Fortescue, Adrian

FORTESQUE, ADRIAN. - Priest, liturgist of rare learning and depth, b. 14 Jan. 1874 at Perth (Scotland), d. 11 Feb. 1923. A convert from Protestantism in 1898, he was parish priest of Lechworth (Herts), professor of ecclesiastical history, and consultor to the S. Congregazione Orientale.

Among his most highly regarded works are: Annotazioni a Dante (London 1910); the critical edition of Boethius’s De consolatione philosophiae (ibid. 1925); then three works on Eastern ecclesiastical questions: The Mass. A study of the Roman Liturgy (ibid. 1912), The Cerimonies of the Roman Rite (2nd ed., ibid. 1919), The Uniate Eastern Churches, together with studies on the Italo-Greek and Melchite rites. Death prevented him from extending his studies to all the rites of the united Eastern Churches. He was also a painter and musician.

BIBL.: Obituary: A. F., in Korrespondium des Priestervereins im Theolog. Koecht zu Innsbruck, 27 (1923), pp. 66-70, 105 sqq.; T. Leclercq, Liturgistes, in DACL, IX (1930), cols. 1739-1740. Filippo Oppenheim
Cite this article

“FORTESQUE, ADRIAN.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V (1950), p. 915. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/fortesque-adrian.