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Barbara Constable (1617–1684), professed as Dame Barbara Constable, was an English Benedictine nun, writer and transcriber. Her writing was a support to recusant Catholic communities and some of her transcriptions are the only known copies of Father Augustine Baker's works.[1]
Constable, born in 1617, was one of the daughters of Sir Philip Constable, 1st Baronet and Anne Roper; Sir Philip was a baronet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.[1] Barbara Constable and her family were Roman Catholics.
Constable arrived in 1638 at the monastery of Our Lady of Consolation in Cambrai, France, which had been founded in the 1620s; she died there in 1684.[1] Her poor health made contemplative prayer more difficult so she wrote copiously as part of her religious practice.[2]
Constable wrote and compiled devotional writing collections as well as transcribing the writings of Father Augustine Baker, spiritual director at Cambrai from 1624 to 1633[3][2] Her writing work at the monastery, which included translations and transcriptions of spiritual works, was intended for fellow religious, laypeople, and for Catholics experiencing difficulty in prayer.[1] One of her works on authority, 'Speculum Superiorum', contained advice on the treatment of nuns by their spiritual superiors and emphasised union and peace.[4] Some of her transcriptions of Baker's writings are the only known copies.[1]
The transcribing, copying, preservation and distribution of Catholic religious works by women like Constable was a support to recusant English Catholic communities during the 16th and 17th centuries.[5]
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