GASQUET, FRANCIS AIDAN. - Cardinal, Benedictine, b. in London to a distinguished Catholic family of French origin that had emigrated to England at the end of the 18th century, on 5 Oct. 1846, d. in Rome on 5 Apr. 1929. After completing his studies at the Benedictine priory school in Downside, he entered the novitiate of the same Order at Belmont in 1865. He subsequently held various offices within the community at Downside until he was elected prior in 1878. After a certain period devoted to the service of his monastery, he dedicated himself especially to historical studies and from 1892 to 1902 conducted extensive and methodical research in the British Museum and the Public Record Office, thereby amassing vast treasures of documentation for his future works. In 1896, Leo XIII appointed him a member of the pontifical commission on the validity of Anglican ordinations (cf. his work: Leaves from my Diary 1894-96, London 1916), and in 1900 he was elected Abbot-President of the English Benedictine Congregation. When the Supreme Pontiff entrusted the Benedictine monks with the revision of the Vulgate, and a special commission was formed, Abbot G. was named its president by a letter of Pope Pius X in 1906. Created cardinal with the title of S. Maria in Portico in 1914, he was appointed Librarian and Archivist of the Holy Roman Church in 1919.
A learned historian, patient and diligent researcher of the memories of the past, and an engaging writer thanks to the tranquility and balance of his style, he made a name for himself in the religious history of England.
Works: Henry VIII and the english monastery (2 vols.) (London 1888-89); Edward VI and the book of common prayer (ibid. 1890); The last abbot of Glastonbury (ibid. 1895); The eve of the reformation (ibid. 1896); English monastic life (ibid. 1904); Henry III and the Church (ibid. 1905); Parish life in medieval England (ibid. 1906); Lord Acton and his circle (ibid. 1908); The greater abbey of England. The black death of 1348 and 1349 (ibid. 1909); The Rule of St Benedict translated with an introduction (ibid. 1910); England under the old religion and other essays (ibid. 1912); A history of the writer, English College Rome (ibid. 1921); The religious life of King Henry VI (ibid. 1924); Monastic life in the middle ages (ibid. 1923).