摘要：摘要From the first encounter with King James vi of Scotland, the Society of Jesus believed in the possibility of his conversion. Such a religious transformation would reverberate beyond the northern kingdom and indeed beyond the British Isles. Finances and proposals were advanced to attain this goal. With noticeable encouragement from James in the 1590s as he positioned himself to ascend the English throne as Elizabeth’s successor, many Catholics rallied to his cause. Once he had ascended the throne, he could cast caution to the proverbial wind and disclose his religious allegiance. Presented here are two memorials, both most likely written by the Scottish Jesuit William Crichton, on the possibility of James’s conversion. The first can be dated circa 1580, at the very inception of the project; the second is post-Gunpowder Plot (1605) by which time nearly everyone had abandoned any hope in its successful completion. But Crichton, naively or optimistically, still insisted there was a chance.
关键词：William Crichton;Robert Persons;James VI and I;religious conversion;English succession
