BUT JUST WHO WERE THEY?

Of course we have all heard of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales but just who were they?

The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales were some of the hundreds of brave, faithful Catholics who, during the dark days of persecution in this country, laid down their lives rather than apostatize.  Among them were priests, teachers, fathers and mothers.  The following is a brief breakdown of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

THIRTEEN WERE SECULAR PRIESTS

           1.      Cuthbert Mayne                Launceston                  29^th November 1577

2.      Ralph Sherwin                  Tyburn                        1^st December 1581

St John Lloyd

3.      John Payne                        Chelmsford                 2^nd April 1582

4.      Luke Kirby                        Tyburn                         30^th May 1582

5.      Edmund Gennings             London                  10^th December 1591

6.      Polydore Plasden              Tyburn                  10^th December 1591

7.      Eustace White                   Tyburn                   10^th December 1591

8.      John Boste                         Durham                   24^th July 1594

9.      John Almond                    Tyburn                     5^th December 1612

10.  John Southworth               Tyburn                        28^th June 1654

11.  John Plessington               Chester                        19^th July 1679

12.  John Lloyd                        Cardiff                          22^nd July 1679

13.  John Kemble                     Hereford                       22^nd August 1679

TEN WERE JESUITS

         14      Edmund Campion               Tyburn                         1^st December 1581

St David Lewis S J

         15.      Alexander Briant                 Tyburn                         1^st December 1581

        16.      Robert Southwell                Tyburn                         21^st February 1595
         17.      Henry Walpole                    York                            7^th April 1595

          18.     Nicholas Owen                    London                       2^nd March 1606

19.    Thomas Garnet                    Tyburn                         23^rd June 1608

20.      Edmund Arrowsmith          Lancaster                     28^th August 1628

21.       Henry Morse                        Tyburn                         1^st February 1645

22.      Philip Evans                         Cardiff                          22^nd July 1679

23.       David Lewis                        Usk                              27^th August 1679

THREE WERE BENEDICTINES

24.     John Roberts                     Tyburn                         10^th December 1610

25.     Ambrose Barlow               Lancaster                     10^th September 1641

26.    Alban Roe                         Tyburn                         21^st January 1642

THREE WERE CARTHUSIANS

             27.     John Houghton                       Tyburn                         4^th May 1535

             28.     Augustine Webster                 Tyburn                         4^th May 1535
             29.     Robert Lawrence                    Tyburn                         4^th May 1535

TWO WERE FRANCISCANS

              30.     John Jones                               Southwark                   12^th July 1598
              31.    John Wall                                Worcester                    22^nd August 1679

ONE WAS A BRIGITTINE

         32.      Richard Reynolds                   Tyburn                         4^th May 1535

ONE WAS AN AUGUSTINIAN

              33.      John Stone                              Canterbury                  27^th December 1539

St John Rigby

FOUR WERE LAYMEN

              34.      Richard Gwyn                         Wrexham              15^th October 1584
              35.      Swithun Wells                         London                 10^th December 1591
              36.      Philip Howard                         London                  19^th October 1595
              37.   John Rigby                                  London                 21^st June 1600

St Margaret Clitherow

THREE WERE LAYWOMEN

              38.     Margaret Clitherow    York     25^th March 1586
              39.     Margaret Ward       Tyburn     30^th August 1588
              40.     Anne Line        Tyburn         27^th February 1601

All Forty were canonised on 25th October 1970 by Pope Paul VI.

DID YOU KNOW?

TEN FACTS ABOUT ST DAVID LEWIS:

1. David Lewis was born in Abergavenny in 1616. He was the youngest child of Margaret Pritchard, a Catholic, and Morgan Lewis, a Protestant.

2. One of nine children, David was brought up in the Established Religion by his father. David’s eight siblings were brought up in the Catholic Faith by their mother.

3. As a young man, during a stay in Paris, David converted to Catholicism.

4. David returned to Abergavenny in 1636 and lived with his parents until their deaths in 1638.

5. David decided to become a priest and, following the deaths of his parents in 1638, he entered the English College in Rome where he assumed the alias of Charles Baker. He was ordained there in 1642.

6. In 1645 David Lewis entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Sant’ Andrea. After profession he was sent to the Cwm, the Jesuit Headquarters in Herefordshire, on the English Welsh border.

7. David was soon recalled to Rome but in 1648 he returned to Wales where for more than thirty years he ministered to his beleaguered Catholic countrymen.

8. On 17th November 1678, while preparing to celebrate Holy Mass, Fr Lewis was arrested at a house in Llantarnam. He was conveyed to Monmouth Gaol where he was held until early 1679. On 13th January of that year he was moved to Usk Gaol to await his fate.

9. In March 1679, at The Monmouth Assizes, Fr Lewis was found guilty of being a Catholic priest and saying Mass. Under the Penal Laws of the time, this was considered High Treason and incurred the sentence of being hanged, drawn and quartered.

10. On 27th August 1679 Fr David Lewis was executed at Usk. Due to the love and respect the people had for this priest, known as ‘Tad y Tlodion’, i.e., ‘Father of the Poor’, he was allowed to hang until he was dead. He was then cut down and, although he was not quartered, he was disembowelled and beheaded. His remains were given a respectful burial in the churchyard of St Mary’s Priory Church, Usk.

THE PERJURER TITUS OATES AND EIGHT JESUITS (PART 7)

To continue our posts on the eight Jesuits who fell victim to the false Oates/Popish Plot, we come to Blessed William Harcourt S J.

William Barrow was born in Lancashire in 1609. He studied at St Omer and entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1632 at Watten. In 1644 Fr William Barrow S J returned to England to work in the London district. Using the aliases of Waring and Harcourt, he spent thirty-five years labouring in dangerous conditions.

In the late summer of 1678 Titus Oates set off a frenzy of fear, suspicion and hatred that resulted in the deaths of many innocent Catholics. Oates fabricated a story, remembered in history as the Oates Plot or the Popish Plot, in which Catholics, led by the Jesuits, were planning to restore the country to Catholicism by murdering the King and bringing down the Protestant Establishment. As the fury grew, Oates found others willing to join him in his heinous deception, notably William Bedloe and Stephen Dugdale. Of course, money was also a great incentive as the Government offered a reward for the capture of any priest. As expected, this brought in many a rogue who was willing to perjure himself.

Through all this, Fr Harcourt urged his fellow Jesuits to flee abroad. However, he remained in London and did his utmost to care for his imprisoned brethren. The priest changed his residence daily but he was betrayed by a servant at one of the houses and, on 7th May 1679, he was arrested. He was thrown into Newgate Prison, joining fellow Jesuits Thomas Whitbread, John Fenwick, John Gavan and Anthony Turner. With the others, Fr Harcourt came to trial on 13th June.

Chief Justice Scroggs presided at the trial and the abhorrent trio of Oates, Bedloe and Dugdale were the chief witnesses against the priest. It was a surprise to no one that the Jesuit was found guilty and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered, the usual sentence for High Treason. The gruesome execution was carried out at Tyburn on 20th June 1679. His martyred remains were claimed by friends who interred them in the Churchyard of St Giles in the Fields.

Although his real name was William Barrow a Papal Decree of 4th December 1886 introduced his cause for canonisation under the name of William Harcourt. It was under the name of William Harcourt that he was beatified in 1929.

LINKS TO THIS POST:
THE PERJURER TITUS OATES AND EIGHT JESUITS (PART1)
(PART 2) (PART 3) (PART 4) (PART 5) (PART 6)

THE PERJURER TITUS OATES AND EIGHT JESUITS (PART 5)

BLESSED JOHN GAVAN S J

A plot, known as the ‘Oates Plot’ or the ‘Popish Plot’ was conceived in the fertile but warped mind of the malevolent Titus Oates. In August 1678, Oates claimed that a plot to murder the King, bring down the Protestant Establishment and re-establish Catholicism in England was being hatched by Catholics. The Jesuits, according to Oates, were the leaders of this imagined plot. In reality, there was no plot against the Crown or Protestantism. The real plot was the one which Oates was building up against the Jesuits. Before Oates and the bunch of criminals who were his co-conspirators were finally exposed many innocent Catholics had suffered and died. Among those who were put to death for their faith were eight Jesuit priests. The horror began for the Jesuits in January 1679 when Fr William Ireland was executed at Tyburn in London. Another victim was 39 year old Fr John Gavan or Green.

John Gavan was born in London in 1640. The young Gavan went to St Omer and, in 1660, he entered the Jesuits. He was ordained in Rome in 1670. Like all priests who returned to minister in England, Fr Gavan was fully cognisant of the dangers under the severe Penal Laws which existed at that time. Nonetheless, Fr Gavan returned to his homeland in 1671 and commenced his work, chiefly in the Staffordshire area, where he laboured untiringly.

At the height of the Oates Plot, the Government offered a £50 reward for the apprehension of any priest. This lead to a vigorous search for and betrayal of priests, Jesuit and otherwise, up and down the country. In the hope of escaping to the Continent, Fr Gavan made his way to London. Unfortunately, that was not to be and he was apprehended on 23rd January 1679. Along with four other Jesuits, Fr John Gavan was brought to trial at the Old Bailey on 13th June 1679.

Fr Gavan was an erudite and articulate priest and he skilfully defended the group. In this instance, the skill and honesty of the Jesuit were no match for the false witnesses, prejudiced Judge and rigged jury. As was expected, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. Fr John Gavan was martyred at Tyburn on 20th June 1679. His mutilated and quartered remains were claimed by friends and buried in St Giles in the Fields.

LINKS TO THIS POST:

The Perjurer Titus Oates and Eight Jesuits (Part 1)

(Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

HAPPY FEAST DAY TO JESUITS EVERYWHERE

The Last Welsh Martyr, St David Lewis, was a Jesuit priest who was martyred for the Faith during the Popish Plot. The Popish Plot, the invention of the base Titus Oates, began in the summer of 1678 and before its horrific executions ended in 1681, eight Jesuit priests were among the innocent Catholics who gave their lives. Two of the Jesuits, Fr David Lewis and Fr Philip Evans, were canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

St Ignatius Loyola was the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Today, 31st July, is the Feast Day of this illustrious saint.

The first video tells a little of the story of St Ignatius of Loyola. The second video is the well known prayer attributed to St Ignatius. The prayer has been put to music and it will be familiar to many of us.

HAPPY FEAST DAY TO JESUITS EVERYWHERE!

CATHOLICISM, JESUITS, AND THE NEW WORLD

The only connection between this post and St David Lewis is the Society of Jesus. However, here in Canada’s tenth Province, I have learned some fascinating facts about Catholicism in the early days of Newfoundland. I want to share this Catholic history in the hope that you too will find it interesting.

Newfoundland was the first part of North America explored by Europeans. There are those who believe that St Brendan, the ancient Irish navigator, sailed to Newfoundland in a leather Curach in the sixth century. Five hundred years before Columbus, Vikings established a settlement at what is now L’Anse aux Meadows, in northern Newfoundland. In May of 1497, John Cabot set sail from Bristol, England and on 24th June, the feast of St John the Baptist, landed at present day Bonavista, Newfoundland. It is not known for certain if Cabot was accompanied by a priest on his voyage but it is not improbable that he was. (Some historians believe that Cabot brought Augustinians with him.) Portuguese and French explorers visited the New-Found-Land and they brought their chaplains with them to say Mass. In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert took possession of the Island, claiming it for his Queen, Elizabeth I of England. He decreed that all public worship must be according to the rites of the Church of England. It was more profitable for the English Merchants if Newfoundland remained just a fishing station and those who came out to fish were compelled to return home at the end of the fishing season. For this reason, permanent settlement was not considered and hence no clergyman, Church of England or otherwise, was installed on the Island. In 1610 John Guy established the first permanent settlement in Newfoundland. He brought with him the first Protestant Minister, the Reverend Erasmus Stourton.

