Bienheureux Martyrs de Douai
Prêtres martyrs en Angleterre
Fête le 29 octobre
† XVIIe siècle
Béatifiés en 1929
Groupe de plus de 160 prêtres
du séminaire anglais de Douai furent martyrisés en Angleterre et dans le Pays
de Galles, durant le siècle qui suivit la fondation du célèbre collège par le
Cardinal William Allen en 1568. Plus de quatre-vingt anciens élèves de Douai
furent béatifiés en 1929. plusieurs diocèses anglais ont une fête collective en
leur honneur.
SOURCE : http://www.martyretsaint.com/martyrs-de-douai/
Blessed Martyrs of Douai (AC)
16th and 17th centuries. During the persecution of Catholics, the sons of British Catholics had to travel to the Continent for religious studies. One of the major centers for theological study was located at Douai. More than 160 alumni priests from the English College there were martyred in England and Wales during the century following the seminary's foundation in 1568. Over 80 of them were beatified in 1929. A collective feast is kept in their honor in several English diocese, though each also has his own feast (Benedictines).
The Blessed Martyrs of
Douai
A group of 160 priests trained at the English
College of Douai, in France. They were martyred in England and Wales during the
century following the foundation of the famed college by Cardinal William Allen
in 1568. All perished at the hands of English authorities while laboring to
reconvert the island. Eighty alumni of Douai were beatified in 1929.
The English College at Douai was established by
William Allen, later Cardinal, on Michaelmas Day, 29th September, 1568. It
offered an opportunity to form clergy for England in accordance with the system
laid down by the Council of Trent.
Originally it was intended as a college home for
exiles from England, a place where they could continue their studies in a way
no longer possible for Catholics at the English Universities. In time Allen
recognised its potential as a place for training clergy ready for the return to
England when ‘the new religion’ had run its course. The new priests, however,
proved unwilling to wait for that event and quickly Douai College found itself
dedicated very largely to the training of missionary priests.
Between 1577, the date of the martyrdom of St
Cuthbert Mayne, the college’s protomartyr, and 1680, the date of the execution
of Thomas Thwing, the college’s last martyr, one hundred and fifty eight
college members, priests and layman, secular and religious, met with a martyr’s
death.
The College was suppressed in 1793, and the
collegians imprisoned for thirteen months at Doullens, Picardy. They were
released in November 1794, returning to Douai for only a few months before
obtaining permission to return to England. They found their first refuge at Old
Hall Green, Ware, and dedicated the new work of the college to St Edmund of
Canterbury on his feast day, November 16th, 1794
Names of The Blessed Martyrs of Douai
1577
Cuthbert Mayne
1578
John Nelson, Thomas Sherwood
1581
Everard Hanse, Edmund Campion, Ralph Sherwin, Alexander Briant
1582
John Payne, Thomas Ford, John Shert, Robert Johnson, William Fylby, Luke Kirby,
Laurence Richardson, Thomas Cottam, William Lacy, Richard Kirkman, James Hudson
Thompson
1583
William Hart, Richard Thirkeld, John Slade, John Bodey
1584
George Haydock, James Fenn, Thomas Hemerford, John Nutter, John Munden
1585
Thomas Alfield, Hugh Taylor
1586
Edward Stranchan, Nicholas Woodfen, Richard Sergeant, William Thomson, Robert
Anderton. William Marsden, Francis Ingolby, John Finglow, John Sandys, John
Lowe, John Adams, Richard Dibdale
1587
Thomas Pilchard, Edmund Sykes, Robert Sutton, Stephen Rousham, John Hambley,
Alexander Crow
1588
Nicholas Garlick, Robert Ludlam, Richard Sympson, William Dean, William Gunter,
Robert Morton, Hugh More, Thomas Holford, James Claxton, Thomas Felton, Robert
Wilcox, Edward Campion, Christopher Buxton, Ralph Crocket, Edward James, John
Robinson, William Hartley, John Hewett, Robert Leigh, William Way, Edward
Burden
1589
John Amias, Robert Dalby, George Nichols, Richard Vaxley, Thomas Belson,
William Spenser
1590
Christopher Bales, Miles Gerard, Francis Dickinson, Edward Jones, Anthony
Middleton, Edmund Duke, Richard Hill, John Hogg, Richard Holiday
1591
Robert Thorpe, Momford Scott, George Beesley, Roger Dickinson, Edmund Genings,
Eustace White, Polydore Plasden
1592
William Patenson, Thomas Pormont
1593
Edward Waterson, James Bird, Anthony Page, Joseph Lampton, William Davies
1594
William Harrington, John Cornelius, John Boste, John Ingram, Edward Osbaldeston
1595
Robert Southwell, Alexander Rawlins, Henry Walpole, William Freeman
1597
William Andleby
1598
Peter Snow, Christopher Robinson, Richard Horner
1599
Matthias Harrison
1600
Christopher Wharton, Thomas Sprott, Robert Nutter, Edward Thwing, Thomas
Palasor
1601
John Pibush, Mark Barkworth, Roger Filcock, Thurston Hunt
1602
