St Robert Southwell and His Readers

Professor Peter Davidson, Senior Research Fellow in Renaissance and Baroque Studies at Campion Hall, will be delivering the first Campion Lecture of the 2021-22 academic year, entitled: St Robert Southwell and His Readers.

In the years after the death of the Jesuit priest, poet, and martyr St Robert Southwell (1561-1595), his devotional poetry circulated in secret amongst the Recusant Catholic Community and became one of the best selling printed books in England.

This lecture examines Southwell’s cross-confessional readership in the years after his death and his profound influence on subsequent devotional writers such as Donne and Herbert. Professor Davidson also explores why this important and influential poet has to some degree, to this day, been written out of the history of English literature.

This will be a hybrid event with Professor Davidson addressing a small audience in Oxford. We invite you to join us for the lecture online.