CUTBERTO of BRIGHTON. — Capuchin writer of the English province, b. in Brighton on 27 Oct. 1866, d. in Assisi on 22 March 1930. He entered the Order on 27 Oct. 1881, was then superior of the convent for university students in Oxford (1911–30), provincial minister (1922–23), and from 1930 first president of the Historical Institute of the Order in Assisi.
Among his esteemed writings on Franciscan history, the Life of st. Francis of Assisi (London 1912), repeatedly reprinted and translated, holds notable importance. P. Sabatier praised its respect for criticism and its profound spiritual interpretation, which opposed the heterodox view of the Protestant Franciscophile movement. The same qualities are evident in the work The Capuchins. A Contribution to the History of the Counter Reformation (London 1929; Italian trans. Faenza 1930), which presents a vivid historical reconstruction of the first century of the Order and the scenes of anti-Protestantism and Catholic restoration. In 1916 the University of Oxford conferred upon him the honorary title of “Master of Arts.”