Monsignor Peter Keenan Guilday (March 25, 1884 - July 31, 1947) American Catholic priest and historian. John Tracy Ellis, "Monsignore Peter Guilday" in '' The Catholic Historical Review'' 43:3 (Oct. 1947), 257-268.

Life

Guilday was born in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

of Irish parents.Raymond W. Albright, "In Memoriam Peter Guilday", ''

Church History Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...

'' 16:4 (1947), p. 248. Graduated from Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia in 1901. He studied for the priesthood at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook PA. In 1907 he gained a scholarship to the American College of Louvain. He was ordained to the priesthood there on July 11, 1909, by Henry Gabriels. After ordination, Guilday briefly studied at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

, but returned to Louvain University to work on his doctorate, which he obtained there in 1914. His doctoral dissertation was supervised by Alfred Cauchie. While working on his doctorate, Guilday visited archives in France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy and spent a year in London, working as a priest at St Mary of the Angels, Bayswater, while attending lectures in history at the University of London. His doctoral dissertation was published in London in 1914 by Longmans, Green and Company under the title ''The English Catholic Refugees on the Continent, 1558–1795'', volume 1. Guilday intended to follow this up with a second volume on the Irish Colleges on the Continent, but research for this was made impossible by the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Instead, in 1914, Guilday began teaching at

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

, Rector Thomas J. Shahan having asked Edmond Francis Prendergast, Archbishop of Philadelphia, to release him from diocesan duties so that he could join the faculty. During the war, Guilday also served as secretary to the National Catholic War Council's committee on historical records and as assistant district educational director in the Students Army Training Corps. As an academic, Guilday worked as principal editor of the '' Catholic Historical Review'' from 1915 to 1941, and in 1919 was cofounder of the American Catholic Historical Association. His writings established him as the period's leading scholar in Catholic

, with appointment as full professor in 1923. He was relieved of teaching duties in 1941, and intended to use his time to produce a study of John Hughes, Archbishop of New York, but was prevented by poor health. He died in 1947.

Honours

* In 1924 Guilday was elected a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

. * In 1926 he was decorated by

Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. He is popularly referred to as the Knight King (, ) or Soldier King (, ) in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I ...

for his contributions to the restoration of Louvain University Library. * In 1935 he was made a domestic prelate by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

Works

* ''The English Catholic Refugees on the Continent, 1558–1795,'' 1914 * ''The Life and Times of John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore (1735-1815),'' 1922;
''The Catholic church in Virginia (1815-1822)''
(New York: United States Catholic Historical Society, 1924)
''An introduction to church history, a book for beginners''
(St. Louis: B. Herder Book Company, 1925) * ''

John Gilmary Shea John Dawson Gilmary Shea (July 22, 1824 – February 22, 1892) was a writer, editor, and historian of United States, American history in general and American Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic history specifically. He was also a leading auth ...

: Father of American Catholic History, 1824-1892'' (New York: United States Catholic Historical Society, 1926) * ''The Life and Times of John England, First Bishop of Charleston (1786-1842),'' 1927

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guilday, Peter 1884 births 1947 deaths American people of Irish descent Catholic University of America faculty 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni