Montague Summers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Montague Summers
Montague Summers c. early 1920s.
Born	Augustus Montague Summers (1880-04-10)10 April 1880 Clifton, Bristol, England
Died	10 August 1948(1948-08-10) (aged 68) Richmond, Surrey, England
Resting place	Richmond Cemetery
Pen name	Reverend Alphonsus Joseph-Mary Augustus Montague Summers
Occupation	Author and clergyman
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Trinity College, Oxford
Subject	Restoration comedy, Gothic fiction, the occult
Notable works	The History of Witchcraft and Demonology (1926); translation of the Malleus Maleficarum (1928); The Vampire: His Kith and Kin (1928); The Werewolf (1933)

Augustus Montague Summers (born April 10, 1880 – died August 10, 1948) was an English writer, teacher, and expert on unusual topics like witchcraft and vampires. He was also a clergyman.

Summers first studied to become a priest in the Church of England. Later, he became a Roman Catholic and started calling himself a Catholic priest. However, it's not clear if he was ever officially made a priest in the Catholic Church.

He worked as a teacher of English and Latin. At the same time, he studied English plays from the 1600s. His work in this area led to him becoming a member of the Royal Society of Literature in 1916.

Montague Summers was known for his unique personality and interests. He became famous in London after publishing his book History of Witchcraft and Demonology in 1926. After this, he wrote more books about witchcraft, vampires, and werewolves. He said he believed in these creatures. Summers also translated an old book from the 1400s called the Malleus Maleficarum, which was a guide for hunting witches. Some people say he was very important in bringing topics about the occult into popular culture in the 1900s.

Early Life and Education

Montague Summers was the youngest of seven children. His father, Augustus William Summers, was a wealthy banker in Clifton, Bristol. Montague went to Clifton College for school.

From a young age, he didn't agree with his father's strict religious views. Instead, he preferred a more traditional and ritualistic style of Christianity called Anglo-Catholicism.

In 1899, Summers went to Trinity College, Oxford to study theology (the study of religion). He loved to read and was good at Latin, but he didn't focus much on his official studies. He earned his first degree in 1904 and a master's degree in 1906. After Oxford, he continued his religious training at Lichfield Theological College. He planned to become a priest in the Church of England.

In 1907, Summers published his first book of poems, called Antinous and Other Poems. These poems showed his interest in medieval times, Catholicism, and the occult. In 1908, he became a deacon (a type of clergyman) and worked in churches in Bath and Bitton. However, he never became a higher-ranking priest in the Church of England.

Becoming a Catholic

In 1909, Summers changed his religion and became a Catholic. He then began studying to become a Catholic priest. After 1913, he started calling himself the "Reverend Alphonsus Joseph-Mary Augustus Montague Summers" and acted like a Catholic priest. However, he was never officially part of any Catholic diocese (a church district) or religious order. It is still debated whether he was ever truly ordained as a Catholic priest.

Some people say that a Catholic bishop refused to make him a priest because of things he had done before. Others claim he traveled to Europe and was ordained there. Another story says he was ordained by a "wandering bishop" in Britain, who was not officially recognized by the main Catholic Church.

Working as a Teacher

From 1911 to 1926, Montague Summers worked as a teacher. He taught English and Latin at different schools in London. He was known for his unusual appearance and habits, but he was a good and respected teacher.

In 1926, he stopped teaching because his first book about witchcraft became very popular. This allowed him to become a full-time writer.

Literary Studies

Even while teaching, Summers became a respected scholar. He focused on plays from the Stuart Restoration period (the late 1600s) in England. He edited the plays of famous writers like Aphra Behn, William Congreve, and John Dryden. He also helped start a group called "The Phoenix" that performed these old plays. His work on Restoration theatre helped him become a member of the Royal Society of Literature in 1916.

Years later, a literary expert named Robert D. Hume said that Summers' work on Restoration drama was important and helpful. However, he also noted that it sometimes had mistakes or was too trusting of other amateur scholars.

Summers also studied Gothic fiction, which are scary and mysterious stories. He edited several collections of Gothic horror stories. He was important in finding some old Gothic novels, called the "Northanger Horrid Novels", which the famous writer Jane Austen had mentioned in one of her books. Some people thought these novels were made up by Austen, but Summers helped prove they were real. He also wrote biographies of Jane Austen and Ann Radcliffe, a Gothic fiction writer. His book Gothic Bibliography, published in 1940, is still considered useful.

He also put together three collections of supernatural stories, including The Supernatural Omnibus. He is seen as a major collector of supernatural and Gothic stories in the 1930s.

Interest in the Occult

Starting in 1916, Summers often wrote articles for magazines about the occult, which deals with magic, spirits, and hidden knowledge.

