The Capuchin Friars in Great Britain, drawing on the research of Dr. Liam Temple, Associate Professor of the History of Catholicism at Durham University, have published a new book in collaboration with Bloomsbury that explores in detail the growth and development of their presence. This is a significant milestone, as it represents the first major publication in the Franciscan Studies series of the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University. This work offers, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of the history of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in Britain.
This volume is the result of a research project conducted between 2021 and 2024, funded by the Capuchins of Great Britain in collaboration with the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. To reconstruct this previously unpublished narrative, Dr. Temple traveled extensively, visiting archives in Great Britain and abroad, and also drew upon the Capuchins’ own private historical archives, which had previously been inaccessible. At these sites, he was able to consult manuscripts, letters, diaries, registers, and mission reports.
The book is divided into several distinct historical periods, covering the revival of Catholicism in Great Britain after the nineteenth century, the impact of the two world wars, the Second Vatican Council, and the decline of religious orders in Great Britain in recent decades, as well as the choices made by our friars in the face of these changes.
Divided into eleven chapters, the book traces the origins of the friars and their missionary work from the Reformation to the French Revolution. It goes on to examine the establishment of a province of Capuchin friars beginning in 1850 and the changes that followed.
Finally, the book extends beyond British borders. It devotes particular attention to the impact of the English friars’ missions in India and America, highlighting the important role that British Capuchins played in the establishment of new provinces in those countries.
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Liam Temple, Radical Poverty. The Capuchins and Catholicism in Britain, 1850-2022, Bloomsbury, February 2026. For more information: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/radical-poverty-9780567717900/