James Harrison, Thomas Tichborne, Robert Watkinson, Francis Page
1603
William Richardson
1604
John Sugar
1607
Robert Drury
1608
Matthew Flathers, George Gervase
1610
Roger Cadwallador, George Napier, Thomas Somers
1612
Richard Newport, John Almond
1616
Thomas Atkinson, John Thulis, Thomas Maxfield, Thomas Tunstal
1618
William Southerne
1628
Edmund Arrowsmith
1641
William Ward, Ambrose Edward Barlow
1642
Thomas Reynolds, Alban Roe, John Lockwood, Edmund Catherick, Edward Morgan,
Hugh Green
1643
Henry Heath
1644
John Duckett
1645
Henry Morse, John Goodman
1646
Edward Bamber
1654
John Southworth
1679
Nicholas Postgate, John Wall, John Kemble
1680
Thomas Thwing
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/the-martyrs-of-douai/
Douai
(Town and University of
Douai)
(DOUAY,
DOWAY)
The town of Douai,
in the department of Nord, France, is on the River Scarpe, some twenty miles
south of Lille. It contains about 30,000 inhabitants and was
formerly the seat of a university. It was strongly fortified, and the old
ramparts have only been removed in recent years. The town flourished in the Middle Ages, and the church
of Notre-Dame dates from the
twelfth century.
To English Catholics, the name Douai will
always be bound up with the college
founded by Cardinal Allen during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, where the majority of the clergy were educated in penal
times, and to which the preservation of the Catholic religion
in England was largely due. Several other British
establishments were founded there — colleges
for the Scots and the Irish, and Benedictine and Franciscan monasteries — and Douai became the
chief centre for those who were exiled for the Faith.
The University of Douai may be said to date from 31 July, 1559, when Philip II of Spain (in whose dominions it was then situated)
obtained a Bull from Pope Paul IV, authorizing its establishment the avowed
object being the preservation of the purity of the Catholic Faith from the errors of the Reformation. Paul IV died before he had promulgated the Bull, which was, however, confirmed
by his successor, Pius IV, 6 January, 1560. The letters patent of Philip
II, dated 19 January, 1561, authorized the establishment
of a university with five faculties;
theology, canon law,
civil law, medicine,
and arts. The formal inauguration took place 5 October, 1562, when there was a
public procession of the Blessed Sacrament, and a sermon
was preached in the market-place by the Bishop of Arras.
There were already
a considerable number of English Catholics living at Douai, and
their influence made itself felt in the new university. In its early years, several of the chief
posts were held by Englishmen,
mostly from Oxford. The first
chancellor of the university was Dr.
Richard Smith, formerly Fellow of Merton
and regius professor of divinity at Oxford; the regius professor of canon
law at Douai for many years was Dr.
Owen Lewis, Fellow of New College, who had held the
corresponding post at Oxford; the first principal of Marchiennes College
was Richard White, formerly Fellow of New College; while Allen
himself, after taking his licentiate at Douai in 1560, became regius
professor of divinity. It is reasonable to suppose that many of the traditions
of Catholic Oxford
were perpetuated at Douai. The university was, however, far from being even
predominantly English; it was
founded on the model of that of Louvain, from which seat of learning the majority of
the first professors were drawn. The two features already mentioned — that the university was founded during the progress of the Reformation, to combat the errors of Protestantism, and that it was to a considerable extent
under English influences —
explain the fact that William Allen,
when seeking a home for a projected English
college abroad, turned his eyes
towards Douai. The project arose from a conversation which he had
with Dr. Vendeville, then regius
professor of canon law in the University
of Douai, and afterwards Bishop of Tournai, whom he accompanied on a pilgrimage to Rome in the autumn of 1567; and the foundation
took definite shape when Allen
made a beginning in a hired house on Michaelmas Day, 1568. His object was to
gather some of the numerous body of English Catholics who, having been forced to leave England, were scattered in different countries on the
Continent, and to give them facilities for continuing their studies, so that
when the time came for the
re-establishment of Catholicism, which Allen
was always confident could not be far distant, there might be a body of learned
clergy ready to return to their country. This was of
course a very different thing from sending missionaries
over in defiance of the law while England still remained in the hands of the Protestants. This latter plan was an afterthought and a gradual
growth from the circumstances in which the college
found itself, though eventually it became its chief work.
