Staff profile

I am the Capuchin Fellow in the History of Catholicism at the Centre for Catholic Studies. Before this role I had taught at Durham, Northumbria and Sunderland as an Associate Lecturer and had also developed my skills in engagement and digital design in roles outside of academia.

To date, my research has been especially concerned with mysticism and mystical experience in both Catholic and Protestant groups in early modern England. It has focused on examples of how mysticism encouraged conversation and spiritual collaboration across confessional boundaries in the period. This research culminated in my first monograph which was published with Boydell and Brewer in 2019.

In my role as Capuchin Fellow I will research the largely unexplored history of the relation between the Capuchins and Great Britain from the early modern period to the present day, highlighting the significance of the Capuchin British experience for the study of the history of post-Reformation Catholicism. The project will include research not only into the province after its formation in the nineteenth century, but also into individuals from Britain who entered the global Capuchin order during the early modern period. This research will draw on my existing published research on the history of the English Benedictines and Poor Clares in the early modern period.

I am passionate about public engagement and supporting local heritage. I have worked closely with the members of Saint Cuthbert's Church, Darlington, on the history of their thirteenth century church and continue to provide support to their heritage and rejuvination projects.

Available for media contact about:

• Religion:
• Theology:
• Middle Ages & Early Modern History:
• Politicial, cultural, social history:

Authored book

• Temple, Liam Peter (2019). Mysticism in Early Modern England. Boydell and Brewer.

Chapter in book

• Temple, Liam Peter (2019). George Herbert. In Protestants and Mysticism in Reformation Europe. Brill. 328-48.

Journal Article

• Temple, Liam Peter (2021). Protestant readers of Catholic spirituality in seventeenth-century England. Catholic Archives 41: 81-98.
• Temple, Liam Peter (2019). Mysticism and Identity among the English Poor Clares. Church History 88(3): 645-71.
• Temple, Liam Peter (2017). The Mysticism of Augustine Baker, OSB: A Reconsideration. Reformation & Renaissance Review 19(3): 213-230.
• Temple, Liam Peter (2017). ‘Have we any mother Juliana's among us?’ The multiple identities of Julian of Norwich in Restoration England. British Catholic History 33(3): 383-400.
• Temple, Liam Peter (2016). Returning the English “Mystics” to their Medieval Milieu: Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe and Bridget of Sweden. Women's Writing 23(2): 141-158.