Catherine Gascoigne

Catherine Gascoigne (1601 – 21 May 1676) was the English abbess of Cambrai from 1624 to 1673.

Life Gascoigne was born in Yorkshire. Her parents were Lady Anne (born Ingelby of Lawkland Hall) and Sir John Gascoigne who was the first Baronet of Barnbow and Parlington Hall in Yorkshire. She was born into a Roman Catholic family with ancestors who included the judge William Gascoigne and the academic theologian Sir Thomas Gascoigne. The family were influenced by Richard Huddleston and many of her siblings entered a religious life. Her eldest brother, Sir Thomas, was accused of being involved in the Popish Plot, her sister Justina, was prioress of a convent at Paris and three of her brothers took religious orders including John (1598–1681) who became the abbot of the Benedictines at Lamspringe Abbey in Germany.

She made the final decision to become a nun after a disfiguring infection of smallpox and she went to Douai in search of a community. She arrived in time to join eight others who had decided to found a community at Cambrai in France led by Gertrude More. They were led initially by three nuns from Brussels and a monk named Augustine Baker. Sister More died that year.

In 1651 a small number of nuns were sent to Paris in search of benefactors, although the nuns who left also reduced the need for food at Cambrai. The nuns were led by Bridget More (Gertrude's sister) and in 1652 she was elected Prioress. This group was recognised as a separate community by the Paris Chapter in 1653 although the nuns wished to remain within the English Benedictine Congregation.

In 1655 the English Benedictine Congregation moved again to try and censure the use of Augustine Baker's approach. Gascoigne refused to cooperate and would not send them the papers they required for the investigation. She threatened that she would leave the EBC if they insisted on her cooperation. The investigation ceased.

Death and legacy Gascoigne resigned as abbess in 1673 and she died at the convent in Cambrai in 1676.