George Brown (died 21 October 1618), who later adopted the religious name Gregory, was an English Benedictine and prior of St Laurence, Dieulouard. He was for some time identified as the anonymous translator of Life of St Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi (1619), an identification that is now challenged.
Brown was born in Essex, and spent two years at the English College, Douai. After this, he left to join the Order of Saint Benedict in Spain. In 1605, he was professed at the abbey of Santa Maria, in Obarnes, where he took the religious name of Gregory. From 1609 to 1610, Brown was the prior of the monastery of St Laurence, Dieulouard, in Lorraine. [1] This monastery was occupied by English Benedictines, founded in 1608 by monks fleeing the English Reformation, and trained Catholic missionaries for the conversion of their home country. [2] According to Athanasius Allanson, Brown was "a diligent promoter" of Benedictine religious houses in France and the Low Countries. From 1613 until his death, Brown resided at Chelles Abbey, joining Francis Walgrave and Augustine Bradshaw, who had been invited there by Abbess Marie de Lorraine as chaplains to the monastery. [3] Here, Brown died on 21 October 1618. [1]
The English translation of the Italian biography of Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, Life of St Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi (1619), was attributed to Brown by 19th-century Catholic Historian, George Oliver. This identification was based on Oliver's misidentification of Brown as chaplain of the English Benedictine monastery, St Benet, Brussels, established by his misreading of the monastery's convent chronicle. As the original translation had been dedicated to Lady Mary Percy, abbess of the Brussels monastery, [4] Oliver identified Brown as its author. This identification has been contested by A. F. Allison and D. M. Rogers, in their Contemporary printed literature of the English Counter-Reformation (1989), instead identifying Tobie Matthew as a more likely candidate. [1]
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, 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 they are the oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, especially in English speaking countries, after the colour of their habits. Not all Benedictines wear black, however, with some like the Olivetans wearing white. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.
St Benet's Hall was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed in 2022. The principal building was located at the northern end of St Giles' on its western side, close to the junction with Woodstock Road, Oxford.
The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta in 1344 and approved by Pope Urban V in 1370. They follow the Rule of Saint Augustine. There are today several different branches of Bridgettines.
Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, OCarm, was an Italian Carmelite nun and mystic. She has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
Augustine Baker OSB, also sometimes known as "Austin Baker", was a well-known Benedictine mystic and an ascetic writer. He was one of the earliest members of the English Benedictine Congregation which was newly restored to England after the Reformation.
The English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) is a congregation of autonomous abbatial and prioral monastic communities of Catholic Benedictine monks, nuns, and lay oblates. It is technically the oldest of the nineteen congregations affiliated to the Benedictine Confederation.
The University of Douai was a former university in Douai, France. With a medieval heritage of scholarly activities in Douai, the university was established in 1559 and lectures started in 1562. It closed from 1795 to 1808. In 1887, it was transferred as University of Lille 27 km away from Douai.
St Mary's Abbey, also known as Malling Abbey, is an abbey of Anglican Benedictine nuns located in West Malling, Kent, England. It was founded around 1090 by Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester and dissolved in 1538. The site became a monastery again in the late 19th century.
Douai Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey at Upper Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of Berkshire, situated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in Douai, France, came to Woolhampton in 1903 when the community left France as a result of anti-clerical legislation. The abbey church is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England.
Stanbrook Abbey is a Catholic contemplative Benedictine Monastery with the status of an abbey, located at Wass, North Yorkshire, England.
Alban Roe was an English Benedictine priest, remembered as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
Lamspringe Abbey is a former religious house of the English Benedictines in exile, at Lamspringe near Hildesheim in Germany.
Ampleforth Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine monks a mile to the east of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England, part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It descends from the pre-Reformation community at Westminster Abbey through the last surviving monk from Westminster, Sigebert Buckley. As of 2024 the monastery has 41 monks, and sometimes will have 50 nuns of the monastery organization.
Gabriel Gifford, OSB was an English Benedictine monk who became Archbishop of Reims.
Marchiennes Abbey was a French monastery located on the Scarpe in Marchiennes. It was founded around 630 by Adalbard of Douai, and Irish monks, disciples of Saint Columbanus, on the advice of Saint Amand. One of its founders was Rictrude, who made it double monastery in 643. In around 1024 it became monastery of men again and adopted the Benedictine rule. On the birth of the town of Marchiennes the abbey became its economic motor until being suppressed in 1791 during the French Revolution. In 1814 all but its 1748 gatehouse was demolished. Its remains were inscribed on the inventory of monuments historiques on 17 May 1974,
St Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde is an abbey of Benedictine nuns in the Isle of Wight, England.
Clement Reyner D.D. (1589–1651) was an English Benedictine monk, who became abbot of Lamspringe in Germany.
Mary Percy (1570–1642) was an English noblewoman who founded an English Benedictine Monastery in Brussels and served as its abbess.
Catherine Gascoigne was the English abbess of Cambrai from 1624 to 1673.
Pudentiana Deacon was a Benedictine nun now known for her translation of Les vrais entretiens spirituels by Francis de Sales (1557–1662).