Barbara Constable

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]