The first confirmed settlement of Catholics on the Island was in the 1620s at Lord Baltimore’s colony at Ferryland. Sir George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, converted to Catholicism in 1625. On 7th April 1623 he had been granted the ‘Charter of Avalon’ by King James I. The charter, which created the Province of Avalon on the island of Newfoundland, gave Baltimore authority over the territory from Ferryland to Petty Harbour.

Lord Baltimore’s dream was not to create a Catholic colony but to establish in the New World a place of religious freedom and tolerance for Catholics and Protestants. On 23rd July 1627, Lord Baltimore arrived at Ferryland. He brought with him two Catholic priests, Fr Anthony Pole (alias Smith) and Fr Longville, two Jesuits. On that very day, in thanksgiving for a safe voyage, the two priests offered Mass. Thus, less than twenty years before St David Lewis entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Sant’ Andrea, the first Mass celebrated in British North America was celebrated by priests of the Society of Jesus. Also, it was the Jesuit, Fr Anthony Pole (Smith), who was the first Catholic priest to reside in British North America. The following year, Lord Baltimore brought out his wife, Lady Joan, and all his children except his eldest son Cecil who was to remain in England to take care of affairs there. He also brought another priest, Fr Hackett S J, with him. According to complaints made by Rev Stourton, Lord Baltimore was “encouraging Popery among English subjects at Ferryland” and that Mass was celebrated there regularly “and all other ceremonies of the Church of Rome were used in ample manner as tis used in Spain.”

Unfortunately, Lord Baltimore’s colony of Avalon was short-lived. There were frequent attacks from French Privateers and Pirates and despite the fact that he and his family lived in a comfortable stone mansion, food shortages and a severe winter caused Baltimore to lose heart. Also, Lady Joan’s health was not robust so Sir George Calvert applied for a grant of land in Maryland. In 1629, Calvert (Lord Baltimore) and his family left for a more gentle climate. Calvert died before achieving his goal but his son carried on with the enterprise and took possession of what is now the state of Maryland.

In the colony of Newfoundland, no one was put to death for their faith but the harsh Penal Laws were enforced and severe penalties were meted out to Catholics and any who sympathised with them. (The only known Mass Rock outside Ireland can be found at Renews on the southern shore of the Avalon Peninsula, not far from Baltimore’s colony of Ferryland.) In 1829 the King, George IV, reluctantly gave his ascent to the Catholic Relief Act. News of emancipation reached Newfoundland in May 1829 and there was much rejoicing and celebrating in the colony. However, this joy was of short duration as on 17th December 1829 the attorney general and supreme court justices decided that the Catholic Relief Act did not apply to Newfoundland. It was May 1832 before the British Parliament finally ordered that a new commission be issued to the Island’s Governor Cochrane to remove all restrictions against Catholics in Newfoundland. Although the Catholic faith had been proscribed in Newfoundland, Catholicism had flourished and Jesuits had played a prominent part in its establishment in British North America.

CATHOLICISM AND THE BIRTHPLACE OF ST DAVID LEWIS

St David Lewis was born in Abergavenny in 1616. He spent all but one year of his priestly life ministering to the people of Abergavenny and area where, despite persecution, fines and imprisonment, many Catholics held firm to the Old Faith. These Catholics were cared for by the Jesuits who had established a seminary and college at a place called the Cwm, near Welsh Newton. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Catholics worshipped in a barn and, later, in the secret attic chapel in the home of Thomas Gunter on Cross Street.

In 1687, Franciscan Friars took over the care of the Catholics in the Abergavenny area. In 1690, with a Catholic King, James II, on the throne, a new Catholic chapel was built in Abergavenny. Unfortunately, with the coming of William III and Mary, things again became difficult for Catholics. However, Abergavenny Catholics kept the Old Faith. By 1740, approximately half the Catholics in the country lived in the district of Abergavenny and it was necessary for the Franciscans to build a new church.

In 1857, Benedictine Monks took over from the Franciscans. The Benedictines sold the old property and built a new church in Pen-y-Pound. This church was opened on 15th May 1860. The Catholic Church of Our Ladye and St Michael, in Abergavenny, is still served by Benedictines.

