Courtier served Henry VIII while secretly preserving Catholic texts

In 16th-century England, John Gage, a courtier serving Henry VIII during the English Reformation, secretly saved a Catholic manuscript despite his official duties to dismantle Catholic institutions.

While enforcing Henry’s orders, Gage acquired a copy of Nicholas Love’s Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, a popular religious text, and kept it hidden.

Researchers at the University of Sussex and the University of Cambridge located missing pages from the manuscript at the Keep archive in Brighton, then traced its origins to Yale University’s Beinecke Library. The discovery reveals a hidden side to Gage, who appeared outwardly devoted to Henry’s religious reforms. Historians note that Gage briefly considered joining a Carthusian convent, a Catholic order, but instead helped dissolve monasteries and seize their wealth.

His signature found alongside those of religious women on the manuscript’s final page confirms his possession of the text. Love’s Mirror held a unique position in the 15th century, functioning as an approved alternative to vernacular Bibles, and later became a point of contention during the Reformation due to its theological views. Despite scrutiny, a significant number of copies have survived, suggesting that individuals like Gage actively worked to preserve it.

Gage continued to serve the English crown through multiple reigns, even regaining favour with the Catholic Queen Mary I after Henry’s death, and died at age 76.