He was born
Christopher Davenport in
Coventry, England, in 1598, the son of
Alderman John Davenport and Elizabeth Wolley, and from the grammar school at Coventry went to
Dublin where he spent fifteen months, leaving it 22 November 1611. In 1613 he and his brother
John Davenport proceeded to
Merton College, Oxford, entering as "battelers" and taking Cook's commons; but the warden required them to enter as commoners or to leave the college; whereon in 1614 they transferred to
Magdalen Hall. Here Christopher received his
Bachelor of Arts degree on 28 May, his Dublin residence being allowed to count. His brother John subsequently became a noted
Puritan minister and joined the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in
New England. Leading a band of some 500 colonists from there, he founded the
New Haven Colony in 1638, later a part of the
Connecticut Colony. Christopher Davenport, on the other hand, was converted to
Catholicism by a priest living near
Oxford and in 1615 went to the
English College, Douai, Flanders (present day northeast France). Attracted by the efforts to restore the English
Franciscan Province, he joined the Flemish Franciscans at
Ypres, 7 October 1617. When he was
professed the following year, under the name of Francis of St. Clare, he joined the English Franciscan Recollects, a reform branch of the
Order of Friars Minor known for their strict practice of poverty, at the newly established
friary of St. Bonaventure in Douai on 18 October 1618. On 19 June 1637, Davenport was elected
Minister Provincial of the Recollects, an office to which he was subsequently re-elected on 10 July 1650, and 4 June 1665. After the
Restoration of 1660 he was appointed chaplain to Queen
Catharine of Braganza, and returned to London, where he spent most of his remaining years with occasional visits to
Flanders. His intellectual ability and attractive manner won him the friendship of many, and aided in reconciling numerous converts to the Catholic Church, among whom was
Anne, Duchess of York. He died on 31 May 1680. ==Works==