Canfield (Or Canfeld), Benedict
(originally WILLIAM OF FILOH), an English theologian, was born at Canfield, Essex, in 1564. At first a Puritan, he became a Roman Catholic; went to France, and joined the Capuchins of Meudou, near Paris. In 1599 he returned to England, was imprisoned for three years, and then released, at the request of Henry IV of France. He went back to France, where, after taking charge of several convents, he died, in 1610, leaving, Exercices Spirituels (Paris, 1608): — Soliloque (ibid. eod. 12mo):Le Chevalier Chretien (ibid. 1609, 12mo). His chief work is Regle de Perfection, first published ill English, and translated into Dutch and French (5th French ed., 1698, 12mo). See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.; Landon, Eccles. Dict. s.v.