Latin Clerk

Aidan Nichols O.P is the author of forty books, including the recent G.K. Chesterton, Theologian (2009), and From Hermes to Benedict XVI, Faith and Reason in Modern Catholic Thought (2009). A member of the Dominican Order, he now resides in Blackfriars, Cambridge.

' Aidan Nichols' work rescues Fortescue from any suggestion of obsessive liturgical pedantry, and presents instead a compelling picture of an exemplary priest, a meticulous scholar and a lively, adventurous and humorous man. (...) Aidan Nichols' work succeeds admirably in presenting a more rounded picture of Doctor Fortescue than the image that one has if one only knows him as the author of a ceremonial guide. Fortescue was the model of the priest scholar, comparatively uncommon then as now, and very much a man of his time, throwing himself into controversies and parish life with equal energy. ' Dom Benet Watt OSB in The Downside Review, Vol. 130, No. 458, January 2012" This biography is both enlightening and entertaining. It illuminates Fortescue's key insights, many of which remain just as true today as they were during his lifetime. But it also paints a vivid picture of Fortescue and his greatness. From reading Nichols's book, it becomes clear that Fortescue was a brilliant, eccentric, and colorful character. [...] Overall, The Latin Clerk does an impressive job of capturing both the essence of the man and a particular epoch in Catholic history. " Anthony Dragani in The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 98 (4), October 2012"...'The Latin clerk', as Fortecuse called himself, well deserves the sympathetic presentation of his life and work that Aidan Nichols has given in this informative and readable book..." Hugh Wybrew, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 64/1, January 2013.'Fortescue emerges from Nichols's study as a bold scholar who was unafraid to push boundaries, especially when prompted by historical-critical method, as well as an adventurer who trekked fearlessly across inhospitable and hostile terrain in his quest to understand the ecclesiologies and liturgies of ancient Christendom in their real breadth and diversity.'David Grumett, Reviews in Religion & Theology, Volume 20, Issue 2, March 2013.'...This book is elegantly written with comprehensive footnotes and is a joy to read...' Anglo-Catholic History Society Newsletter, May 2013

• Preface 1.Background and Boyhood 2.The Formative Years 3.Ordination and First Steps in Priesthood 4.The Levantine Grand Tour (1906 - 7) and The Greek Fathers 5.Studies of the Eastern Churches, Far and Near 6.Letchworth and Beyond 7.The Theory of the Liturgy: Encyclopaedias, and The Mass 8.The Practice of the Liturgy: Rivalis Villa, the Ceremonial, and the Chant 9.Anglo-Roman Debates 10.Liberal Catholicism, Catholic Modernism, and the Posthumous Boethius 11.Conclusion Bibliography Index of names