{{Short description|Irish Roman Catholic archbishop (1618–1680)}} {{good article}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox Christian leader | name = Peter Talbot | church = [[Catholic Church]] | image = Peter Talbot, Catholic Archbishop of Dublin.jpg | caption = Portrait of Peter Talbot, {{circa}} 1660, located in [[Malahide Castle]] | appointed = 1669 | consecration = 9 May 1669 | ordination = {{circa}} 1647 | birth_date = 29 June 1618 | birth_place = [[Malahide]], County Dublin, Ireland | death_date = 15 November 1680 (aged 62) | death_place = [[Dublin Castle]], [[Dublin]], Ireland | type = | title = [[Archbishop of Dublin (Catholic Church)|Archbishop of Dublin]] | archdiocese = [[Archdiocese of Dublin]] | honorific_prefix = [[The Most Reverend]] }} '''Peter Talbot''' (29 June 1618 – 15 November 1680) was an Irish [[Roman Catholic]] religious leader who served as [[Archbishop of Dublin (Roman Catholic)|Archbishop of Dublin]] from 1669 until his death in prison in 1680. He was a victim of the [[Popish Plot]].
==Early life== Talbot was born at [[Malahide]] on 29 June 1618<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Cheney |first=David M. |title=Archbishop Peter Talbot |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/btalbotp.html |access-date=1 January 2024 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=Aidan |title=Talbot, Peter |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/talbot-peter-a8452 |journal=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]] |date=2009 |doi=10.3318/dib.008452.v1|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref> to [[Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet|Sir William Talbot]] and his wife Alison ({{née|Netterville}}). In May 1635, he entered the [[Society of Jesus]] in [[Portugal]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Oliver |first=George |title=Collections towards illustrating the biography of the Scotch, English, and Irish members, of the Society of Jesus |publisher=C. Dolman |year=1838 |isbn=978-1333240035}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Talbot, Peter|volume=55|last=Bagwell|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Bagwell|pages=327-329|short=1}}</ref> He was ordained a priest at [[Rome]] on either 6 April 1647<ref name=":2" /> or 6 June 1648.<ref name=":3" />
According to archbishop [[Oliver Plunkett]], Talbot proved "so troublesome" that he was made to carry out the tertian stage of his probation in [[Florence]].<ref name=":2" />
Talbot held the chair of theology at the College of [[Antwerp]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Peter Talbot|volume=14|last=Moran|first=Francis|author-link=Francis Moran (cardinal)|short=1}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> In the meantime during the Commonwealth period, [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] and the royal family were compelled to seek refuge in Europe. Throughout the period of the king's exile, Talbot's brothers were attached to the royal court. The eldest brother, [[Sir Robert Talbot, 2nd Baronet]], had held a high commission under [[James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde|James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond]] in the [[Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland)|army in Ireland]] and was reckoned among the king's most confidential advisers. A younger brother, [[Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel|Richard Talbot, later 1st Earl of Tyrconnell]], was also devoted to the cause of the exiled monarch and stood high in royal favour.<ref name=":1" />
==Appointments== Peter Talbot himself was constantly in attendance on Charles II and his court. On account of his knowledge of the continental languages, he was repeatedly dispatched to private embassies in [[Lisbon]], [[Madrid]], and [[Paris]]. On the return of the king to London, Talbot received an appointment as [[Lord High Almoner|Queen's Almoner]], but the [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Clarendon]] and Ormond faction, which was then predominant, feared his influence with the king. He was accused of conspiring with four Jesuits to assassinate the Duke of Ormond, and he was forced to seek safety by resigning his position at Court and retiring to continent Europe. The king allowed him a pension of three hundred pounds a year. Before his return to England, Talbot had, with the approval of the [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|General]] of the Jesuits, severed his connection with the Society.<ref name=":1" />
He was appointed Archbishop of Dublin in 1669. Sources differ on the exact date – 11 January,<ref name=":1" /> 8 March<ref name=":3" /> or 2 May.<ref name=":0" /> Talbot was consecrated in Antwerp on 9 May 1669,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> assisted by the Bishops of [[Ghent]] and Ferns.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" />
==Catholic persecution== During this period, the English treatment of Catholics in Ireland was more lenient than usual, owing to the known sympathies of the King (who entered the Catholic Church on his deathbed). In August 1670, Talbot held his first Diocesan [[Synod]] in Dublin. It was opened with [[Solemn Mass|High Mass]], which for forty years many of the faithful had not witnessed. In the same year, an assembly of the archbishops and bishops and representatives of the clergy was held in Dublin. At this assembly, the [[Primacy of Ireland|question of precedence and of the primatial authority]] gave rise to considerable discussion and led to an embittered controversy between the Archbishop of Dublin and Oliver Plunkett, [[Archbishop of Armagh (Roman Catholic)|Archbishop of Armagh]].<ref name=":1" /> The subject had been one of great controversy in the Middle Ages, but had been in abeyance for some time.<ref>MacGeoghegan, James, ''[[iarchive:historyirelanda00tragoog|The history of Ireland, ancient and modern]]'' (1844), James Duffy, Dublin, p. 337</ref> Both prelates considered that they were asserting the rights of their respective sees, and each published a treatise on the subject. Another meeting of the Catholic gentry was convened by Talbot, at which it was resolved to send to the Court at [[London]] a representative who would seek redress for some of the grievances to which the Catholics of Ireland were subjected. This alarmed the [[Protestant]]s in Ireland, who feared that the balance of power might shift to the Catholic majority. They protested to King Charles, and in 1673 some of the repressive measures against Irish Catholics were reinstated, and Talbot was compelled to seek safety in exile.<ref name=":1" />
==Exile, arrest and death== During his banishment, he resided generally in Paris. In 1675, Talbot, in poor health, obtained permission to return to England, and for two years he resided with a family friend at Poole Hall in [[Cheshire]]. Towards the end of 1677, he petitioned the Crown for leave "to come to Ireland to die in his own country", and through the influence of [[James, Duke of York]] his request was granted.<ref name=":1" />
Shortly after that, the [[Popish Plot]] was hatched by [[Titus Oates]], and information was forwarded to the Duke of Ormond, as [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]], to the effect that a rebellion was being planned in Ireland, that Peter Talbot was one of the accomplices, and that assassins had been hired to murder the Duke himself. Ormond was in private deeply sceptical of the Popish Plot's existence, remarking that Talbot was too ill to carry it out.<ref name=":1" /> Of the alleged assassins, Ormond stated that they were such "silly drunken vagabonds" that "no schoolboy would trust them to rob an orchard"; but he thought it politically unwise to show his doubts publicly. Though he was sympathetic to Oliver Plunkett, who was also arrested in connection with the alleged Plot and was later to die on the [[gallows]], he had always been hostile to Talbot.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last= Kenyon |first=J.P. |title=The Popish Plot |date=2000 |publisher=Phoenix Press Reissue |pages=225}}</ref>
On 8 October 1678, Ormond signed a warrant for Talbot's arrest.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":1" /> He was arrested at Cartown near [[Maynooth]] at the house of his brother, Colonel Richard Talbot, and was then moved to [[Dublin Castle]].<ref name=":1" />
For two years Talbot remained in prison without trial, where he fell ill.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Despite their long friendship, Charles II, fearful of the political repercussions, made no effort to save him.<ref name=":5" /> Talbot was held in an adjoining cell to Oliver Plunkett. The two archbishops reconciled as fellow prisoners, setting aside their disagreements as expressed in their treatises.<ref name=":1" />
From his prison cell, Talbot had written on 12 April 1679, petitioning that a priest be allowed to visit him, as he was bedridden for months and was now in imminent danger of death. The petition was refused, but Plunkett, on hearing of Talbot's dying condition, forced his way through the warders and administered to the dying prelate the last consolations of the sacraments.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Talbot died in prison on 15 November 1680.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />
==Legacy== Talbot is said to have been interred in the churchyard of [[St. Audoen's Church, Dublin (Church of Ireland)|St. Audoen's Church]], close by the tomb of [[Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester]].<ref name=":1" />
==References== <references />
'''Attribution''' * {{catholic|wstitle=Peter Talbot |volume=14|last= Moran |first= Francis |author-link= Francis Moran (cardinal)}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box|title=[[Archbishop of Dublin]]|before=Richard Butler (vicar apostolic)|after=[[Patrick Russell (bishop)|Patrick Russell]]|years=1669–1680}} {{s-end}} {{Roman Catholic archbishops of Dublin|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Peter}} [[Category:1620 births]] [[Category:1680 deaths]] [[Category:17th-century Irish Jesuits]] [[Category:17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ireland]] [[Category:17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs]] [[Category:Christian clergy from County Dublin]] [[Category:Irish people who died in prison custody]] [[Category:Martyred Roman Catholic priests]] [[Category:People associated with the Popish Plot]] [[Category:People from Malahide]] [[Category:Roman Catholic archbishops of Dublin]] [[Category:Talbot family|Peter]] [[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]