- Source: List of Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation
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 released her subjects from allegiance to her. 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.
Numbers in various categories
In 1874 a process was begun, containing 353 names, to which six were added in Rome, making 359. 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.
Saints
= Canonised on 19 May 1935
=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 1970
=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)
Augustine Webster (died 1535), priest of the Carthusian order (London, England)
Richard Reynolds (c. 1492–1535), priest of the Bridgettine order (Devon – London, England)
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 Payne (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)
Margaret Clitherow née Middleton (1556–1586), married laywoman of the Diocese of Middlesbrough (North Yorkshire, England)
Margaret Ward (c. 1550–1588), laywoman of the Diocese of Shrewsbury (Cheshire – London, England)
Edmund Gennings (1567–10 December 1591), priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham (Staffordshire – London, England)
Swithin Wells (1536– 10 December 1591), married layman of the Diocese of Portsmouth (Hampshire – London, England)
Eustace White (1559–10 December 1591), priest of the Diocese of Nottingham (Lincolnshire – London, England)
Polydore Plasden (1563–10 December 1591), priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster (London, England)
John Boste (1543–1594), priest of the Diocese of Lancaster (Cumbria – London, England)
Robert Southwell (1561–1595), Jesuit priest (Norfolk – London, England)
Henry Walpole (1558–1595), Jesuit priest (Norfolk – North Yorkshire, England)
Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel (1557–1595), married layman of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton (London, England)
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)
Edmund Arrowsmith (1585–1628), Jesuit priest (Lancashire, England)
Edward Barlow (Ambrose) (1585–1641), priest of the Benedictine order (English Congregation) (Lancashire, England)
Bartholomew Roe (Alban) (1583–1642), priest of the Benedictine order(English Congregation) (Suffolk – London, England)
Henry Morse (1595–1645), Jesuit priest (Suffolk – London, England)
John Southworth (1592–1654), priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster (Lancashire – London, England)
John [William] Plessington (c. 1637–1679), priest of the Diocese of Lancaster (Lancashire – Cheshire, England)
Philip Evans (c. 1645–1679), Jesuit priest (Monmouthshire – Cardiff, Wales)
John Lloyd (c. 1630–1679), priest of the Diocese of Menevia (Powys – Cardiff, Wales)
John Wall (Joachim of Saint Anne) (c. 1620–1679), priest of the Franciscan Friars Minor (Recollects) (Lancashire – Worcestershire, England)
John Kemble (1599–1679), priest of the Archdiocese of Cardiff (Herefordshire, England)
David Lewis (1616–1679), Jesuit priest (Monmouthshire, England)
= Canonised on 12 October 1975
=Oliver Plunkett (1625–1681), Archbishop of Armagh (Meath, Ireland – London, England)
= Canonised on 17 October 1976
=John Ogilvie (1579–1615), Jesuit priest (Moray – Glasgow, Scotland)
Blesseds
= Beatified on 29 December 1886
=As well as those listed below, John Fisher and Thomas More were beatified on this date, as were 11 members of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, making a total of 54.
John Haile (or Hale) (died 1535), priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster (London, England)
William Exmew (died 1535), priest of the Carthusian order (London, England)
Humphrey Middlemore (died 1535), priest of the Carthusian order (Birmingham – London, England)
Sebastian Newdigate (died 1535), priest of the Carthusian order (Middlesex – London, England)
John Rochester (died 1537), priest of the Carthusian order (Essex – North Yorkshire, England)
James Walworth (died 1537), priest of the Carthusian order (North Yorkshire, England)
William Greenwood (died 1537), priest of the Carthusian order (London, England)
John Davy (died 1537), Carthusian monk (London, England)
Robert Salt (died 1537), Carthusian monk (London, England)
Walter Pierson (died 1537), Carthusian monk (London, England)
Thomas Green (died 1537), priest of the Carthusian order (London, England)
Thomas Scryven (died 1537), Carthusian monk (London, England)
Thomas Redyng (died 1537), Carthusian monk (London, England)
Richard Bere (died 1537), priest of the Carthusian order (Somerset – London, England)
Thomas Johnson (died 1537), priest of the Carthusian order (London, England)
John Forest (died 1538), priest of the Franciscan Friars Minor (Observants) (London, England)
Thomas Abel (died 1540), priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster (London, England)
Edward Powell (died 1540), priest of the Diocese of Clifton (Wales – London, England)
Richard Fetherston (died 1540), priest of the Diocese of Menevia (London, England)
William Horne (died 1540), Cathusian monk (London, England)
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (1473–1541), married layman of the Diocese of Portsmouth (Somerset – London, England)
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 (1535–1573), 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) (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 1895
=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)
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 1929
=As well as those listed below, 29 members 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.
Henry Abbot, layman, 4 July 1597
John Amias, priest, 16 March 1589
Robert Anderton, priest, 25 April 1586.
William Andleby, priest, 4 July 1597
Ralph Ashley, Jesuit priest, 7 April 1607
Thomas Aufield, priest, 6 July 1585
Christopher Bales, priest, 4 March 1590
Mark Barkworth, Benedictine, 27 February 1601
William Barrow, alias William Harcourt, 20 June 1679
James Bell, priest, 1584
James Bird (or Byrd or Beard), layman, 25 March 1592
John Bodey, priest, 2 November 1583
Thomas Bosgrave, layman, 4 July 1594
William Browne, layman, 5 September 1605
Christopher Buxton, priest, died Canterbury, 1 October 1588
Edward Campion (also known as Gerard Edwards), 1 October 1588
John Carey, Dublin born lay helper of John Cornelius S.J., 4 July 1594
Edmund Catherick, priest, 1642
James Claxton (Clarkson), priest, 1588
Edward Colman (or Coleman), layman, 1678
Ralph Corbie, Jesuit, 7 September 1644
John Cornelius, Jesuit priest, 4 July 1594
Ralph Crockett, priest, 1 October 1588
Robert Dalby, priest, York, 16 March 1589
William Dean, priest, 28 August 1588
Francis Dicconson, priest, 1590
Roger Dicconson, priest, 7 July 1591
James Duckett, layman, 1601
John Duckett, priest, 1644
Thomas Felton, Franciscan, 1588
James Fenn, priest, 1584
John Fenwick, Jesuit priest, 1679
John Finch, 1584
William Freeman, priest, 1595
Edward Fulthrop, layman, 1597
John Gavan, Jesuit priest, 1679
Miles Gerard, priest, 1590
George Gervase, Benedictine, 1608
David Gonson (or Gunston), professed Knight in the Order of St John, 12 July 1541
Hugh Green, priest, 1642
John Grove, layman, 24 January 1679
William Gunter, priest, 1588
William Harrington, priest, 1594
William Hartley, priest, 1588
Thomas Hemerford, priest, 1584
Richard Herst (Hurst), layman, 29 August 1628
John Hewitt (alias Weldon, alias Savell), priest, 1588
Sydney Hodgson, layman, 10 December 1591
Thomas Holford, priest, 1588
Thomas Holland, priest, 12 December 1642
Laurence Humphreys (or Humphrey), layman, 7 July 1591
John Ingram, priest, 1594
John Ireland, priest, 7 March 1544
William Ireland, Jesuit priest, 1679
Edward James, priest, 1588
Edward Jones, priest, 1590
Brian Lacey, layman, 10 December 1591
Richard Langhorne, layman, 1679
Richard Langley, layman, 1586
Richard Leigh, priest, 1588
John Lockwood, priest, 1642
William Marsden, priest, 25 April 1586
Richard Martin, layman, 30 August 1588
John Mason, layman, 1591
Thomas Maxfield, priest, 1616
Anthony Middleton, priest, 1590
Ralph Milner, layman, 7 July 1591
Hugh More, layman, 28 August 1588
Robert Morton, priest, 1588
John Munden, priest, 1584
George Napper (alias Napier), priest, Oxford, 1610
John Nutter, priest, 1584
Edward Oldcorne, Jesuit priest, 1606
Francis Page, Jesuit, 1602
William Patenson, priest, 1592
John Pibush, priest, 1601
Thomas Pickering, Benedictine, 1679
Philip Powell, Benedictine, 1646
Alexander Rawlins, priest, 1595
Thomas Reynolds, priest, 21 January 1642
William Richardson, priest, 1603
John Robinson, priest, 1 October 1588
John Roche, layman, 1588
Patrick Salmon, layman, 4 July 1594
Maurus Scott (William Scot) 1612
Edward Shelley, 30 August 1588,
John Slade, layman, 1583
Richard Smith, (also known as Richard Newport), priest, 1612
Thomas Somers, priest, 1610
John Speed, layman, 4 February 1594
William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford, layman, 29 December 1680
Edward Stransham, priest, 1586
Robert Sutton, layman, 5 October 1588
George Swallowell, layman, 26 July 1594
Thomas Thwing, priest, 1679
Thomas Tunstall, priest, 1616
Anthony Turner, Jesuit, 1679
Thomas Warcop, layman, 4 July 1597
William Ward, priest, 1641
Edward Waterson, priest, 1593
Robert Watkinson, priest, 1602
William Way (alias May or Flower), priest, 1588
Thomas Welbourne, layman, 1 August 1605
Thomas Whitbread, Jesuit, 1679
Robert Widmerpool, layman, 1 October 1588
Robert Wilcox, priest, 1 October 1588
Peter Wright, Jesuit, 1651
= Beatified 22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II
=John Adams, priest, 8 October 1586
Thomas Atkinson, priest, 1616
Edward Bamber, priest, 1646
George Beesley, priest, 5 July 1591
Arthur Bell, Franciscan priest, 1643
Thomas Belson, layman, 5 July 1589
Robert Bickerdike, layman, 23 July 1586
Alexander Blake, layman, 4 March 1590;
Marmaduke Bowes, layman, 26 November 1585
John Britton (alias Bretton), layman, 1 April 1598
Thomas Bullaker, Franciscan priest, 1642
Edward Burden, priest, 1588
Roger Cadwallador, priest, 1610
William Carter, layman, 11 January 1584
Alexander Crow, priest, 30 November 1587
William Davies, priest, 27 July 1593
Robert Dibdale, priest, 8 October 1586
George Douglas, priest, 1587
Robert Drury, priest, 1607
Edmund Duke, priest, 27 May 1590
George Errington, layman, 1596
Roger Filcock, priest, 1601
John Finglow (Fingley), priest, 8 August 1586
Matthew Flathers, priest, 1608
Richard Flower, layman, 1588
Nicholas Garlick, priest, 1588
William Gibson, layman, 1596
Ralph Grimston, layman, 1598
Robert Grissold, layman, 1604
John Hambley, priest, 1587
Robert Hardesty, layman, 1589
George Haydock, priest, 12 February 1584
Henry Heath, Franciscan priest, 1643
Richard Hill, priest, 27 May 1590
John Hogg, priest, 27 May 1590
Richard Holiday, priest, 27 May 1590
Nicholas Horner, layman, 4 March 1590
Thomas Hunt, priest, 1600
Thurstan Hunt, priest, 1601
Francis Ingleby, priest, 3 June 1586
William Knight, layman, 1596
Joseph Lambton, priest, 24 July 1592
William Lampley, layman, 1588
John Lowe, priest, 8 October 1586
Robert Ludlam, priest, 1588
Charles Mahoney (alias Meehan), Franciscan priest, 1679
Robert Middleton, priest, March 1601
George Nichols, priest, 1589
John Norton, layman, 1600
Robert Nutter, priest, 1600
Edward Osbaldeston, priest, 1594
Anthony Page, priest, 1593
Thomas Palasor, priest, 1600
William Pike, layman, 22 December 1591
Thomas Pilchard, priest, 21 March 1587
Thomas Pormort, priest, 20 February 1592
Nicholas Postgate, priest, 1679
Humphrey Pritchard, layman, 1589
Christopher Robinson, priest, 1597
Stephen Rowsham, priest, 1587
John Sandys, priest, 11 August 1586
Montford Scott, priest, 2 July 1591
Richard Sergeant, priest, 2 April 1586
Richard Simpson, priest, 1588
Peter Snow, priest, 1598
William Southerne, priest, 1618
William Spenser, priest, 1589
Thomas Sprott, priest, 1600
John Sugar, priest, 1604
Robert Sutton, priest, 1587
Edmund Sykes, priest, 23 March 1587
John Talbot, layman, 1600
Hugh Taylor, priest, 25 November 1585
William Thomson, priest, 20 April 1586
Robert Thorpe, priest, 15 May 1591
John Thulis, priest, 18 Mar 1616
Edward Thwing, priest, 26 July 1600
Thomas Watkinson, layman, 31 May 1591
Henry Webley, 28 August 1588
Christopher Wharton, priest, 1600
Thomas Whitaker, priest, 1646
John Woodcock, Franciscan priest, 7 August 1646
Nicholas Woodfen, priest, 21 January 1586
Roger Wrenno, layman, 1616
Richard Yaxley, priest, 1589
Venerables
= Declared venerable in 1886 and not subsequently beatified
=Thomas Ashby, layman, 19 March 1544 – "there was some doubt that he died as a Catholic"
Roger Ashton, soldier, 23 June 1592 – assisted Sir William Stanley in the surrender of Deventer to Spain
Laurence Bailey, layman, August 1604
Anthony Bates (alias Battie), layman, 22 March 1602
Thomas Bedingfeld (also known as Thomas Downes), 21 December 1678 (died in prison)
Thomas Belchiam, Franciscan friar, 3 August 1538:
Edmund Brindholme, priest, 4 August 1540
Anthony Brookby, Franciscan, 7 July 1537:
Brian Cansfield (or Tansfield), 3 August 1645 (died of ill-treatment in prison)
Thomas Cort, Franciscan, 27 July 1538:
Sir Thomas Dingley, layman, 9 July 1539
James Dowdall, layman, 13 August 1598
John Goodman, priest, 8 April 1642 (died in prison)
John Griffith (or Clark), priest, 8 July 1539
Thomas Hackshott (alias Hawkshaw), layman, 24 August 1601
James Harrison, priest, 22 March 1602
Richard Horner, priest, 4 September 1598
Francis Levison, Franciscan, 11 February 1680 (died in prison)
John Lyon, layman, 16 July 1599
Edward Mico, Jesuit, 1678 (arrested, but too ill to be removed from sick-bed, where he died)
Edward Morgan, priest, 26 April 1642
Francis Nevil, Jesuit, February 1679 (died in prison)
Clement Philpott (or Philpot), layman, 4 August 1540
Robert Price (alias Aprece), layman, shot by Puritan soldiers, 7 May 1644
Nicholas Tichborne, layman, 24 August 1601
Thomas Tichborne, priest, 20 April 1602
Friar Waire, Franciscan, 8 July 1539
Thomas Webley, layman, 6 July 1585
Richard Williams, priest, 21 February 1592
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.
