William Allen was a Roman Catholic Cardinal responsible for leading the Catholic response to the Reformation in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. Although initially permitted to remain in Oxford after the accession of the queen, his public denunciations of the re-established Church of England led to his flight into exile. He established himself at Leuven where many Catholic Oxford and Cambridge academics had fled following Elizabeth’s accession to the throne. At Leuven, he devoted his time to returning England to the Catholic faith and began to produce books and pamphlets to try to bring people back to the Church. He also travelled to England as a clandestine missionary.

Allen travelled to Rome in 1567 with the aim of persuading the Church to establish a college for English theological students. It was hoped such a college could provide a supply of Catholic clergy to serve in England should the country return to the faith. In September 1568, Allen established the English College at Douai for this purpose. The college soon attracted several English exiles and began to print a prodigious output of Bibles, theological books and pamphlets that aimed to counter the teachings of the Church of England.

This book, printed in 1567, contains Allen’s treatise defending the Sacrament of Confession and the ability of Catholic clergy to absolve sins. The book also explores the controversial practice of Papal indulgences, the granting of which was one of the major causes of the Reformation.