List of Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation
Summary
The Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation are men and women executed under treason legislation in the English Reformation, between 1534 and 1680, and recognised as martyrs by the Catholic Church. Though consequences of the English Reformation were felt in Ireland and Scotland as well, this article only covers those who died in the Kingdom of England.
On 25 February 1570, Pope Pius V's "Regnans in Excelsis" bull excommunicated the English Queen Elizabeth I, and any who obeyed her. This papal bull also required all Catholics to rebel against the English Crown as a matter of faith. In response, in 1571 legislation was enacted making it treasonable to be under the authority of the pope, including being a Jesuit, being Catholic or harbouring a Catholic priest. The standard penalty for all those convicted of treason at the time was execution by being hanged, drawn and quartered.
In the reign of Pope Gregory XIII (1572–85), authorisation was given for 63 recognised martyrs to have their relics honoured and pictures painted for Catholic devotions. These martyrs were formally beatified by Pope Leo XIII, 54 in 1886 and the remaining nine in 1895. Further groups of martyrs were subsequently documented and proposed by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales and formally recognised by Rome.[1]
Numbers in various categoriesedit
In 1874 a process was begun, containing 353 names, to which six were added in Rome, making 359.[2] Of those:
54 were beatified in 1886, of whom two were canonized in 1935, and 11 in 1970.
9 were beatified in 1895.
One (Oliver Plunkett) was beatified in 1920, and canonized in 1975.
136 were beatified in 1929, of whom 29 were canonized in 1970
85 were beatified in 1987.
(So 285 were beatified at various times, of whom 43 were subsequently canonised).
30 were declared venerable, of whom one, John Travers, was executed in Dublin and appears in Irish Catholic Martyrs.
(So 315 were declared venerable, of whom 285 were subsequently beatified).
44 were postponed ("dilati") – 36 died in prison and 8 were postponed for other reasons.
Saintsedit
Canonised on 19 May 1935edit
John Fisher (1469–1535), Bishop of Rochester; Cardinal (Yorkshire – London, England)
Thomas More, (1478–1535), married layman of the Archdiocese of Westminster (London, England)
Canonised on 25 October 1970edit
John Houghton (c. 1487–1535), priest of the Carthusian order (Essex – London, England)
Robert Lawrence (c. 1485–1535), priest of the Carthusian order (London, England)[3]
Augustine Webster (died 1535), priest of the Carthusian order (London, England)
Richard Reynolds (c. 1492–1535), priest of the Bridgettine order (Devon – London, England)[4]
John Stone (died 1539), priest of the Augustinian order (Kent, England)
Cuthbert Mayne (c. 1544–1577), priest of the Diocese of Plymouth (Devon – Cornwall, England)
Edmund Campion (c. 1540–1581), Jesuit priest (London, England)
Ralph Sherwin (c. 1550–1581), priest of the Diocese of Nottingham (Derby – London, England)
Alexander Briant (c. 1556–1581), Jesuit priest (Somerset – London, England)
John Paine (1532–1582), priest of the Diocese of Brentwood (Northampton – Essex, England)
Luke Kirby (c. 1549–1582), priest of the Diocese of Middlesbrough (North Yorkshire – London, England)
Richard Gwyn (alias Richard White) (c. 1537–1584), married layman of the Diocese of Wrexham (Powys – Clwyd, Wales)
John Griffith (alias Jones, Buckley, or Griffith, or Godfrey Maurice) (1559–1598), priest of the Franciscan Friars Minor (Observants) (Gwynedd, Wales – London, England)
John Rigby (c. 1570–1600), laypman of the Archdiocese of Liverpool (Lancashire – London, England)
Anne Line née Higham (c. 1565–1601), married laywoman of the Diocese of Brentwood (Essex – London, England)
Nicholas Owen (c. 1550–1606), Jesuit (Oxfordshire – London, England)
Thomas Garnet (1575–1608), Jesuit priest (London, England)
John Roberts (c. 1576–1610), priest of the Benedictine order (English Congregation) (Gwynedd, Wales – London, England)
John Almond (c. 1577–1612), priest of the Archdiocese of Liverpool (Merseyside – London, England)[6]
