Michael William Hodgetts (29 March 1936 – 12 December 2022) was an English Catholic historian who became a leading expert on

priest hole A priest hole is a hiding place for a priest built in England or Wales during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law. Following the accession of Queen Elizabeth I to the throne in 1558, there were several Catholic plots designed to remo ...

s and on Harvington Hall.

Early life

Hodgetts was born in Birmingham on 29 March 1936, and was raised a Catholic. He attended

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...

and then studied classics at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

, as well as studying for three years as a seminarian at the Venerable English College, Rome, before becoming a teacher at St Thomas More Catholic School, Willenhall.

Career

In the 1970s and 1980s, he sat on the

International Commission on English in the Liturgy The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) is a commission set up by a number of episcopal conferences of English-speaking countries for the purpose of providing English translations of the liturgical books of the Roman Rite, ...

, alongside his work as a teacher, and his translation of the hymn Pange lingua is now used in the English-language Catholic liturgy for

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

. In 1984, he was appointed to the management committee of Harvington Hall, a former

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

and centre of

Recusancy 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 ...

that had been given to the

Archdiocese of Birmingham The Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and much of ...

in 1923. He edited the volumes series of the

Catholic Record Society The Catholic Record Society (Registered Charity No. 313529) is a scholarly society devoted to the study of peri- and post- Reformational Catholic Church in England and Wales founded in 1904. It has been described as "the premier Catholic histor ...

and the society's journal, ''Recusant History'' (now '' British Catholic History''). In 1989 he retired from school-teaching and joined the staff of

Maryvale Institute Maryvale Institute is a college of further and higher education, an International Catholic Distance-Learning College for Catechesis, Theology, Philosophy and Religious Education formerly based in Old Oscott, Great Barr, Birmingham Birmin ...

, a Catholic college of further and higher education.

Personal life

He married Barbara in 1969. They had four children. Hodgetts died on 12 December 2022, at the age of 86.

Works

Awards

* Knight of St Gregory the Great (1990)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgetts, Michael 1936 births 2022 deaths 20th-century English historians 21st-century English historians Historians of the Catholic Church Academics from Birmingham, West Midlands Knights of St. Gregory the Great Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham