Adrian Henry Timothy Knottesford Fortescue (14 January 1874 – 11 February 1923) was an English Catholic priest and polymath. An influential liturgist, artist, calligrapher, composer, polyglot, amateur photographer, Byzantine scholar, and adventurer, he was also the founder of the Church of St Hugh of Lincoln in Letchworth. Biography Early life and education Adrian Fortescue, a direct descendant of the martyr Adrian Fortescue (died 1539), was born on 14 January 1874 in Hampstead, London, into a Midland county family of ancient lineage and high position. His father was Edward Fortescue, a renowned high church Anglican clergyman who was "highly regarded as a preacher and retreat master" and an active participant in the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, before he was received into the Catholic Church. His mother, Gertrude Martha Robins, was the daughter of Sanderson Robins, another Anglican clergyman, and Caroline Gertrude Foster-Barham, the scion of the Foster-Barham family of Jamaican plantation owners and granddaughter of the 8th Earl of Thanet. In 1891 Fortescue entered the Scots' College in Rome, where, due to his exceptional musical talent, he was soon appointed organist. He was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1892 and his PhD in 1894, when he entered the theological faculty at Innsbruck University. He was ordained to the priesthood on 27 March 1898 by Simon Aichner, Bishop of Brixen. Between 1899 and 1905 Fortescue passed doctoral examinations in moral theology, dogma, ecclesiastical history, canon law, Arabic, and biblical science—passing the examination in Semitic languages with great distinction, a rare achievement. On 10 June 1905 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, making him the very rare recipient of a triple doctorate. The level of his scholarship was so exceptional that he was awarded a prize presented to him personally by the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Fortescue was also a well-known adventurer, travelling to the Middle East, Asia Minor, and Greece, among other places. In the process, he learned Syrian Arabic, some Turkish, and Persian (he was already fluent in Greek from his academic studies). At the time of his death, Fortescue was professor of church history at St Edmund's College, Ware, the oldest Catholic school in England. Ministry After a number of temporary positions, interrupted by his doctoral examinations, Fortescue was eventually appointed Missionary Rector of Letchworth in Hertfordshire in November 1907. There he faced the task of building a church from scratch. Much of