The Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology
As a lay Catholic Institute in the heart of Cambridge and part of the Cambridge Theological Federation, we resource lay people theologically both within and outside of the Catholic tradition. We provide specialist theological education and open learning opportunities for both individuals and groups.
We offer courses, study days, workshops, seminars and conferences that promote the study of theology, ethics, philosophy, pastoral practice, spirituality and theological reflection in dynamic ways that seek to meet and address twenty-first century global needs. In line with our foundational principles, we continue to promote the resourcing of women through a community life that is open to all. Through our teaching and learning we facilitate exchange with art, culture and social justice initiatives. We resource schools, parishes, hospitals, prisons and other institutions with expertise, training and pastoral support. Our theology engages with different professional and community-based (service) needs and perspectives. This is enriched and enabled by an interdisciplinary approach that is at the heart of our educational work. Many of our students gain qualifications from the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University (DTM, BA, MA, MPhil, PhD, DProf).
How We Are Governed
The Institute is a Registered Charity and a Company Limited by Guarantee registered with Companies House.
Registered Company Number UK: 02958069
Registered Charity Number UK: 1041031
Our History
We are now almost 30 years old, still youthful enough to be laying down its foundations (we are located in Cambridge, after all!) but old enough to have a story to tell.
The Institute is named after Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509), who has been described by the historian Dr David Starkey as the most powerful woman in England of her day.
Margaret Beaufort was a scholar, an astute manager of resources and a very significant philanthropist. As the richest woman in medieval England, she used her wealth to promote religion, learning and the education of clergy in particular.
She was mother to Henry Tudor, her only son from three marriages. He became King Henry VlI, and in 1485 she assumed the title of the King’s Mother.
Cambridge became the focus of much of her philanthropy through her confessor St John Fisher, who was Chancellor of the University. Working with Fisher she founded two Cambridge colleges, Christ’s and St John’s, and endowed the Lady Margaret’s Professorships of Divinity at Oxford and Cambridge, to which she appointed her friend and confessor.
Margaret herself translated and published one of the most widely read devotional texts of all time, the Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis. She was a sponsor of the printer Caxton and was, therefore, a major supporter of the new media of her day.
Further information about Lady Margaret Beaufort
Jones, M & Underwood, M. The King’s Mother, CUP 1992
www.tudorhistory.org/people/beaufort/
Institute Staff
Research Fellows
Dr Ian M. Randall
Pearl Fellows
Dr Scholastica Jacob
Research Fellow
Dr. Riyako Cecilia Hikota
Dr Christopher Grey
Sr. Mary Magdalene Eitenmiller, OP
Dr Aileen Walsh
Dr Gareth Polmeer
Research Associates
Prof Susan Docherty
Research Associate
Dr Christine Lai
Research Associate
David Lonsdale
Research Associate
Dr Barnabas Palfrey
Research Associate
Dr Rebecca Skreslet Hernandez
Research Associate
Dr Michael Hahn
Research Associate
Dr Valentin Gerlier
Research Associate
Dr Helen Orchard
Research Associate
Dr Joseph Gabor
Research Associate
Revd Annabel Barber
Research Associate
Dr Anne Francis
Research Associate
Anne-Marie O'Riordan
Research Associate
Sr Loretta Brennan C.S.B.
Research Associate
Dr. Rosalie Moloney
Research Associate
Stephen Squirrell
Research Associate
Visiting Lecturers
Dr Elizabeth Powell
Visiting Lecturer
Dr Melanie - Préjean Sullivan
Visiting Lecturer
Dr Eddie Howells
Visiting Lecturer
Sr Ann Catherine Swailes, OP
Visiting Lecturer
Dr Matthew Mills
Visiting Lecturer
Dr Ela Łazarewicz-Wyrzykowska
Visiting Lecturer
The Margaret Beaufort Association
About the MBA: Who we are … What we do …
The Margaret Beaufort Association was founded in 2018, coinciding with the Silver Jubilee of the foundation of the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology. From 2018-2020 it was admirably led by Co-Presidents Mari Kelly-Gross & Kate Scotland, alumnae of MBIT. Its current President is Susanne Jennings, who is also an alumna of MBIT.
The Association’s purpose is threefold:
- To keep alumnae connected to MBIT, and each other, through updates on current news and events;
- To provide a forum for Friends & Supporters of the Institute (including but not restricted to past and present members of staff/research fellows and Visiting academics; current students);
- To provide a forum for those who Support the Institute through charitable giving.
Membership is free and open to anyone. Members receive the Margaret Beaufort Association Newsletter and are invited to join the Thursday Evening Prayer liturgies, some of which are led by members of the MBA. They also receive invitations to special events and courses including specially discounted bespoke tours and pilgrimages, MBA Study Days led by top speakers, events and workshops.
There are also a small number of discounted special events hosted by the MBA (for further details, please contact info@mbait.cam.ac.uk)
Alumnae are also welcome to use the Lash Library to consult the Catholic and specialist material held by the Institute by prior written permission from the Curator.
Existing and prospective members are warmly welcome to get in touch with Susanne Jennings, President of the Margaret Beaufort Association with any queries at scj22@cam.ac.uk.
Susanne Jennings
President of the Margaret Beaufort Association
Forthcoming Events
The Wider Church
We see ourselves as part of both the local and national Church, and also of the long and extensive tradition of Catholic theological education. The Institute is becoming known as a resource for local parishes and the diocese, both as a facility and a source of specialist theological knowledge:
Academic staff play a full part in the life of the wider Church as teachers and researchers, policy advisers, preachers and retreat givers. Staff are members of the:
- Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain;
- Society for Study of Christian Ethics;
- The European Society of Catholic Theology;
- The Ricoeur Society;
- Societas Ethica;
- Association of Teachers of Moral Theology;
- Royal Music Association Music and Philosophy Study Group;
- Centre of Theology and Philosophy;
- Higher Education Academy.
Staff act as external examiners in the UK and Ireland.
Contact Us
You can contact The Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology for general enquires using any of the details below.
The Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology
Jesus Lane
Cambridge
CB5 8BJ
info@mbit.cam.ac.uk
Our office hours are Monday – Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Alternatively you can use the contact form below.
Location
Margaret Beaufort Institute is in the Newnham area of Cambridge, a ten-minute walk to the Sidgwick site, and near to Wolfson, Newnham, Darwin and Selwyn Colleges.
