Strangers in a Strange Land: The Trappist Monastery of Saint Susan at Lulworth, Dorset, 1794–1817 (Cistercian Studies Series, vol. 299)

by David Bell

Publisher:

Liturgical Press

, 2024

Overview

The history of Saint Susan’s monastery on the south coast of England is as remarkable as the tumultuous times in which it existed. Located at East Lulworth, it was founded in 1794 and existed for twenty-three years before political and other circumstances forced Dom Antoine Saulnier de Beauregard and his community to leave England for France in 1817. There they re-founded the old Cistercian abbey of Melleray in Brittany.

Strangers in a Strange Land brings the story of Saint Susan’s monastery to light against the backdrop of a war between England and France, religious prejudice, conflicts of personality, lies, and misunderstanding. It introduces the dominant figure of the time, Dom Augustin de Lestrange, abbot of La Valsainte in Switzerland, as well as two others of major importance including the first prior of the house, Dom Jean-Baptiste Desnoyers, and the last and only abbot, Dom Antoine Saulnier de Beauregard.

Key Features

• Brings the story of Saint Susan’s monastery to light.
• Introduces the dominant figure of the time, Dom Augustin de Lestrange.
• Explores the monastery’s story during a war between England and France.

Contents

• Table of Figures
• A Note on Spelling
• Preface
• 1. The Founders: Armand-Jean de Rancé and Augustin de Lestrange
• 2. The Lure of La Trappe
• 3. Popery, Prejudice, and the Welds of Lulworth
• 4. The Founding of the Monastery
• 5. Adverse Reactions
• 6. The First Prior: Dom Jean-Baptiste Desnoyers
• 7. The Monks and the Monastery
• 8. Monastic Life at Saint Susan’s
• 9. The Voyage to Martinique and the Story of James Power
• 10. James Power’s Accusations and Their Aftermath
• 11. Dom Antoine Saulnier de Beauregard and the End of Saint Susan’s
• APPENDIX 1. Joseph Addison’s Description of La Trappe in Normandy in 1700
• APPENDIX 2. Description of Saint Susan’s in 1800 by Richard Gough
• APPENDIX 3. Description of Saint Susan’s in July 1800 by “P. F.”
• APPENDIX 4. Description of Saint Susan’s in March 1813 by “Father Paul”
• APPENDIX 5. Description of Saint Susan’s in June 1817 by Father Luke Bernard Barber
• APPENDIX 6. The Six Illustrations in Thomas D. Fosbroke, British Monachism; or, Manners and Customs of the Monks and Nuns of England (London: M. A. Nattali, 1843), Opposite 306
• APPENDIX 7. The Book Collection at Saint Susan’s
• Select Bibliography
• Index of Names and Places

Praise for Strangers in a Strange Land

David Bell has produced a lively and readable account of the Trappist Abbey of St. Susan in Lulworth, England. During its twenty-three years in a country then hostile to Catholicism, the Lulworth monastery served as a refuge for monks escaping the French Revolution and an important way station in the preservation and revival of monasticism in the early nineteenth century. Professor Bell’s engaging history brings to life the personalities of the most important figures in St. Susan’s history. Some of them played crucial roles in the larger Trappist revival like Augustin de Lestrange and Dom Antoine Saulnier de Beauregard who under government pressure led the St. Susan monks back to France to establish Melleray Abbey and help the restoration of monasticism in France.

—Jay Butler, Independent Scholar

Established in 1794, the Trappist priory (later abbey) of Saint Susan at Lulworth (Dorset) was in existence for a mere twenty-three years before the departure of its monks to refound Melleray Abbey in Brittany. Its life may have been short, but it has a story to tell. David Bell tells it in a scholarly and engaging manner, setting it against the background of the tumultuous religious and political culture of late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Europe. The fruit of meticulous research into a wide range of sources, this is a compelling read.

—Janet Burton, Professor of Medieval History, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter

David Bell is an excellent storyteller. His history of Lulworth Abbey has something of the pace and verve of the Da Vinci Code, but it is better written, carefully researched, and true. It places the abbey in the context of the history of the La Trappe Cistercian reform, English-French relations during the period of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, and the anti-Catholicism of that time. Anyone interested in those topics will love this book.

Hugh Feiss, OSB, Monastery of the Ascension in Jerome, Idaho

Product Details

• Title: Strangers in a Strange Land: The Trappist Monastery of Saint Susan at Lulworth, Dorset, 1794–1817 (Cistercian Studies Series, vol. 299)
• Author: David Bell
• Series: Cistercian Studies Series
• Publisher: Liturgical Press
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Pages: 360
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• ISBNs: 9780879072209, 9780879072216, 0879072202, 0879072210
• Resource ID: LLS:STRNGRS17941817
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-12-05T20:20:55Z

About David Bell

David N. Bell is professor emeritus of religious studies and dean of theology at Queen's College, St. John's, Newfoundland, and canon theologian in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. John's. He is the author of a number of books published by Cistercian Publications, including The Very Devout Meditations attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, Handmaid of the Lord: Mary, the Cistercians, and Armand-Jean de Rancé (CS293, 2021), Everyday Life at La Trappe under Armand-Jean de Rancé (CS274, 2018), and A Saint in the Sun: Praising Saint Bernard in the France of Louis XIV (CS271, 2017).