The church is in possession of some exceptional treasures, including a medieval Holy Water Stoup, a collection of pre-reformation chasubles and copes, and chalice veils from the time of the Stuarts. A red velvet chasuble dates from the time of King Henry VII. Its beauty and craftsmanship suggest it would have been made by ladies of the Royal Court and it is believed to have been given by Queen Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII, when she visited Abergavenny near the end of the 15th century. Other vestments are gifts of Queen Katherine of Aragon. From time to time, these vestments are worn for important occasions and are exhibited occasionally.

Were any of these pre-reformation vestments worn by St David Lewis? I doubt if anyone can say for certain but, given the number of years the saint laboured in the area, it is more than likely that they were.

TEN WERE JESUITS (PART 2)

On 25th October 1970, Pope Paul VI canonised 40 men and women from England and Wales who had given their lives for their faith. St David Lewis was the last of the forty to be martyred. Ten of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, including St David Lewis, were Jesuits. In this and the next couple of posts, we intend to tell, briefly, their stories. (FOR PART 1, SEE PREVIOUS POST)

3) St Robert Southwell was born in 1561 and sent to Douai while still a child. He remained there for some time and eventually made his way to Rome where he entered the Jesuit Novitiate of Sant’ Andrea. He was ordained in 1584 and, in 1586, he was sent upon the English Mission with Fr Henry Garnet. Robert was a tireless worker in Christ’s vineyard. He was instrumental in setting up a chain of Mass centres, he protected hunted priests, smuggled students for the priesthood abroad, sheltered priests arriving from the continent, and maintained a printing press on which he produced Catholic literature, including his own works. To his enemies he was known as “the chief dealer for the papists in England”. On 20th June 1592, Fr Southwell was apprehended at Uxendon Hall in Harrow, Middlesex. He had been betrayed by the owner’s daughter, Anne Bellamy, after she had been interrogated and raped by Topcliffe, the Queen’s chief priest-hunter and torturer. Fr Southwell was imprisoned in the Tower for three years and questioned under horrendous torture. Finally, shortly before his trial, he was moved to Newgate Prison and thrown into a dungeon called “Limbo”. At his trial in February 1595, he was, predictably, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The next day, 21st February, the condemned priest was taken to Tyburn for execution. Standing on the cart under the noose, Robert made the Sign of the Cross, though his hands were bound, and began to speak to the assembled crowd. “Whether we live, we live to the Lord: or whether we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” The Sheriff tried to stop him speaking but he was permitted to carry on. When he finished speaking, he again blessed himself and, as the cart was drawn away he prayed in Latin, “Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit”. The crowd, including many Protestants, would not allow the priest to be cut down until he was dead and for this reason, some of them tugged at his legs to hasten the end of his suffering. When he was dead, the martyr’s body was cut down, disembowelled and quartered and his head displayed to the crowd. Unusually, the traditional cry of “Traitor” was not uttered. St Robert Southwell, S J, was 33 years old.

4) St Henry Walpole, the eldest of a large family, was born at Docking, Norfolk in 1558. He studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and, in 1578, went to study law at Gray’s Inn, London. Upon witnessing the martyrdom of St Edmund Campion in 1581, he converted to Catholicism. He went to Douai in 1582 and the entry in the Douai Diary states “On 7th July Mr Henry Walpole came to us out of England, a discreet, grave and pious man”. He remained here until April 1583 when he was sent to Rome to enter the Society of Jesus. On 15th December 1588 Henry Walpole was ordained in Paris. He was not sent on the English Mission until 1593, arriving in Yorkshire on the night of 6th December. Twenty-four hours later he was captured by the authorities. Three days later he was taken to York where, upon admitting that he was a priest, he was committed to York Gaol. On 25th February 1594, he was ordered to be sent to London and he was imprisoned in the Tower for a year. Carvings that he made on the wall of his cell can still be seen in the Salt Tower. While a prisoner in the Tower, Fr Walpole was tortured at least fourteen times. In 1595, the prisoner was sent back to York to be tried. At his trial he refuted the charges against him, replying at one point, “You, my Lords, sit here at present in judgement as men, and judge as such, being subject to error and passion, but know for certain that there is a Sovereign Judge who will judge righteously, whom in all things we must obey in the first place, and then our lawful princes in such things as are lawful, and no further.” As directed, the jury returned a guilty verdict and Henry was sentenced to death for being a priest, at that time considered high treason. On 7th April 1595, Fr Henry Walpole, along with Fr Alexander Rawlins, was taken to the place of execution at Knavesmire, just outside York. Fr Walpole was forced to watch as his companion was butchered and the authorities offered him his life if he would conform. The priest rejected their bribes and climbed the ladder. He asked the prayers of all Catholics present and lifted his eyes to heaven and began to pray. Before he had finished the Hail Mary, he was shoved off the ladder. He was fully conscious when he was dismembered, disembowelled and quartered. Many witnesses were so moved by the saint’s martyrdom that they converted to Catholicism. The Jesuit Martyr, Saint Henry Walpole, was 37 years old when he gave up his life for his faith.

