This article offers an in-depth examination of Sir Tobie Matthew’s conversion as an attempt to understand not only the internal process of conversion for one individual, but also its meaning for the English Catholic community during the early seventeenth-century. Matthew was an extraordinary figure. He was both learned and extremely well-connected, with friends in the highest echelons of the Roman Catholic Church, and in English society, and this despite his conversion. He maintained those relationships to his benefit throughout his life. Officially he was at times an exile from England and at other times at court, nonetheless he was always at the centre of dynastic politics. He maintained loyalty to England throughout his life, but clearly felt a draw to Catholicism for its intellectual tradition, emotional appeal, his desire to travel; and, perhaps, also for reasons of sexuality. Sir Tobie’s conversion reveals just how complex the relationship between religious and national identity could be after the Reformations.

Richard Russell (1630–93), priest, courtier, and diplomat, has largely been overlooked in English Catholic historiography. A student and later patron of the English College at Lisbon, Russell saw the college thrive. Russell began life as a servant to the college’s fifth president, Edward Pickford (1642–48). He went on to become an attaché to the Portuguese diplomatic corps, and served as a courtier to Queen Catherine of Braganza, before becoming bishop of Portalegre (1671–85) and later bishop of Viseu (1685–93). This article is based on the Letters and Papers of Richard Russell, kept at Ushaw College, Durham. The records reveal a man of considerable ability, patience, resilience and astuteness. As a young man he skilfully aided the Portuguese delegation’s deliberations at Whitehall, culminating in the Anglo-Portuguese marriage alliance of 1661. As courtier to the young Portuguese queen, he managed English Catholic affairs in London and on the Continent, providing protection to colleagues and benefices to his fellow priests from the English College at Lisbon.

By the end of the nineteenth century, Great Britain had become a home to many immigrant communities from across Europe and the wider world. The outbreak of the Great War of 1914-18 however, saw this multi-cultural society fracture. Those from the enemy nations suffered what Panikos Panayi described as efforts ‘aimed at eradicating the German community from Britain’, including persecution, internment, and repatriation, while the State struggled to deal with the threat of espionage and sabotage. Meanwhile, other immigrants from allied countries, such as Italy and Belgium, faced forced conscription from their home governments. Both these situations would impact the many Roman Catholic clergy and members of religious communities1 resident in the United Kingdom, affecting their ability to undertake their ministry, and sometimes resulting in incarceration.