Henry VIII’s enforcer hid Catholic text

Sir John Gage, who enforced the dissolution of monasteries under Henry VIII in England, secretly kept a Catholic manuscript safe during a time when owning such books was dangerous.

Researchers at the Universities of Sussex and Cambridge connected six lost pages of Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, a popular medieval work, to a manuscript held at Yale University in the United States.

They discovered Gage’s signature among a list of previous owners within the Yale manuscript, suggesting he acquired the book while overseeing the closure of monasteries. Love’s book had been approved in the early 15th century but became controversial during the Reformation because it affirmed Catholic sacraments and the importance of confession to a priest.

The researchers believe Gage may have taken the manuscript from a monastic library or received it from someone who smuggled it out before the monasteries were shut down. Gage’s actions reveal a complex figure who navigated a turbulent period by outwardly serving Henry VIII while privately maintaining his Catholic faith.

The survival of this manuscript demonstrates that some people actively worked to preserve Catholic texts despite the risks, countering the common image of widespread book burning and destruction during the Reformation. The researchers plan to continue investigating Gage’s role in preserving religious materials.