John Larke (died 1544), priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster (London, England)
German Gardiner (died 1544), priest of the Archdiocese of Southwark (London, England)
Thomas Plumtree (died 1570), priest of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle (Lincolnshire – Durham, England)
John Felton (died 1570), married layman of the Archdiocese of Southwark (London, England)
John Storey (died 1571), married layman of the Diocese of Clifton (Wiltshire – London, England)
Thomas Woodhouse (1535–1571), Jesuit priest (Lincolnshire – London, England)
John Nelson (died 1578), Jesuit priest (Yorkshire – London, England)
Thomas Sherwood (1551–1578), layman of the Archdiocese of Westminster (London, England)
Everard Hanse (died 1581), priest of the Diocese of Northampton (Northamptonshire – London, England)
Thomas Ford (died 1582), Priest of the Diocese of Plymouth (Devon – London, England)
John Shert (died 1582), priest of the Diocese of Shrewsbury (Cheshire – London, England)
Robert Johnson (died 1582), priest of the Diocese of Shrewsbury (Shropshire – London, England)
William Filby (died 1582), priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham (Oxfordshire – London, England)
Lawrence Richardson (also known as Lawrence Johnson[10]) (died 1582), priest of the Archdiocese of Liverpool (Lancashire – London, England)
Thomas Cottam (1549–1582), Jesuit priest (Lancashire – London, England)
William Lacy (or Lacey) (died 1582), priest of the Diocese of Leeds (North Yorkshire, England)
Richard Kirkman (died 1582), priest of the Diocese of Leeds (North Yorkshire, England)
James Tompson (died 1582), priest of the Diocese of Middlesbrough (North Yorkshire, England)
William Hart (died 1583), priest of the Diocese of Clifton (Somerset – North Yorkshire, England)
Richard Thirkeld (died 1583), priest of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle (Durham – North Yorkshire, England)
Beatified on 13 May 1895edit
Adrian Fortescue (c. 1480–1539), married layman of the Archdiocese of Westminster; Member of the Lay Dominicans and Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem (Hertfordshire – London, England)[11]
Richard Whiting (died 1539), priest of the Benedictine order (English Congregation); Abbot of Glastonbury (Somerset, England)
John Thorne (died 1539), priest of the Benedictine order (English Congregation) (Somerset, England)
Roger James (died 1539), priest of the Benedictine order (English Congregation) (Somerset, England)
Hugh Cook Faringdon (died 1539), priest of the Benedictine order (English Congregation); Abbot of Reading (Berkshire, England)
William Eynon (John) (died 1539), priest of the Benedictine order (English Congregation) (Berkshire, England)
John Rugg (or Rugge) (died 1539), priest of the Benedictine order (English Congregation) (Berkshire, England)
John Beche (or Thomas Marshall) (died 1539), priest of the Benedictine order (English Congregation); Abbot of Colchester (Essex, England)
Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland (1528–1572), married layman of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle (Northumberland – North Yorkshire, England)
Beatified on 15 December 1929edit
As well as those listed below, 29 members[b] of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales were also beatified on that date, making a total of 136. This beatification was attended by G.K. Chesterton as detailed in his book The Resurrection of Rome.
As stated above, John Travers was executed in Dublin and appears in Irish Catholic Martyrs. The total number of those declared venerable in 1886 and not subsequently beatified is therefore 30.
Dilatiedit
They "were left with their fate still in suspense, and are called Dilati. [36 of them were] "Confessors", who certainly died in prison for their faith, though it is not yet proven that they died precisely because of their imprisonment...[the remaining eight – William Tyrrwhit, James Atkinson, Matthias Harrison, Fr. Henry Garnet, S.J., John Mawson, Thomas Dyer, Lawrence Hill and Robert Green] were put off for various causes."[38] Those 'put off' are listed below in italics.
