Cardinal Wiseman

A carte-de-visite portrait of Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (1802-1865), English cardinal.

When in 1850 Pope Pius IX restored the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales, Wiseman became the first Archbishop of Westminster and was made a cardinal. His flamboyant announcement of the event contributed to the so-called ‘Papal Aggression’ crisis of 1850-51, but by tact he was subsequently able to allay much of the rear and suspicion that had been aroused. He was criticized by Roman Catholics as well as Protestants for his Ultramontane views, his independent policies, and his attempts to impose Italian devotional life and practices in England. It is, however, generally acknowledged that he did much to organize and advance the cause of the Roman Catholic Church in England.

Photographed by Herbert Watkins of London.