Allen's personality and influence soon attracted a numerous band
of scholars, and a few years after the foundation of the college
the students numbered more than one hundred and fifty. A steady stream of
controversial works issued form Douai,
some by Allen himself, others by
such men as Thomas Stapleton, Richard Bristowe,
and others almost equally well known. The preparation of the Douay Bible was among their chief undertakings. It is
estimated that before the end of the sixteenth century more than three hundred priests had been sent on the English
mission, nearly a third of whom suffered martyrdom; and almost as many had been banished. By the
end of the persecution the college
counted more than one hundred and sixty martyrs. Allen
had at first no regular source of income, but depended on the generosity of a
few friends, and especially upon the neighbouring monasteries of Saint-Vaast
at Arras, Anchin,
and Marchiennes, which, at the
suggestion of Dr. Vendeville,
had from time to time subscribed towards the work. Many private donations
were also received from England. After a few years, seeing the extreme need of
the college and the importance
of the work it was doing, Allen
applied to Pope Gregory XIII, who in 1565 granted a regular pension
of one hundred gold crowns a month, which continued to be paid down to the time
of the French Revolution. Allen
himself gave his whole salary as regius professor of divinity. The work of the college was not allowed to proceed without opposition,
which at one time became so strong that Allen's
life was in danger, and in 1578 the English
were all expelled from Douai. The college
was established temporarily at Reims; but possession
was retained of the house at Douai, and in 1593 it was found possible
to return there. By this time Allen
had been called to reside in Rome, where he died 16 Oct., 1594. Under his successor,
Dr. Richard Barrett, the work was extended to include a preparatory course in
humanities, so that it became a school as well as a college. In 1603 under Dr. Worthington, the third president, a regular college
was built, opposite the old parish church
of St-Jacques, in the Rue des Morts, so called on account of the adjoining cemetery.
The town at this time formed a single parish. In the eighteenth century it was divided into
four parishes, and the present church
of St-Jacques dates from that time.
The English
College was the first to be opened in connexion with the university. The Collège
d'Anchin was opened a few months
later, endowed by the Abbot of the neighbouring monastery of Anchin,
and entrusted to the Jesuits. In 1570 the Abbot of Marchiennes
founded a college for the study of law.
The Abbot of Saint-Vast founded a college of that name. Later on, we find the College of
St. Thomas Aquinas, belonging to the Dominicans, the Collège
du Roi, and others. The remaining British
establishments were all exclusively for ecclesiastics. The Irish College was originally a Spanish
foundation. It was established
before the end of the sixteenth century, and endowed
with 5,000 florins a year by the King of Spain. The course of studies lasted six years and
the students attended lectures at the university. The Scots' College has an unfortunate notoriety in consequence of the long dispute between the
Jesuits and the secular clergy which centred round it in later times. It was
established in 1594, not as a new foundation,
but as the continuation of a secular
college at Pont- à-Mousson in Lorraine, which, owing to the unhealthfulness of the
site, had to seek a new home. In 1506, however, it moved again, and it was not
till after several further migrations
that it settled finally at Douai in 1612. The college
was devoid of resources, and it was due to the zealous efforts of Father Parsons in Rome and Madrid, and of Father Creighton in France and Flanders, that numerous benefactions were given, and it
was placed on a permanent footing. For this reason, the Jesuits afterwards claimed the property as their own, although it was admitted that in
its early years secular clergy had been educated there. Appeals
and counter-appeals were made,
but the question was still unsettled when the Jesuits were expelled from France in 1764. The French
Government, however, recognized the claims of the Scotch
secular clergy and allowed them to continue the
work of the college under a rector chosen from their own body. The Benedictine and Franciscan houses at Douai were near together
and were both bound up in their history
with the restoration of the respective orders
in England. The Franciscan monastery was founded mainly through the
instrumentality of Father John Gennings, the brother of the martyr. It was established in temporary quarters in
1618, the students for the time
attending the Jesuit schools; but by 1621 they had built a monastery and provided for all necessary tuition within their own walls. The Benedictines began in 1605, in hired apartments belonging
to the Collège d'Anchin,
but a few years later, through the generosity of Abbot Caravel of the monastery of Saint-Vaast,
they obtained land and built a monastery, which was opened in 1611. The house acquired
a high reputation for learning,
and many of the professors of the university were at different times chosen from among its
members.
