Dorothy Arundell

Dorothy Arundell ( – 1613) was an English author and Benedictine nun in Brussels. Her Catholic family's priest and three others were arrested and executed. She and her sister went to Brussels where they entered the English Benedictine convent there. She wrote a biography of the priest who was later beatified. She was a key patron of the first of the 22 English convents founded on the continent in the 1600s.

Life Arundell was born around 1550. Her parents were rich recusants. Her mother was Lady Anna Stourton and her father was Sir John Arundell who was a leader of the Catholic resistance to the new religion. They were accused of being supporters of Spain but they were royalists. Her father was arrested several times. Her parents harboured Catholic priests and her uncle left her jewels in the hope that she would become a nun. Their family funded the education of John Cornelius who studied at the English College in Rome. Cornelius was the family's priest and he formed a close relationship, particularly with Dorothy, whom he encouraged to become a nun.

In 1590 her mother moved the family and Cornelius to live in Devon after her father died.

Cornelius was tried and Dorothy claimed that she alone had hidden him. Whatever the reason, she and her sister, Gertrude, entered the new convent on 11 July 1598 and Dorothy took her habit in the following year. The dowry that they brought to the convent was invaluable and the convent thrived. Dorothy may have completed her Life of Father Cornelius, at the convent.