In 1845 John Henry Newman (1801-90), the leader of the (Anglican) Oxford Movement and most brilliant theologian of his time, converted to Roman Catholicism. Various priests and laymen followed his example in succeeding years, and for the rest of the century Anglican dignitaries were scared of possible further conversions, which were derogatorily called .perversions.. Thus, bishops tended to have an eye on younger clergymen's activities at their parishes, at universities and on the literary market. In literature, the scare of conversion lead to the publication of dozens of polemical anti-conversion novels, such as William Sewell's

(1845).

Newman's conversion altered the public understanding of the Oxford Movement. Until 1845 it was widely

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Citation: Spies, Marion. "Newman converts to catholicism". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=773, accessed 26 November 2024.]