[A True Account of the Great Tryals and Cruel Sufferings Undergone by Those Two Faithful Servants of God Katherine Evans and Sarah Cheevers, London 1663. The vicessitudes of two Quaker women prisoner of the Inquisition in Malta] The book describes the adventures of two Quaker women, Sarah Cheevers and Katherine Evans, who left England at the end of 1658 for Alexandria with the aim of publishing the gospel of the “Light within” in Egypt. They arrived in Malta and were arrested and tried by the Holy Office of the Island, headed at that time by the future Cardinal Girolamo Casanate. The two women remained in prison for more than three and half years and, eventually, were released in 1663, possibly thanks to the intervention of the Jansenist d’Aubigny, Lord Almoner to Queen Henrietta Maria. Between the end of 1661 and the beginning of the following year, the Quaker Daniel Baker went to the Island to pursue Evans and Cheevers’ cause. In 1662, a little before the two women were released, Baker published in London a report of their arrest and of their detention, based on the documents and the accounts given to him by the two Quakers: This is a short Relation of some of the Cruel Sufferings (For the Truths sake) of Katharine Evans and Sarah Cheevers in the Inquisition of the Isle of Malta. The book was republished in London in 1663, perhaps edited by Evans herself, just after her and her companion’s return to England, with the title A True Account of the Great Tryals and cruel Sufferings undergone by those two faithful Servants of God Katherine Evans and Sarah Cheevers. The volume of 1663 also included the story of what happened to the two women after the departure of Daniel Baker and, as a kind of appendix, two theological texts written by Evans and Cheevers, and the account of the misadventures of a young Quaker missionary in the Holy Land. The book, edited by Stefano Villani is organized in three parts: In the first part, the story of the two women is reconstructed from the extensive research undertaken by Villani in Italy, Malta and England. In the second part the entire unabridged English text of A True Account of the Great Tryals and cruel Sufferings of 1663 is published. The third part consists of the trial documents kept in the Inquisition archives of Malta at Mdina.
A True Account of the Great Tryals and Cruel Sufferings Undergone by Those Two Faithful Servants of God Katherine Evans and Sarah Cheevers, London 1663. La vicenda di due quacchere prigioniere dell’inquisizione di Malta
VILLANI, STEFANO;
2003-01-01
Abstract
[A True Account of the Great Tryals and Cruel Sufferings Undergone by Those Two Faithful Servants of God Katherine Evans and Sarah Cheevers, London 1663. The vicessitudes of two Quaker women prisoner of the Inquisition in Malta] The book describes the adventures of two Quaker women, Sarah Cheevers and Katherine Evans, who left England at the end of 1658 for Alexandria with the aim of publishing the gospel of the “Light within” in Egypt. They arrived in Malta and were arrested and tried by the Holy Office of the Island, headed at that time by the future Cardinal Girolamo Casanate. The two women remained in prison for more than three and half years and, eventually, were released in 1663, possibly thanks to the intervention of the Jansenist d’Aubigny, Lord Almoner to Queen Henrietta Maria. Between the end of 1661 and the beginning of the following year, the Quaker Daniel Baker went to the Island to pursue Evans and Cheevers’ cause. In 1662, a little before the two women were released, Baker published in London a report of their arrest and of their detention, based on the documents and the accounts given to him by the two Quakers: This is a short Relation of some of the Cruel Sufferings (For the Truths sake) of Katharine Evans and Sarah Cheevers in the Inquisition of the Isle of Malta. The book was republished in London in 1663, perhaps edited by Evans herself, just after her and her companion’s return to England, with the title A True Account of the Great Tryals and cruel Sufferings undergone by those two faithful Servants of God Katherine Evans and Sarah Cheevers. The volume of 1663 also included the story of what happened to the two women after the departure of Daniel Baker and, as a kind of appendix, two theological texts written by Evans and Cheevers, and the account of the misadventures of a young Quaker missionary in the Holy Land. The book, edited by Stefano Villani is organized in three parts: In the first part, the story of the two women is reconstructed from the extensive research undertaken by Villani in Italy, Malta and England. In the second part the entire unabridged English text of A True Account of the Great Tryals and cruel Sufferings of 1663 is published. The third part consists of the trial documents kept in the Inquisition archives of Malta at Mdina.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
