Strangers in a Strange Land

David N. Bell is professor emeritus of religious studies and dean of theology at Queen's College, St. John's, Newfoundland, and canon theologian in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. John's. He is the author of a number of books published by Cistercian Publications, including The Very Devout Meditations attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, Handmaid of the Lord: Mary, the Cistercians, and Armand-Jean de Rancé (CS293, 2021), Everyday Life at La Trappe under Armand-Jean de Rancé (CS274, 2018), and A Saint in the Sun: Praising Saint Bernard in the France of Louis XIV (CS271, 2017).

Contents

Table of Figures   xi
A Note on Spelling   xiii
Preface   xv

     Chapter One
The Founders: Armand-Jean de Rancé and Augustin de Lestrange   1
     Chapter Two
The Lure of La Trappe   29
     Chapter Three
Popery, Prejudice, and the Welds of Lulworth   55
     Chapter Four
The Founding of the Monastery   79
     Chapter Five
Adverse Reactions   105
     Chapter Six
The First Prior: Dom Jean-Baptiste Desnoyers   125
     Chapter Seven
The Monks and the Monastery   149 
     Chapter Eight
Monastic Life at Saint Susan’s   173
     Chapter Nine
The Voyage to Martinique and the Story of James Power   199
     Chapter Ten
James Power’s Accusations and Their Aftermath   223
     Chapter Eleven
Dom Antoine Saulnier de Beauregard and the End of Saint Susan’s   249
     APPENDIX ONE
Joseph Addison’s Description of La Trappe in Normandy in 1700   275
     APPENDIX TWO
Description of Saint Susan’s in 1800 by Richard Gough   278
     APPENDIX THREE
Description of Saint Susan’s in July 1800 by “P. F.”   281
     APPENDIX FOUR
Description of Saint Susan’s in March 1813 by “Father Paul”   286
     APPENDIX FIVE
Description of Saint Susan’s in June 1817 by Father Luke Bernard Barber   290
     APPENDIX SIX
The Six Illustrations in Thomas D. Fosbroke,
British Monachism; or, Manners and Customs of the Monks and Nuns of England
(London: M. A. Nattali, 1843), Opposite 306   310
     APPENDIX SEVEN
The Book Collection at Saint Susan’s   318

Select Bibliography   325
Index of Names and Places   331