Returning now to
the English College, we come
upon the unfortunate disputes between the seculars and regulars
in the seventeenth century. Dr. Worthington, though himself a secular priest, was under the influence of Father Parsons,
and for a long time the students attended the Jesuit schools and all the spiritual direction was in the hands of the society. A visitation
of the college, however, laid
bare many shortcomings in its administration and in the end Worthington was deposed.
His successor, Dr.
Kellison (1613-1641),
succeeded in restoring the reputation
of the college, while he
gradually arranged for the necessary tuition to be given within its walls. In the
latter half of the seventeenth and the early years of the eighteenth century,
the English College went through
a troubled time. During the
presidency of Dr. Hyde (1646-1651), the University
of Douai obtained certain
controlling rights over the college,
which claim, however, he successfully withstood. His successor,
Dr. George Leyburn (1652-1670),
fell out with the "Old Chapter", in the absence of a bishop, governing the Church in England. He attacked one Mr. White (alias Blacklo), a prominent member of their body,
and procured a condemnation of his writings by the University
of Douai. In the end, however, he himself found it necessary to retire in favour of his nephew, Dr.
John Leyburn, who was afterwards vicar Apostolic. Hardly was the dispute with the
"Blackloists" (as they were called) finished, when a further storm of
an even more serious nature
arose, the centre being Dr. Hawarden who was professor of philosophy and then of theology at the English
College for seventeen years. His reputation
became so great that when a vacancy
occurred in 1702 he was solicited
by the bishop, the chief members of the university, and the magistrates of the town to accept the
post of regius professor of divinity. His candidature, however, was opposed by
a party headed by the vice-chancellor. The Jesuits also declared against him, accusing him, and
through him the English College,
of Jansenism. In the end, Dr. Hawarden retired from Douai and went on the
mission in England; and a visitation
of the college, made by order of
the Holy See, resulted in completely clearing it of the
imputation. In 1677, Douai was taken by Louis XIV, and since that date has been under French
control, except for the short time
that it was held by the English
after the siege of the Duke of Marlborough in 1710; but it was retaken by the French
the following year.
During the rest of
the eighteenth century, there were no important political changes until the Revolution broke out. The hopes
which the English Catholics had rested on the Stuart
family had now vanished, and the only prospect open
to them lay in their foreign centres of which Douai was the chief. To
these centres they devoted the
greater part of their energy. Under the presidency of Dr. Witham (1715-1738)
who is considered a second founder, the English
College at Douai was rebuilt on a substantial
scale and rescued from overwhelming debt; it had lost nearly all its endowment
in the notorious Mississippi
scheme, or "South Sea Bubble". The Irish College was rebuilt about the middle of the century,
and the English Benedictine monastery between 1776 and 1781. But all were
destined to come to an end a few
years after this, under the Reign of Terror.
As a town, Douai
suffered less than many others at the beginning of the Revolution. The university kept up its Catholic character
to the end, and it was one of the five typical
Catholic universities to which Pitt appealed
for an authoritative declaration as to the Catholic doctrine on the "deposing power" of the pope. During the Reign of Terror, however, it
suffered the same fate as many
similar establishments. When all the clergy of the town were called upon in 1791 to take
the "Civic Oath", the members of the British
establishments claimed exemption
in virtue of their nationality. The plea was allowed for a time; but after the execution
of Louis XVI, when war was declared between England and France, it was not to be expected that this immunity
would continue. The superiors and students of most of the British
establishments took flight and succeeded in reaching England. The members of the English
College, with their president, Rev. John Daniel, remained
in the hope of saving
the college; but in October,
1793, they were taken to prison at Doullens
in Picardy, together with six Anglo- Benedictine monks who had remained for a similar purpose. After
undergoing many dangers and hardships, they were allowed to return to Douai
in November, 1794, and a few months later, by the exertions of Dr. Stapleton,
President of St. Omer (who with his students had likewise
been imprisoned at Doullens),
they were set at liberty and allowed to return to England. The English
collegians never returned to Douai. The Penal Laws had recently been repealed, and they founded
two colleges to continue the
work of Douai — Crook
Hall (afterwards removed to Ushaw) in the North, and St.