James Atkinson, layman, 1595 ("killed under torture by Topcliffe, but evidence is wanted of his constancy to the end")
Matthew/Matthias Harrison, seminary priest, 1599 (not yet sufficiently distinguished from James Harrison)
Eleanor Hunt, widow, 1600 (died in prison)
Mrs Swithun Wells, widow, 1602 (died in prison)
Henry Garnet, Jesuit, executed 1606 ("was he killed ex odio fidei, or was he believed to be guilty of the Powder Plot, by merely human misjudgment, not through religious prejudice?")[15]
John Mawson, layman, executed 1614 (not yet sufficiently distinguished from John Mason, 1591) 10 December 1591
Thomas Dyer, Benedictine, c.1618–1630 – his identity 'has not been fully proved'[39][40]
Edward Wilkes, priest, 1642 (died in prison)
Boniface Kemp, priest, OSB, 1642 (died in prison)
Ildephonse Hesketh (alias William Hanson), Benedictine, 1642 (died in prison)
Thomas Vaughan, priest, probably 1644 (died in prison)
Richard Bradley, Jesuit, 1645 (died in prison)
John Felton, priest, SJ, 1646 (died in prison)
Thomas Blount, priest, probably 1646[17] (died in prison)
Robert Cox, Benedictine, 1650 (died in prison)
Laurence Hill, layman, 1679 (Was it due to odium fidei, or an unprejudiced error?)
Robert Green, layman, 1679 (Was it due to odium fidei, or an unprejudiced error?)
Thomas Jennison, Jesuit, 1679[17] (died in prison)
William Lloyd, seminary priest, 1679 (died in prison)
William Bird, priest, 4 August 1540:[citation needed]
William Peterson, priest, Commissary of Calais, Calais, 10 August 1540:[46] or 10 April 1540[47][48]
Decrees of Elizabeth Iedit
During the reign of Mary I, papal authority was officially reinstated and under three hundred of the minority Protestant population were martyred.[49] Upon Elizabeth I's accession to the throne, an Act of Supremacy denied papal authority over the English church; but only a decade later, in February 1570, did Pope Pius V excommunicate Elizabeth and any who obeyed her, issuing the bull Regnans in Excelsis, which purported to "release[ Elizabeth I's] subjects from their allegiance to her".[50]
In the words of the New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Without question it was Elizabeth I's intention to supplant the old religion with the new in a bloodless manner. It is significant that there were no martyrs in the first 12 years of her reign, and only five in the years 1570 to 1577."[51] Of those five, Thomas Plumtree had been chaplain to the insurgents in the Rising of the North, John Felton had published Pope Pius V's Bull Regnans in Excelsis ("reigning on high"), excommunicating Queen Elizabeth, John Story was tried for high treason, for having supported the Rising of the North and encouraging the Duke of Alba to invade, Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, had led the Rising of the North, and Thomas Woodhouse had declared in a letter to William Cecil that Elizabeth "for her own great disobedience is most justly deposed".[52]
The threat of invasion by a Roman Catholic country assisted by English subjects led the Crown to try to repress Roman Catholicism.[53] Responding to Pius V's action, Elizabeth I's government passed anti-Roman Catholic decrees in 1571 forbidding anyone from maintaining the jurisdiction of the pope by word, deed or act; requiring use of the Book of Common Prayer in all cathedrals, churches and chapels, and forbidding criticism of it; forbidding the publication of any bull, writing or instrument of the Holy See (the death penalty was assigned to this); and prohibiting the importing of Agnus Dei images, crosses, pictures, beads or other things from the Bishop of Rome.
Later laws made illegal the drawing of anyone away from the state church; non-attendance at a Church of England church; raising children with teachers who were not licensed by an Anglican diocesan bishop; and attending or celebrating the Roman Catholic Mass.
