Letters from School: Francis and Michael Trappes at the English College Douai 1676–77

Extract

Schoolboy letters do not often survive, no doubt because they are notoriously uninformative; however the collection reproduced here can claim something more than mere scarcity value. It reveals a little of what it was like to be a schoolboy at Douai; the themes of pocket money, illness, injury, discontent, delayed correspondence, and the need for various items from home will be familiar to those who have ever written or received such letters; there is perhaps a greater degree of overt piety than would nowadays be expected. We do also see something of the means by which pupils were escorted to Douai (II, III), and something of the conveyance of Catholic books and objects of devotion from Douai to England (V, VI); there is information about Douai custom in the matter of leaving presents (XII). There is a letter from the boys’ father, and one each from Rev. Christopher Banks, from Rev. Francis Gage (the President), and from Rev. Thomas Lockwood, the latter in particular having composed a masterpiece of tact and concern.