Edmund's, Old Hall,
in the South. The Roman pension
was divided equally between these two until the French
occupied Rome in 1799, when it ceased to be paid. Both these
colleges exist
at the present day. After the Revolution, Bonaparte united all the British
establishments in France under one administrator,
Rev. Francis Walsh, an Irishman.
On the restoration of the Bourbons, a large sum of money was paid to the English
Government to indemnify those who had suffered by the Revolution; but none of this ever reached Catholic hands, for it was ruled that as the Catholic colleges
were carried on in France for the sole reason that they were illegal in England, they must be considered French,
not English, establishments. The
buildings, however, were restored to their rightful owners, and most of them
were sold. The Anglo-Benedictines alone retained their ancient monastery; and as the community of St.
Gregory was then permanently established at Downside, they handed over their house at Douai
to the community of St. Edmund,
which had formerly been located in Paris. These Benedictines carried on a school at Douai until 1903, when in
consequence of the Associations'
Law passed by the Government
they were forced to leave. They returned to England, and settled at Woolhampton,
near Reading.
Sources
DODD, Church History of England; IDEM, ed. TIERNEY, R. C., Hist.
of Eng. Col., Douay, ed. DODD (1713); BUTLER, Reminiscences (1822);
KNOX, Douay Diaries (1878); IDEM, Letters of Cardinal Allen
(1882); J. GILLOW, Haydock Papers (1888); H. GILLOW, Chapels of Ushaw;
WARD, History of St. Edmund's College (1893); HUSENBETH, Eng.
Colleges and Convents on the Continent (1849); CAMERON, The Catholic
Church in Scotland (Glasgow, 1869); BOYLE, Irish College in Paris
(1901); BURT, Downside (1902); THADDEUS, Franciscans in England
(1898); Calendar of English Martyrs (1876); DAUCOISNE, Etablissements
Britanniques à Douai (Douai, 1881); HANDECŒUR, Histoire du Collège
Anglais, Douai (Reims, 1898); TAILLIAR, Chroniques de Douai (1875); Catholic
Magazine (1831). Also many unpublished MSS. in the Westminster archives,
and in those of the "Old Brotherhood" (formerly the "Old
Chapter").
Ward, Bernard. "Douai." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 29 Oct. 2015
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05138a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by WGKofron. With thanks to Fr. John Hilkert, Akron, Ohio.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M.
Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
The Martyrs of Douai, 1577-1680
In the Archdiocese of Westminster in London, today is
the feast of the Martyrs of Douai College which was transplanted from the
Spanish Netherlands to London:
The English College at Douai was established by William Allen,
later Cardinal, on Michaelmas Day, 29th September, 1568. It offered an
opportunity to form clergy for England in accordance with the system laid down
by the Council of Trent.
Originally it was intended as a college home for exiles from
England, a place where they could continue their studies in a way no longer
possible for Catholics at the English Universities. In time Allen recognised
its potential as a place for training clergy ready for the return to England
when 'the new religion' had run its course. The new priests, however, proved
unwilling to wait for that event and quickly Douai College found itself
dedicated very largely to the training of missionary priests.
Between 1577, the date of the martyrdom of St Cuthbert Mayne, the
college's protomartyr, and 1680, the date of the execution of Thomas Thwing,
the college's last martyr, one hundred and fifty eight college members, priests
and layman, secular and religious, met with a martyr's death.
The College was suppressed in 1793, and the collegians imprisoned
for thirteen months at Doullens, Picardy. They were released in November 1794,
returning to Douai for only a few months before obtaining permission to return
to England. They found their first refuge at Old Hall Green, Ware, and
dedicated the new work of the college to St Edmund of Canterbury on his feast
day, November 16th, 1794.
The webpage lists the martyrs by year--the class of 1588 was the largest:
Nicholas Garlick, Robert Ludlam, Richard Sympson, William Dean, William Gunter,
Robert Morton, Hugh More, Thomas Holford, James Claxton, Thomas Felton, Robert
Wilcox, Edward Campion, Christopher Buxton, Ralph Crocket, Edward James, John
Robinson, William Hartley, John Hewett, and Robert Leigh.
The bookends (just to switch metaphors) are St. Cuthbert Mayne and St. Thomas
Thwing:
St. Cuthbert Mayne was the first Englishman prepared for the priesthood at
Douai and he is the protomartyr of the English seminaries established on the Continent.
Born in Devonshire, he was ordained an Anglican minister but became Catholic in
the early 1570's while at Oxford. He returned to England in 1575, serving in
Cornwall, and was arrested a year later. One of the charges against him was
that he had an Agnus Dei, an image of Jesus as the Lamb of God, blessed by the
pope. He was hung, drawn and quartered in Cornwall on November 29, 1577.
St. Thomas Thwing suffered during the Popish Plot hysteria in 1680. From 1664
to 1679 he served as a missionary priest in England. He and other members of
Sir Thomas Gasciogne's household, including the master, were accused of a
conspiracy to kill King Charles II and brought to London for trial. The others
were acquited but he was found guilty and condemned; the King pardoned him but
the House of Commons demanded his execution. Of course he was innocent of any
charges of conspiracy; he was guilty of being a Catholic priest.
One could research each of the names on that list and read a common, yet
individual pattern of vocation, service, suffering, and martyrdom. At the
bottom of the list of names, there is a quote from William Allen, founder of
Douai College--
"Joy in the Lord because the victory won by
Christ's confessors predominates over earthly sorrow
at the grievousness of their suffering."
SOURCE : http://supremacyandsurvival.blogspot.ca/2012/10/the-martyrs-of-douai-in-london.html
Died 1590; beatified in 1929. Antony Middleton was born at Middleton Tyas, Yorkshire, England, and educated for the secular priesthood at Rheims, France. Edward Jones was born in the diocese of Saint Asaph, Wales, and educated at Douai. He labored as a missionary priest in England from 1635 until his death. Both were hanged, drawn, and quartered at Clerkenwell, London, for being priests (Benedictines).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0506.shtml
Born in London, England; died at Newcastle in 1593; beatified in 1929. Blessed Edward converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism, studied for the priesthood at Reims, and was ordained in 1592. The following year he was executed for his faith at Newcastle (Benedictines).
Blessed John Cornelius, SJ, Thomas Bosgrave,
John Carey, and Patrick Salmon MM (AC)
Died at Dorchester, England, 1594; beatified in 1929.
Blessed William Andleby and Companions (AC)
Died York, England, 1597; beatified in 1929. William Andleby was born at Etton, near Beverley, and educated at Saint John's College, Cambridge. After his conversion to Catholicism, he studied for the priesthood at Douai and was ordained in 1577. He labored in Yorkshire for twenty years--longer than many of his contemporaries. He was martyred together with three Catholic laymen: Edward Fulthrop, Thomas Warcop, and Henry Abbot.
Blessed Laurence
Richardson,
Thomas Cottam
& William Filby MM (AC)
Died 1582; beatified in 1886. These three were martyred at Tyburn together with Saint Luke Kirby.
Born at Bedale, Yorkshire, England; died at Tyburn near London, May 30, 1582; canonized by Pope Paul IV in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Saint Luke graduated from Cambridge, converted to Catholicism, and, in 1576, went to Douai to study for the priesthood. After further study in Rome, he was ordained in 1577 and sent on the English mission in 1580. Soon after his arrival he was arrested and charged with conspiring against the queen, though in reality because he was a Catholic priest. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London, subjected to the terrible torture known as "the scavenger's daughter," and then hanged, drawn, and quartered with Blessed Laurence Richardson, Thomas Cottam and William Filby (Benedictines, Delaney).
Blessed Christopher Buxton, Robert Wilcox, Robert Widmerpool, Edward James, Ralph Crockett, and John Robinson MM (AC)
Died 1588; beatified in 1929. These Reformation martyrs were all hanged, drawn and quartered in England. Christopher Buxton was born in Tideswell, Derbyshire. Following his education in Rheims and Rome, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1586 and served two years until his death at Canterbury.
Blessed Antony Middleton & Edward Jones MM (AC)
Thomas Cottam
& William Filby MM (AC)
Died 1582; beatified in 1886. These three were martyred at Tyburn together with Saint Luke Kirby.
