Philip Howard (Cardinal)
Encyclopedia
Hon. Philip Howard was an English
Roman Catholic cardinal
. Born the third son of Henry Frederick Howard (afterwards Earl of Arundel
and Surrey and head of the House of Norfolk) and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart (daughter of Esme Stuart
, the Duke of Lennox
), Howard was a member of the premier Catholic family in England. At the age of sixteen he joined the Dominican Order
in Cremona
, and was ordained in 1652. He founded the priory of Bornem
in Flanders
, with a college for English youths attached to it, and was himself the first prior and novice master. He also founded at Vilvoorde
a convent of nuns of the Second Order of Saint Dominic
, now at Carisbrooke
on the Isle of Wight
.
In the reign of Charles II
, Father Howard was made grand almoner to Queen Catherine of Braganza
and was one of the few who attended the royal wedding, according to the Catholic rite, celebrated privately in Winchester
. He resided at St. James's Palace
, with a salary of 500 pounds a year, and had a position of influence at Court.
Following an outbreak of anti-Catholic sentiment, he left England and resumed his position as prior at Bornhem. In 1672 he was nominated as Vicar Apostolic of England with a see in partibus, but the appointment, owing to the opposition of the "English Chapter" to his being a vicar Apostolic, and the insistence that he should be a bishop with ordinary jurisdiction, was not confirmed. He was made cardinal in 1675, by Pope Clement X
, being assigned the title of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
, exchanged later for the Dominican church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
. He now took up his residence at Rome
, especially watching over the interests of the Catholic faith in England. He was to have been Bishop of Helenopolis. In 1679 he was made Protector of England and Scotland
. At his insistence the Feast of St. Edward the Confessor
was extended to the whole Church. He rebuilt the English College in Rome, and revised the rules of Douai
College.
Howard cooperated later with James II
in the increase of Vicars Apostolic in England from one to four, one of whom was his former secretary, John Leyburn
. This arrangement that lasted until 1840, when Pope Gregory XVI
increased the number to eight. Gilbert Burnet
wrote in his History that Cardinal Howard regretted the steps which led to the crisis in the reign of James II and which Howard sought to avert. The cardinal's plans were thwarted and the mission of Roger Palmer, Earl of Castlemaine
to Rome showed the rise of another spirit that he did not share. When the crisis he foresaw came, he had the consolation at least of knowing that his foundation at Bornhem was beyond the grasp of the anti-Catholic reaction in England. Cardinal Howard assisted at three conclave
s, for the election of Innocent XI in 1676, Alexander VIII
in 1689, and Innocent XII in 1691, and held the position of Camerlengo
of the College of Cardinals
. He died in the twentieth year of his cardinalate, at the age of 64, and was buried in his titular church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva at Rome. A monument of white marble with the arms of the Howards honours his memory.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Roman Catholic cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
. Born the third son of Henry Frederick Howard (afterwards Earl of Arundel
Earl of Arundel
The title Earl of Arundel is the oldest extant Earldom and perhaps the oldest extant title in the Peerage of England. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. It was created in 1138 for the Norman baron Sir William d'Aubigny...
and Surrey and head of the House of Norfolk) and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart (daughter of Esme Stuart
Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox
Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox KG was the son of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox. He was a patron of the playwright Ben Jonson, who lived in his household for five years.He married Katherine Clifton, 2nd Baroness Clifton, in 1609...
, the Duke of Lennox
Duke of Lennox
The title Duke of Lennox has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, for Clan Stewart of Darnley. The Dukedom, named for the district of Lennox in Stirling, was first created in 1581, and had formerly been the Earldom of Lennox. The second Duke was made Duke of Richmond; at his...
), Howard was a member of the premier Catholic family in England. At the age of sixteen he joined the Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
in Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
, and was ordained in 1652. He founded the priory of Bornem
Bornem
Bornem is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Bornem proper, Hingene, Wintam, Mariekerke and Weert. On January 1, 2006 Bornem had a total population of 20,064...
in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, with a college for English youths attached to it, and was himself the first prior and novice master. He also founded at Vilvoorde
Vilvoorde
Vilvoorde is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Vilvoorde proper with its two outlying quarters of Koningslo and Houtem and the small town of Peutie...
a convent of nuns of the Second Order of Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic , also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers , a Catholic religious order...
