WHY THEY DIED (CONCLUDED)

These excerpts from the Act show how Catholics, and any who wished to assist them, would find themselves in grave trouble and have to suffer the severe consequences. The aim was to stamp out Catholicism in England. However, Her Majesty and her advisers reckoned without the courage of many Catholics and their deep commitment to the Old Faith

ACT AGAINST JESUITS AND SEMINARISTS (1585)

27 ELIZABETH, CAP 2

"And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful for any person of or under her highness's obedience, at any time after the said forty days, during her majesty's life (which God long preserve) to send his or her child, or other person, being under his or her government, into any the parts beyond the seas out of her highness's obedience, without the special licence of her majesty, or of four of her highness's privy council, under their hands in that behalf first had or obtained (except merchants, for such only as they or any of them shall send over the seas only for or about his, her, or their trade of merchandise, or to serve as mariners, and not otherwise) upon pain to forfeit and lose for every such their offence the sum of one hundred pounds.

And be it also further enacted by authority aforesaid, that every person or persons, being subjects of this realm which after the said forty days shall know and understand that any such Jesuit, seminary priest, or other priest above said, shall abide, stay, tarry, or be within this realm or other the queen's dominions and countries, contrary to the true meaning of this Act, and shall not discover the same unto some justice of peace or other higher officer, within twelve days next after his said knowledge, but willingly conceal his knowledge therein; that every such offender shall make fine, and be imprisoned at the queen's pleasure. And that if such justice of peace, or other such officer to whom such matter shall be so discovered, do not within eight and twenty days then next following give information thereof to some of the queen's privy council, or to the president or vice-president of the queen's council established in the north, or in the marches of Wales, for the time being; that then he or they so offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of two hundred marks."

WHY THEY DIED (PART 3)

This part of the Act makes clear the dangers facing any layperson who dared to assist a priest in any way.

ACT AGAINST JESUITS AND SEMINARISTS (1585)

27 ELIZABETHM CAP 2

And every person which after the end of the same forty days, and after such time of departure as is before limited and appointed, shall wittingly and willingly receive, relieve, comfort, aid, or maintain any such Jesuit, seminary priest, or other priest, deacon, or religious or ecclesiastical person, as is aforesaid, being at liberty, or out of hold, knowing him to be a Jesuit, seminary priest, or other such priest, deacon, or religious or ecclesiastical person, as is aforesaid, shall also for such offence be adjudged a felon, without benefit of clergy, and suffer death, lose, and forfeit, as in case of one attainted of felony.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, if any of her majesty's subjects (not being a Jesuit, seminary priest, or other such priest, deacon, or religious or ecclesiastical person, as is before mentioned) now being, or which hereafter shall be of, or brought up in, any college of Jesuits, or seminary already erected or ordained, or hereafter to be erected or ordained, in the parts beyond the seas, or out of this realm in any foreign parts, shall not within six months next after proclamation in that behalf to be made in the city of London, under the great seal of England, return into this realm, and thereupon within two days next after such return, before the bishop of the diocese, or two justices of peace of the county where he shall arrive, submit himself to her majesty and her laws, and take the oath set forth by Act in the first year of her reign; that then every such person which shall otherwise return, come into, or be in this realm or any other her highness's dominions, for such offence of returning or being in this realm or any other her highness's dominions, without submission, as aforesaid, shall also be adjudged a traitor, and suffer, lose and forfeit, as in case of high treason.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, if any person under her majesty's subjection or obedience shall at any time after the end of the said forty days, by way of exchange, or by any other shift, way, or means whatsoever, wittingly and willingly, either directly or indirectly, convey, deliver or send, or cause or procure to be conveyed or delivered, to be sent over the seas, or out of this realm, or out of any other her majesty's dominions or territories, into any foreign parts, or shall otherwise wittingly or willingly yield, give, or contribute any money or other relief to or for any Jesuit, seminary priest, or such other priest, deacon, or religious or ecclesiastical person, as is aforesaid, or to or for the maintenance or relief of any college of Jesuits, or seminary already erected or ordained, or hereafter to be erected or ordained, in any the parts beyond the seas, or out of this realm in any foreign parts, or of any person then being of or in any the same colleges or seminaries, and not returned into this realm with submission, as in this Act is expressed, and continuing in the same realm: that then every such person so offending, for the same offence shall incur the danger and penalty of a Praemunire, mentioned in the Statute of Praemunire, made in the sixteenth year of the reign of King Richard II.

*** In English history, Praemunire or Praemunire facias was a law that prohibited the assertion or maintenance of papal jurisdiction in England, against the supremacy of the Monarch. This law was enforced by the Writ of Praemunire facias, a writ of summons, from which the law takes its name. The name Praemunire may denote the statute, the writ, or the offence.

WHY THEY DIED (PART 2)

The Act Against Jesuits and Seminarists (1585) was long and comprehensive, covering every Catholic in the realm. It was truly designed to stamp out Catholicism. I have quoted some passages from the Act in the hope of showing why the Martyrs were put to death. However, not being of a legal bent, I admit to finding it just a trifle difficult to “pick the bones out of it”, so to speak. Nonetheless, I hope these posts will shed some light on the legal difficulties and horrific dangers Catholics faced in the 16th and 17th centuries. This posts deals specifically with priests.

Act Against Jesuits and Seminarists (1585)
27 Elizabeth, Cap. 2

"For reformation whereof be it ordained, established, and enacted by the queen's most excellent majesty, and the Lords spiritual and temporal, and the Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same Parliament, that all and every Jesuits, seminary priests, and other priests whatsoever made or ordained out of the realm of England or other her highness's dominions, or within any of her majesty's realms or dominions, by any authority, power, or jurisdiction derived, challenged, or pretended from the see of Rome, since the feast of the Nativity of St. John Baptist in the first year of her highness's reign, shall within forty days next after the end of this present session of Parliament depart out of this realm of England, and out of all other her highness's realms and dominions, if the wind, weather, and passage shall serve for the same, or else so soon after the end of the said forty days as the wind, weather, and passage shall so serve.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful to or for any Jesuit, seminary priest, or other such priest, deacon, or religious or ecclesiastical person whatsoever, being born within this realm, or any other her highness's dominions, and heretofore since the said feast of the Nativity of St. John Baptist, in the first year of her majesty's reign, made, ordained, or professed, or here after to be made, ordained, or professed, by any authority or jurisdiction derived, challenged, or pretended from the see of Rome, by or of what name, title, or degree soever the same shall be called or known, to come into, be, or remain in any part of this realm, or any other her highness's dominions, after the end of the same forty days, other than in such special cases, and upon such special occasions only, and for such time only, as is expressed in this Act; and if he do, that then every such offence shall be taken and adjudged to be high treason; and every person so offending shall for his offence be adjudged a traitor, and shall suffer, lose, and forfeit, as in case of high treason."

***High Treason, treason perpetrated by somebody against his or her own sovereign or country, was formerly distinguished from petty treason, a treason committed against a subject of the sovereign, the scope of which was limited by statute to the murder of a legal superior. Petty treason comprised the murder of a master by his servant, of a husband by his wife, or of a bishop. Petty treason ceased to be a distinct offence from murder in 1828. Considered to be the most serious of offences, high treason was often met with extraordinary punishment, because it threatened the security of the state. A particularly horrific manner of execution known as hanging, drawing and quartering was employed.