Mary Howard, of the Holy Cross
Encyclopedia
Mary Howard, of the Holy Cross (born 28 December 1653; died at Rouen
, 21 March 1735) was an English nun of the Poor Clares.
, a younger son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire
, in whose home Mary's early youth was spent. At the age of eighteen, to escape the attentions of Charles II of England
, she went to Paris, under the assumed name of Talbot, and was placed in the Benedictine convent of Val de Grace to learn French.
Here she was received into the Catholic Church, a step which brought her into disfavour with Lady Osborne, her guardian in Paris. Remaining staunch, she was finally permitted to retire to the convent of the Canonesses of St. Augustine at Chaillot, near Paris, where she remained several years, until her admission into the English convent of Poor Clares at Rouen, under the name of Parnel, to safeguard further the secret of her identity.
Here she was made successively mistress of the choir, second and first portress, the latter a position involving the management of the temporal affairs of the convent, and in 1702, on the resignation of Mother Winefrid Clare Giffard, abbess since 1670, she became abbess
of the community.
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, 21 March 1735) was an English nun of the Poor Clares.
Life
She was a daughter of Sir Robert HowardRobert Howard (playwright)
Sir Robert Howard was an English playwright and politician, born to Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire and his wife Elizabeth.-Life:...
, a younger son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire was the second son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and Catherine Knyvet....
, in whose home Mary's early youth was spent. At the age of eighteen, to escape the attentions of Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, she went to Paris, under the assumed name of Talbot, and was placed in the Benedictine convent of Val de Grace to learn French.
Here she was received into the Catholic Church, a step which brought her into disfavour with Lady Osborne, her guardian in Paris. Remaining staunch, she was finally permitted to retire to the convent of the Canonesses of St. Augustine at Chaillot, near Paris, where she remained several years, until her admission into the English convent of Poor Clares at Rouen, under the name of Parnel, to safeguard further the secret of her identity.
Here she was made successively mistress of the choir, second and first portress, the latter a position involving the management of the temporal affairs of the convent, and in 1702, on the resignation of Mother Winefrid Clare Giffard, abbess since 1670, she became abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
of the community.