Dilati
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." Those 'put off' are listed below in italics.
Robert Dymoke, layman, 1580 (died in prison)
John Cooper, layman, 1580 (died in prison)
William Tyrwhit, layman, 1580 (died in prison – named by error for his brother Robert)
William Chaplin, seminary priest, 1583 (died in prison)
Thomas Cotesmore, priest, 1584 (died in prison)
Robert Holmes, priest, 1584 (died in prison)
Roger Wakeman, priest, 1584 (died in prison)
James Lomax, priest, 1584 (died in prison)
Mr Ailworth, layman, 1584 (died in prison)
Thomas Crowther, priest, 1585 (died in prison)
Edward Pole, priest, 1585 (died in prison)
Laurence Vaux, priest, 1585 (died in prison)
John Jetter, priest, 1585 (died in prison)
John Harrison, priest, 1586 (died in prison)
Martin Sherson, priest, 1587 (died in prison)
Gabriel Thimelby, layman, 1587 (died in prison)
Thomas Metham, Jesuit, 1592 (died in prison)
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?")
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'
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 (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 (died in prison)
William Lloyd, seminary priest, 1679 (died in prison)
Placid Adelham, Benedictine, 1680 (died in prison)
Richard Birkett, priest, 1680 (died in prison)
Richard Lacey, Jesuit, 1680 (died in prison)
William Atkins, Jesuit, 1681 (died in prison)
Edward Turner, Jesuit, 1681 (died in prison)
William Allison, priest, 1681 (died in prison)
Benedict Constable, Benedictine, 1683 (died in prison)
William Bentney (alias Bennet), Jesuit, 1692 (died in prison)
Executed for their faith in England 1534–1680
= 1534–1547
=During the reign of Henry VIII of England.
John Allen, priest, 25 February 1538
John Collins, priest, 1538
George Croft, priest, 1538
Martin Condres, Augustinian friar, December 1538:
Paul of Saint William, Augustinian friar, December 1538:
Thomas Empson (or Epson), Benedictine, 4 August 1540:
Robert Bird, layman; 4 August 1540:
William Bird, priest, 4 August 1540:
William Peterson, priest, Commissary of Calais, Calais, 10 August 1540: or 10 April 1540
= Decrees of Elizabeth I
=During the reign of Mary I, papal authority was officially reinstated and under three hundred of the minority Protestant population were martyred. 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".
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." 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".
The threat of invasion by a Roman Catholic country assisted by English subjects led the Crown to try to repress Roman Catholicism. 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.
= 1570–1603
=William Hambledon, priest, 1585
John MacMahon, Jesuit priest, 1594
= 1606–1680
=James Brown, Benedictine, 1645
Died in prison
Thomas Vavasour, physician, May 2 1585
Dorothy Vavasour, recusant, October 27 1587
Thomas Wood, priest, before 1588
Anne Launder (or Lawnder), recusant, Late 1589
See also
Elizabeth Barton#Arrest and execution
Carthusian Martyrs
Pilgrimage of Grace#Those executed after the Pilgrimage
Irish Catholic Martyrs
Marian persecutions
References
= Notes
== Citations
== Sources
=External links
"English Confessors and Martyrs (1534–1729)". article by Pollen, J.H. in The Catholic Encyclopedia (1909)
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- List of Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation
- List of Protestant martyrs of the English Reformation
- Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
- English Martyrs
- Catholic Church in England and Wales
- Martyrs of Japan
- William Gibson (martyr)
- Foxe's Book of Martyrs
- Lists of Catholics
- Dryburne Martyrs