In 1585, a new decree made it a crime punishable by death to go overseas to receive the sacrament of Ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood. Nicholas Devereux (who went by the alias of Nicholas Woodfen) and Edward Barber (see below Edward Stransham) were both put to death in 1586 under this law. William Thomson and Richard Lea (see below Richard Sergeant) were hanged, disembowelled and quartered under the same law. In 1588, eight priests and six laymen at Newgate were condemned and executed under this law.[53]
^"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Bl. German Gardiner". Newadvent.org. 1 September 1909. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^Bunson, Matthew (2003). Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, Revised. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. p. 712. ISBN 978-1-93170-975-0.
^ abc"Catholic Encyclopedia: Ven. John Adams". Newadvent.org. 1 March 1907. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ven. George Beesley". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^ ab"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ven. Hugh Taylor". Newadvent.org. 1 July 1912. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ven. John Britton". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ven. William Carter". Newadvent.org. 1 October 1912. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^ abcdefghi"[T]here was little hope of establishing sufficient evidence of martyrdom for ten Venerable martyrs who had suffered during the reign of Henry VIII" (the figure of ten includes John Travers, who was executed in Dublin) – see James Walsh, The Catholic Martyrs of England and wales, PP 7–8
^"Thomas Downes – Original Catholic Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
^ abc"Friaries: The observant friars of Greenwich | British History Online". British-history.ac.uk. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^"The Observant Friar Martyrs of Greenwich". Seattle Catholic. 27 July 2005. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ven. Edmund Brindholm". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^ abc'accused (perhaps from religious motives) of treason at Calais' – Lives of the English martyrs, declared, blessed by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 and 1895 – P483
^"London Martyrs List.PDF" (PDF). Academic.regis.edu. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^Catholic Encyclopedia, English Confessors and Martyrs (1534–1729)
^"English Confessors and Martyrs – Original Catholic Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
^"One name among the dilati, that of Thomas Dyer, O.S.B., has also been silently withdrawn, possibly because the year of his martyrdom is uncertain."Nuttall, Geoffrey F. (July 1971). "The English Martyrs 1535–1680: a statistical review". The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 22 (3): 192, note 1. doi:10.1017/S0022046900058310. S2CID 162232706.
^"Catholic Encyclopedia: John Allen". Newadvent.org. 1 March 1907. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^Annales, or a general Chronicle of England, By John Stow, P575
^ abAnnales, or a general Chronicle of England, By John Stow, P576
^ abThe House of Commons, 1509–1558, Volume 1, By Stanley Thomas Bindoff, P117
^ ab"A complete history of the British martyrs: from the Roman occupation to Elizabeth's reign". Archive.org. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
^Catholic Magazine and Review, R.P. Stone, 1832, Volume 2, P276
^John Stow, Annales, or a general Chronicle of England, P579
^'Martyrdoms at Calais in 1540?, The Downside Review, Vol 64, Issue 3, 1946
^The Book of Martyrs (Foxe), Chapter XVI, Wikisource, accessed 1 February 2013
^Barry, Patrick, "The Penal Laws", L'Osservatore Romano, p.8, 30 November 1987
^"Martyrs of England and Wales", New Catholic Encyclopedia, 9:322 (1967).
^Thomas M. McCoog (2004). "Woodhouse, Thomas (d. 1573)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29927. Retrieved 8 September 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ abChapman, John H. "The Persecution under Elizabeth" Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Old Series Vol. 9 (1881), pp. 21–43. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
^The history and topography of the county of Clare, from the earliest times to the beginning of the 18th century, (1893), P67 – citing Anthony Bruodin, 'Propugnaculum Catholicae Veritatis', 1669
Sourcesedit
Pendrill, Colin (2000), The English Reformation 1485–1558, Heinemann.
Pallen, C.B.; Wynne, J.J., eds. (1929), The New Catholic Dictionary, New York: Universal Knowledge Foundation.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Pollen, John Hungerford (1913). "English Confessors and Martyrs (1534–1729)". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.