Dillon, Anne

PERSONAL:

Education: Earned doctorate degree.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge CB3 0BU, England. E-mail—akd31@cam.ac.uk.

CAREER:

Academic. Cambridge University, Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, England, instructor.

WRITINGS:

The Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535-1603, Ashgate (Burlington, VT), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Anne Dillon is an academic. After earning a doctorate degree, Dillon began working at Lucy Cavendish College of Cambridge University. Dillon published her first book, The Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535-1603, in 2002. The book discusses English Catholic martyrs and the concept of martyrology. Dillon includes a number of pictures and images of the various martyrs discussed and profiles their lives and reasons for their martyrdom.

Alison Shell, writing on the Institute of Historical Research Reviews in History Web site, remarked that "Dillon deserves particular praise for a book which is not only a full and satisfying synthesis, but uses the current interest in techniques of historical representation to advance an innovative and convincing analysis of the material. Her book is not only a splendid achievement in itself, but evidence … of a tidal shift in academic sensibility." Anne Barbeau Gardiner, writing in the New Oxford Review, recalled that "when Dillon writes about Protestants killed for their beliefs, she makes us feel, and rightly so, that real people suffered unspeakably for the sake of conscience."

Michael L. Carrafiello, reviewing the book in Albion, commented that "Dillon has provided a valuable glimpse into the minds and hearts of the English Catholic martyrs, but it will be left to others to continue to make the important connection between their sacrifice and the ongoing plans for the forcible restoration of Catholicism to England." Thomas S. Freeman, writing in the Journal of Ecclesiastical History, remarked that "Dillon's achievement towers over other works written on English Catholic martyrology in the past 200 years, particularly in its attention to pictures as well as printed sources, and its readiness to examine the subject in a European context." Freeman noted, however, that "in crucial ways Dillon's book shares some of the weaknesses of that tradition, especially in its relative neglect of works written in Latin and its failure to examine the interaction between Protestant and Catholic conceptions of martyrdom." Freeman also pointed out that "Dillon can be rather weak on the legal and political background in general. She largely ignores changes in the recusancy laws and the ways in which they were enforced." However, Freeman praised the fact that the book is written "in a lucid, accessible and straight-forward style" and "is a pleasure to read." Robert Trisco, reviewing the book in Church History, wrote that "Dillon has contributed to a deeper understanding of the significance of martyrdom in Tudor times."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Albion, June 22, 2004, Michael L. Carrafiello, review of The Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535-1603, p. 294.

Church History, March 1, 2007, Robert Trisco, review of The Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535-1603, p. 174.

Journal of Ecclesiastical History, July 1, 2004, Thomas S. Freeman, review of The Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535-1603, p. 594.

New Oxford Review, January, 2004, Anne Barbeau Gardiner, review of The Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535-1603.

Reference & Research Book News, May 1, 2003, review of The Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535-1603, p. 25.

Sixteenth Century Journal, fall, 2004, Thomas F. Mayer, review of The Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535-1603, p. 831.

ONLINE

Centre for Reformation & Renaissance Studies Web site,http://www.crrs.ca/ (June 10, 2008), author profile.

Institute of Historical Research Reviews in History Web site,http://www.history.ac.uk/ (June 10, 2008), Alison Shell, review of The Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535-1603.