Laurence Richardson
was born at Great Crosby, Lancashire, England. He was educated at Brasenose
College, Oxford, and after his conversion to Catholicism, studied for the
priesthood at Douai. He was ordained in 1577 and sent to the English mission,
where he changed his name from Johnson to Richardson.
Thomas Cottom was
born at Dilworth, Lancashire, in 1549, and like Richardson, was educated at
Brasenose, converted to Catholicism, and studied for the priesthood at Douai.
He finished his studies in Rome, was ordained, and received into the Society of
Jesus. He returned to England in 1580, but was arrested upon landing at Dover
and imprisoned in the Tower, where he waited two years to be hanged.
William Filby was
born in Oxfordshire and educated at Lincoln College, Oxford. He, too, was a
convert to the faith, but attended the seminary at Rheims, where he was
ordained in 1581. The following year he was martyred (Benedictines).
Luke Kirby, Priest M (RM)
Born at Bedale, Yorkshire, England; died at Tyburn near London, May 30, 1582; canonized by Pope Paul IV in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Saint Luke graduated from Cambridge, converted to Catholicism, and, in 1576, went to Douai to study for the priesthood. After further study in Rome, he was ordained in 1577 and sent on the English mission in 1580. Soon after his arrival he was arrested and charged with conspiring against the queen, though in reality because he was a Catholic priest. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London, subjected to the terrible torture known as "the scavenger's daughter," and then hanged, drawn, and quartered with Blessed Laurence Richardson, Thomas Cottam and William Filby (Benedictines, Delaney).
Blessed Christopher Buxton, Robert Wilcox, Robert Widmerpool, Edward James, Ralph Crockett, and John Robinson MM (AC)
Died 1588; beatified in 1929. These Reformation martyrs were all hanged, drawn and quartered in England. Christopher Buxton was born in Tideswell, Derbyshire. Following his education in Rheims and Rome, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1586 and served two years until his death at Canterbury.
Edward James was
another Derbyshire native, born in Breaston. After completing his undergraduate
studies at St. John's College in Oxford and converting to Catholicism, he
studied for the priesthood at Rheims and Rome. He ministered to his flock for
five years prior to his execution at Chichester.
John Robinson, born
in Ferrensby, Yorkshire, was a widower when he entered the seminary in Rheims.
He was ordained there in 1585. Three years later he was executed for his
priesthood at Ipswich.
Ralph Crockett, like
Edward James, was martyred at Chichester. He was born in Barton-on-the-Hill,
Cheshire. Crockett was a schoolmaster in Norfolk and Suffolk after finishing
his studies at Christ's College (Cambridge) and Gloucester Hall (Oxford). Later
he prepared to serve God's people in the priesthood at Rheims. He, too, was
ordained in 1586 and was martyred two years later.
Robert Widmerpool,
educated at Oxford, was a Nottingham gentleman schoolmaster. He was martyred at
Canterbury with Fr. Wilcox.
Robert Wilcox was
born at Chester and educated at Rheims, where he was ordained in 1585. He died
for his priesthood at Canterbury (Benedictines).
Blessed Antony Middleton & Edward Jones MM (AC)
Died 1590; beatified in 1929. Antony Middleton was born at Middleton Tyas, Yorkshire, England, and educated for the secular priesthood at Rheims, France. Edward Jones was born in the diocese of Saint Asaph, Wales, and educated at Douai. He labored as a missionary priest in England from 1635 until his death. Both were hanged, drawn, and quartered at Clerkenwell, London, for being priests (Benedictines).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0506.shtml
Blessed Edward
Waterson M (AC)
Born in London, England; died at Newcastle in 1593; beatified in 1929. Blessed Edward converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism, studied for the priesthood at Reims, and was ordained in 1592. The following year he was executed for his faith at Newcastle (Benedictines).
SOURCE
: http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0107.shtml
Blessed William Harrington M (AC)
Born at Mount Saint John, Felixkirk, Yorkshire, England; died at Tyburn, 1594; beatified in 1929. William was educated and ordained in 1592 at Rheims. He was only 27 when he was hanged, drawn, and quartered for his priesthood (Benedictines).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0218.shtml
Blessed William Harrington M (AC)
Born at Mount Saint John, Felixkirk, Yorkshire, England; died at Tyburn, 1594; beatified in 1929. William was educated and ordained in 1592 at Rheims. He was only 27 when he was hanged, drawn, and quartered for his priesthood (Benedictines).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0218.shtml
Blessed John Cornelius, SJ, Thomas Bosgrave,
John Carey, and Patrick Salmon MM (AC)
Died at Dorchester, England, 1594; beatified in 1929.
John Cornelius was
born at Bodmin of Irish parents. He became a fellow of Exeter College, Oxford,
and a student at Rheims and then at Rome, where he was ordained a priest in
1583. He worked for ten years on the English mission at Lanherne and became a
Jesuit only in 1594.
Thomas Bosgrave was
a gentleman, the nephew of Sir J. Arundel. Martyred with Cornelius and Bosgrave
were two of Bosgrave's servants: John Carey and Patrick Salmon. They were
accused of sheltering priests.
The Act of 1585
made it high treason to have been ordained a Roman Catholic priest and simple
treason to aid a priest. The penalty for laypeople dealing with the outlawed
priest was liable to vary according to local custom--some may have gotten off
fairly lightly. On the other hand, a man might be hanged for buying a priest a
tankard of ale.
John Cornelius was
condemned for his priesthood. Thomas Bosgrave had taken off his hat and crammed
it on the head of Mr. (Father) Cornelius, when the Jesuit was being carried
away as a prisoner-- "The honor I owe to your function may not suffer me
to see you go bareheaded." Mr. Bosgrave was instantly arrested, led away,
and hanged together with Mr. Cornelius.
(Note: At that time
in England, priests were addressed 'mister.' It was not until the mid-19th
century that the Irish Catholic practice of using 'father' became customary in
England) (Benedictines, Undset).
Blessed William Andleby and Companions (AC)
Died York, England, 1597; beatified in 1929. William Andleby was born at Etton, near Beverley, and educated at Saint John's College, Cambridge. After his conversion to Catholicism, he studied for the priesthood at Douai and was ordained in 1577. He labored in Yorkshire for twenty years--longer than many of his contemporaries. He was martyred together with three Catholic laymen: Edward Fulthrop, Thomas Warcop, and Henry Abbot.
Edward Fulthrop was
a Yorkshire gentleman who also converted to Catholicism. Thomas Warcop, another
gentleman of Yorkshire, was hanged for sheltering priests. Another convert,
Henry Abbot, a native of Howden in Yorkshire, was executed because of his
conversion (Benedictines).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0704.shtml
Blessed John Pibush M (AC)
Born at Thirsk, Yorkshire, England; died 1601; beatified in 1929. John was educated at Rheims and ordained in 1587. He was sent to the English mission where he spent his time mostly in prison until he was finally executed at Southwark, solely for his priesthood (Benedictines).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0218.shtml
Died 1644; beatified in 1929. Fathers Duckett and Corby were martyred at Tyburn outside London, England because they were Catholic priests. John Duckett was born in Underwinder, near Sedbergh, Yorkshire, and educated for the priesthood at Douai. After his ordination in 1639, he ministered to the Catholics at Durham.
Blessed John Pibush M (AC)
Born at Thirsk, Yorkshire, England; died 1601; beatified in 1929. John was educated at Rheims and ordained in 1587. He was sent to the English mission where he spent his time mostly in prison until he was finally executed at Southwark, solely for his priesthood (Benedictines).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0218.shtml
Blessed John Duckett and
Ralph Corby (Corbington), SJ MM (AC)
Died 1644; beatified in 1929. Fathers Duckett and Corby were martyred at Tyburn outside London, England because they were Catholic priests. John Duckett was born in Underwinder, near Sedbergh, Yorkshire, and educated for the priesthood at Douai. After his ordination in 1639, he ministered to the Catholics at Durham.
Ralph Corbington was
born in Maynooth (near Dublin), Ireland. His entire family, including his
father, mother, sisters, and brothers, all took religious vows. He received his
initial education at Saint-Omer, then studied theology at Seville and
Valladolid, Spain. In 1631, he was admitted to the Jesuits at Flanders,
ordained, and sent to the English Mission at Durham, where he served Catholics
for 12 years before his martyrdom. There is a rumor that the Jesuits
unsuccessfully tried to negotiate his release in return for the release of a
Scottish colonel being held prisoner in Germany. An attempt was also made to
claim that the law could not apply to Father Ralph because he was not a citizen
of England.
Despite precautions
taken to destroy the bodies of the martyrs, the hand of John Duckett and pieces
of both their clothing were recovered by the faithful; however, no one knows
the current location of these first and second degree relics (Benedictines,
Montague).