In 1926, his book The History of Witchcraft and Demonology was published. This book sold very well and got a lot of attention from newspapers. Its success made Summers "a bit of a celebrity" and allowed him to stop teaching and write full-time. In 1927, he published another book, The Geography of Witchcraft.

In 1928, Summers published the first English translation of the Malleus Maleficarum ("The Hammer of Witches"). This was a Latin book from the 1400s that was used to hunt witches. In his introduction, Summers said that believing in witchcraft was an important part of Catholic teaching. He also said the Malleus was a good and correct guide to witchcraft. However, it's important to know that Catholic leaders in the 1400s had actually criticized the Malleus. Other Catholic scholars at Summers' time also thought the Malleus was a bad book.

After his books on witchcraft, Summers wrote about vampires. He published The Vampire: His Kith and Kin (1928) and The Vampire in Europe (1929). Later, he wrote about werewolves in his book The Werewolf (1933).

Relationship with the Catholic Church

Summers presented himself as a strong supporter of Catholic beliefs. However, none of his books on religious topics were ever officially approved by Catholic leaders. His writings on witchcraft received strong criticism from some important Catholic scholars. They worried that his work might make the Church seem foolish by linking it to old, extreme beliefs about witches.

Some Catholic leaders also pointed out that Summers was not listed as an official priest in any church records. They challenged him to prove he was truly ordained, but he did not.

In the early 1930s, Summers worked as a private chaplain (a kind of private priest) for a woman named Mrs. Ermengarde Greville-Nugent. She was a Catholic convert. The Catholic Bishop of Southwark later took away Mrs. Greville-Nugent's church membership because she allowed Summers to celebrate Mass (a Catholic church service) in her private chapel.

Death

Montague Summers passed away at his home in Richmond, Surrey, in August 1948. The local Catholic church did not hold a public funeral service for him, but they did allow a private ceremony at his grave.

For many years, Summers' grave in Richmond Cemetery had no headstone. But in the late 1980s, some fans raised money to put one there. It now has his favorite phrase: "tell me strange things."

Summers left his belongings and papers to his longtime assistant, Hector Stuart-Forbes. Stuart-Forbes was later buried in the same grave as Summers. A book about Summers' life, called The Galanty Show, was published after he died in 1980. Many of Summers' personal papers were found again in Canada in the 2000s. A collection of his papers is now kept at the Georgetown University library.

Works

Books on the Occult

• The History of Witchcraft and Demonology, 1926
• The Geography of Witchcraft, 1927
• The Vampire, His Kith and Kin, 1928
• The Vampire in Europe, 1929
• The Werewolf, 1933
• A Popular History of Witchcraft, 1937
• Witchcraft and Black Magic, 1946
• The Physical Phenomena of Mysticism, 1947

Poetry and Drama

• Antinous and Other Poems, 1907
• William Henry (play), 1939 (not published)
• Piers Gaveston (play), 1940 (not published)

Fiction Collections Edited by Summers

• The Grimoire and Other Supernatural Stories, 1936
• The Supernatural Omnibus, 1947

Other Books

• St. Catherine of Siena, 1903
• Lourdes, 1904
• A Great Mistress of Romance: Ann Radcliffe, 1917
• Jane Austen, 1919
• St. Antonio-Maria Zaccaria, 1919
• Essays in Petto, 1928
• Architecture and the Gothic Novel, 1931
• The Restoration Theatre, 1934
• The Playhouse of Pepys, 1935
• The Gothic Quest: a History of the Gothic Novel 1938
• A Gothic Bibliography 1941
• Six Ghost Stories (1938, published in 2019)
• The Bride of Christ and other fictions (published after his death, 2019)

As Editor or Translator

• Works of Mrs. Aphra Behn, 1915
• Complete Works of Congreve, 1923
• Complete Works of Wycherley, 1924
• The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, 1924
• The Complete Works of Thomas Shadwell, 1927
• Covent Garden Drollery, 1927
• Horrid Mysteries by the Marquis de Grosse 1927
• The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest by 'Ludwig Flammenberg' 1927
• Demoniality by Ludovico Maria Sinistrari, 1927
• The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, 1928
• The Discovery of Witches, 1928 by Matthew Hopkins
• Compendium Maleficarum by Francesco Maria Guazzo, translated by E.A. Ashwin, 1929
• Demonolatry by Nicolas Remy, translated by E.A. Ashwin, 1930
• The Supernatural Omnibus, 1931
• Dryden: The Dramatic Works, 1931-32
• Victorian Ghost Stories, 1936
• The Poems of Richard Barnfield, 1936
• The Complete Works of Thomas Otway, 1936
• Gothic Bibliography, 1940

See also

In Spanish: Montague Summers para niños