Glossary

Chesterton stayed in Madrid in April 1926 invited by the Anglo-Hispanic Committee, presided by the Duque de Alba, as well as the Sociedad de Cursos y Conferencias (Society of Courses and Conferences) to give a lecture in the Residencia de Estudiantes; its title was “El espíritu caballeresco en la Historia” (“The chivalric spirit in History”); during their stay Gilbert and Frances visited Toledo and El Escorial.

British political scandal which broke in mid-1912; from the pages of The Eye Witness, Cecil Chesterton revealed that highly-placed members of the liberal government under Prime Minister H. H. Asquith had benefitted from an inadequate use of information on the intentions of the government regarding the Marconi company; it had come to their knowledge that the government was ready to sign a lucrative contract with the British company Marconi on behalf of Imperial Wireless Chain and had bought shares in a US subsidiary.

Railway station located in the City of Westminster; Gilbert used it when travelling to and from Beaconsfield.

Catholic newspaper founded and directed by Josep M. Capdevila and Josep M. Junoy, published in Barcelona from May 1929 to July 1936, in which Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc made contributions; it stood for an open Christianity critical with capitalism, liberalism and totalitarianism, always with a social conscience; of Anglophile leanings, it characterised itself by a good typographic presentation, its several illustrations and extensive culture and art-related news and reviews.

Irish Dominican priest and scholar; particularly active in evangelisation and apologetics; he was an active collaborator of the distributist proposal; a personal friend of Gilbert’s since August 1911, he was influential in his conversion.

Chesterton always showed interest in the medieval world, its philosophy and theology, as well as in Gothic architecture; medievalism’s a central aspect of his first novel The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904); he was close to the Guild of St Matthew, where he gave several lectures on guilds; distributism was inspired in craft trades and medieval guilds.

Period of European history which runs from the fall of the Roman Empire (5^th century AD) to the emergence of the Renaissance; it was characterized by a mainly agricultural society united culturally by Christianity; feudalism as an economic and political system brought about a stratified and politically fragmented society; from the times of the Enlightenment and the liberal revolutions onward, the romantic movement embraced medievalist nostalgia to counter the cultural and social changes linked to modernity.

Located at 16 Gerrard Street (Soho, London); Chesterton and Belloc often ate there before it closed in 1928; other well-known clients were Joseph Conrad and John Galsworthy.

In his trip to Rome (Italy) of 1929, Chesterton was received by Benito Mussolini at the Palazzo Venezia; Chesterton’s aim was to interview him, but was himself the object of the Duce’s interest for his opinions and ideas.