, now at Carisbrooke
Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
.
In the reign of Charles II
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...
, Father Howard was made grand almoner to Queen Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza was a Portuguese infanta and queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles II.She married the king in 1662...
and was one of the few who attended the royal wedding, according to the Catholic rite, celebrated privately in Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
. He resided at St. James's Palace
St. James's Palace
St. James's Palace is one of London's oldest palaces. It is situated in Pall Mall, just north of St. James's Park. Although no sovereign has resided there for almost two centuries, it has remained the official residence of the Sovereign and the most senior royal palace in the UK...
, with a salary of 500 pounds a year, and had a position of influence at Court.
Following an outbreak of anti-Catholic sentiment, he left England and resumed his position as prior at Bornhem. In 1672 he was nominated as Vicar Apostolic of England with a see in partibus, but the appointment, owing to the opposition of the "English Chapter" to his being a vicar Apostolic, and the insistence that he should be a bishop with ordinary jurisdiction, was not confirmed. He was made cardinal in 1675, by Pope Clement X
Pope Clement X
Pope Clement X , born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was Pope from 29 April 1670 to 22 July 1676.-Early life:Emilio Altieri was born in Rome, the son of Lorenzo Altieri and Victoria Delphini, a Venetian lady...
, being assigned the title of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th century church in Rome, Italy, devoted to Saint Cecilia, in the Trastevere rione.-History:The first church on this site was founded probably in the 3rd century, by Pope Urban I; it was devoted to the Roman martyr Cecilia, martyred it is said under Marcus...
, exchanged later for the Dominican church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
The Basilica of Saint Mary Above Minerva is a titular minor basilica and one of the most important churches of the Roman Catholic Dominican order in Rome, Italy. The church, located in the Piazza della Minerva in the Campus Martius region, is considered the only Gothic church in Rome. It houses...
. He now took up his residence at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, especially watching over the interests of the Catholic faith in England. He was to have been Bishop of Helenopolis. In 1679 he was made Protector of England and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. At his insistence the Feast of St. Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
was extended to the whole Church. He rebuilt the English College in Rome, and revised the rules of Douai
Douai
-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...
College.
Howard cooperated later with James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
in the increase of Vicars Apostolic in England from one to four, one of whom was his former secretary, John Leyburn
John Leyburn
John Leyburn was an English Roman Catholic priest, who became Vicar Apostolic of the London District, and thus the senior Roman Catholic prelate in England, from 1685 to 1702. He was not only a theologian, but also a mathematician, and an intimate friend of Descartes and Hobbes.-Life:He was the...
. This arrangement that lasted until 1840, when Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
increased the number to eight. Gilbert Burnet
Gilbert Burnet
Gilbert Burnet was a Scottish theologian and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was respected as a cleric, a preacher, and an academic, as well as a writer and historian...
wrote in his History that Cardinal Howard regretted the steps which led to the crisis in the reign of James II and which Howard sought to avert. The cardinal's plans were thwarted and the mission of Roger Palmer, Earl of Castlemaine
Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine
Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine PC was an English courtier, diplomat, and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. He was also a noted Catholic writer...
to Rome showed the rise of another spirit that he did not share. When the crisis he foresaw came, he had the consolation at least of knowing that his foundation at Bornhem was beyond the grasp of the anti-Catholic reaction in England. Cardinal Howard assisted at three conclave
Papal conclave
A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who then becomes the Pope during a period of vacancy in the papal office. The Pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church...
s, for the election of Innocent XI in 1676, Alexander VIII
Pope Alexander VIII
Pope Alexander VIII , born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was Pope from 1689 to 1691.-Early life:Pietro Ottoboni was born of a noble Venetian family, and was the son of Marco Ottoboni, chancellor of the Republic of Venice...
in 1689, and Innocent XII in 1691, and held the position of Camerlengo
Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals
The Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals was the treasurer of that body.He administered all property, fees, funds and revenue belonging to the College of Cardinals, celebrated the requiem Mass for a deceased cardinal and was charged with the registry of the Acta Consistoralia.It is...
of the College of Cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
. He died in the twentieth year of his cardinalate, at the age of 64, and was buried in his titular church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva at Rome. A monument of white marble with the arms of the Howards honours his memory.