Barlow, O.S.B. (1585 – 10 September 1641) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk. He is one of a group of saints canonized by Pope Paul VI who became known as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Early life and educa ...

, so that he could secretly carry out priestly duties, offering

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

in the homes of Roman Catholics in the

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

parish. Her grandfather, Edward Tyldesley, had left her a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

of £500, but she never married. Instead Elizabeth joined the English community of

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

s of the

Order of St. Clare The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin language, Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Or ...

, then called "Claresses", at

Gravelines Gravelines ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord departments of France, department in Northern France. It lies at the mouth of the river Aa (France), Aa southwest of Dunkirk, France, Dunkirk. It was form ...

, at that time part of the

Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...

. The Poor Clare Convent at Gravelines was a religious community founded in 1607 by Mary Ward for English Roman Catholic women who wished to live the

contemplative In a religious context, the practice of contemplation seeks a direct awareness of the divine which transcends the intellect, often in accordance with religious practices such as meditation or prayer. Etymology The word ''contemplation'' is de ...

life of a

, which was impossible after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

and its consequence, the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Elizabeth was one of seven candidates who received their

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally, some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious Hermit, eremitic and Anchorite, anchorit ...

s on 5 February 1609. She assumed the name of Sister Clare Mary Ann when she received the habit. She completed her

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

year and professed her first

vows A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise that is solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding ...

3 November 1610. The way of life of the Poor Clares was austere: the nuns slept on straw sacks, ate meat only at Christmas and spent much of their day in silent prayer or contemplation, speaking only when necessary and with permission. Five years later, she was elected

of the community. Previous incumbents of that office had struggled with financial difficulties, but under

Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

Clare Mary Ann the establishment flourished. In 1626 a Franciscan deposed her from her role as abbess and she was replaced with Margaret Radcliffe. This was a very unpopular move and a fire broke out at the convent which was supposed by some to be divine intervention. Tyldesley was restored to her former position in 1627. Tyldesley became

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

of four communities of Poor Clares, both Irish and English, and received more than a hundred women into

religious life Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life (religious and sec ...

. Elizabeth died on 17 February 1654 after 44 years in the monastery, of which she had served as abbess for 39. Tyldesley's nephew, the

Cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

and Catholic Sir

Thomas Tyldesley Sir Thomas Tyldesley (1612 – 25 August 1651) was a supporter of Charles I and a Royalist commander during the English Civil War. Life Thomas Tyldesley was born on 3 September 1612 at Woodplumpton, the eldest of the six children of Edward Tyl ...

, considered to be "one of the wealthiest gentlemen in Lancashire", must have been proud of his aunt's achievements, according to historian Gordon Blackwood.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyldesley, Elizabeth Poor Clare abbesses 17th-century English Roman Catholic nuns 1585 births 1654 deaths English Roman Catholic abbesses People from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Nuns from the Spanish Netherlands