TEN WERE JESUITS (PART 1)

On 25th October 1970, Pope Paul VI canonised forty martyrs from England and Wales. The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales were a diverse group - men and women, priests and lay people – but, between the years of 1535 and 1679, they all shed their blood for their Catholic faith. Saint David Lewis was the last of the forty to die. Ten of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, including Saint David Lewis, were Jesuits. In the next few posts, we will take a brief look at each of the ten. Here are the first two.

1) St Edmund Campion was born in London on 25th January 1540. He possessd both academic brilliance and exceptional gifts of oratory. Although he had become a Church of England deacon, Edmund had leanings towards the Catholic Church. Upon hearing that a seminary had opened in Douai, he made up his mind to go there. When this news reached Robert Cecil, one of Queen Elizabeth’s closest advisors, he remarked, “England has lost one of her diamonds!” Eventually, Edmund decided to join the Jesuits and he arrived in Rome in April 1573. He was ordained in 1578. His work took him to Prague where he stayed for many years. In time, he was sent on the English Mission where, to the dismay of the authorities, his preaching bore much fruit. They sought to silence him. Allegations were made that the Pope, in alliance with an assortment of Catholic Rulers, planned to invade England and Jesuits and seminary priests had been sent to lay the groundwork. These priests were to be apprehended and so, for more than a year, Edmund Campion was hunted in England. On 17 July 1581, Fr Campion was captured at Lyford Grange, near Abingdon, Berkshire. After months of imprisonment, interrogation and torture, the Jesuit was martyred at Tyburn on 1st December 1581. He was not quite 42 years old. St Edmund Campion’s body was quartered and displayed at each of the city gates as a stark reminder to other Catholics.

2) St Alexander Briant was born in Somerset in 1556. For a short time he studied at Oxford before going to the English College at Douai in 1576. He was ordained a priest on 29th March 1578 and sent on the Mission in August 1579. Less than two years later, 28th April 1581, Alexander was captured by a pursuivant called Norton and imprisoned at the Counter Prison, London, where he was kept in isolation. He was denied food and drink and was driven to using his hat to catch the drips of rain which leaked into his cell. Fr Briant was moved to the Tower of London where he underwent various forms of torture including having needles driven under his nails, and racking. Norton boasted that he would make the unfortunate priest a foot longer! The saintly priest was so steadfast that the Lieutenant of the Tower raged, “What a thing is this? If a man were not settled in his religion, this were enough to convert Him!” In his cell, Fr Briant had managed to make a little wooden cross and, when he was tried in Westminster Hall on 16th November 1581, he clasped it tightly in his hands. Of course, the little cross was snatched from him causing the priest to retort, “You can take it out of my hands, but not out of my heart.” (The cross was later bought by some Catholics and it is now in the English College in Rome.) Predictably, Fr Alexander Briant was condemned and was placed in irons which were not removed until his execution. Before his trial, the young priest had written to the English Jesuits requesting admission into the Society. This request was accepted by the Order. On 1st December 1581, 25 year old Fr Alexander Briant, S J, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn.