English Speaking Saints And Martyrs

St Egwin | ICN : Benedictine monk and bishop. Born of royal blood in the 7th century, Egwin entered a monastery as a young man. in 692 he was asked to become bishop of Worcester.As a bishop he became known as a protector of orphans and widows and a fair judge, however some clergy complained that...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: The Popish Plot and The Howard Family : The Howard family boasts two martyrs: St. Philip Howard who died in the Tower of London during Queen Elizabeth I's reign (denied the o...

Bl. William Howard, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. He was arrested on the false accusation of complicity in the so-called Popish Plot and imprisoned for two years before finally being beheaded on Tower Hill Feastday Dec 29

St Thomas Becket | ICN : Martyr and archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas a Becket was born in Cheapside, London, on 21st December (which was the feast of St Thomas the Apostle) around 1120, the son of a prosperous London merchant, Gilbert Beket and his wife Matilda. The young Thomas was sent as a student to Merton ...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Henry VIII and Sanctuary : If you've seen the Charles Laughton-Maureen O'Hara movie version of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame , you surely re...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Another Jesuit Martyr's Christmas Hymn : Saint Robert Southwell (1561 to February 21, 1595) is the famous Jesuit martyr who wrote a great Christmas  poem , "The Burning Babe...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Bishop Christopherson, RIP : A great supporter of Queen Mary I and a committed Catholic, John Christopherson , the former Bishop of Chichester, died on December 22, 1...

Bl. John Mason, Roman Catholic Layman and English Martyr. hanged, drawn, and quartered with Sts. Edmund Gennings, Palydore Plasden. and Blessed Sidney Hodgson. Feastday Dec.10 St. Polydore Plasden, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Feastday Dec.10 St. Eustace White, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr, hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. Feastday Dec.10 Bl. Thomas Somers, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Arrested for being a priest, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn with Blessed John Roberts. Feastday Dec.10 St. Julia of Merida, Roma Catholic Martyr of Merida, Spain. She died with St. Eulalia in Merida for the faith.Feastday Dec.10

St. John Almond, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Feastday Dec.5

Bl. Edward Coleman, Roman Catholic layman and English Martyr. He was executed at Tyburn. Feastday Dec 3

St. Alexander Briant, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priest and English Martyr, tortured and then hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Feastday Dec.1  Bl. Richard Langley Roman Catholic English Martyr, hanged, drawn, and quartered. Feastday Dec.1 Bl. John Beche, Roman Catholic Benedictine English Martyr, tortured and then hanged, drawn, and quartered. Feastday Dec.1

Bl. James Thompson, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. He was hanged at York. Feastday Nov 28

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: The Ides of November, 1539 : The last Abbots of Reading and Glastonbury suffered martyrdom on November 15, 1539. Hugh Cook Faringdon and Richard Whiting had both sworn f...

Bl. Roger James, Roman Catholic Benedictine Martyr of England. Monk of Glastonbury Abbey, when the monks opposed the royal decree, Roger was hanged, drawn, and quartered on Tor Hill, Glastonbury, with his abbot, Blessed Richard Whiting, and with Blessed John Thome. FeastdayNov 15 Bl. John Thorne, Roman Catholic Benedictine Martyr of England. The Treasurer of Glastonbury Abbey, he was martyred with Blessed Richard Whiting and Blessed Roger James for protecting various treasures of Glastonbury from seizure by the rapacious minions of King Henry VIII of England.  Feastday Nov 15 Bl. Richard Whiting, Roman Catholic Benedictine Martyr of England. Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, he refused to surrender his celebrated abbey into the hands of the crown, he was condemned as a traitor and hanged on Tor Hill, overlooking Glastonbury, with Blesseds Roger James and John Thorne.  Feastday Nov 15 Bl. John Eynon, Roman Catholic Benedictine Priest and English Martyr. John served as ...

Bl. John Bodey, Roman Catholic and English Martyr. When he repudiated King Henry VIII’s claim of supremacy in spiritual matters, he was arrested in 1550. John was imprisoned at Winchester until 1583, when he was taken on November 2 to Andover where he was hanged. Feastday: November 2

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: A Lay Martyr's Last Words: "Jesu, Jesu, esto mihi ... : "Jesu, Jesu, esto mihi Jesus": Jesus, Jesus, be to me a Savior. John Bodey or Body (as Challoner names him) was executed on Al...

Bl. John Slade, Roman Catholic layman and English Martyr. John denied King Henry VIII's supremacy in religious matters and was arrested and tried with Blessed John Bodey. They were hanged, drawn, and quartered at Winchester. Feastday: October 30

Bl. Maria Restituta, Roman Catholic Nun and Martyr. Sr. Mary Restituta was arrested by the Gestapo and accused not only of hanging the crosses but also of having written a poem mocking Hitler.On 29 October 1942 she was sentenced to death by the guillotine. Feastday: October 29 The Nazis offered her freedom if she would abandon the Franciscan sisters, but she refused. When a request for clemency reached the desk of Martin Bormann, a high ranking Nazi official, he replied that her execution would provide “effective intimidation” for others who might want to resist the Nazis. She spent the rest of her days in prison caring for other prisoners. She was beheaded on 30 March 1943. Feastday Oct 29

Martyrs of Douai, Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs in England. 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. Feastday Oct 29

St. Cuthbert Mayne, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Before being brought to the place of execution, Mayne was offered his life in return for a renunciation of his religion and an acknowledgment of the supremacy of the queen as head of the church. Declining both offers, he kissed a copy of the Bible, declaring that, "the queen neither ever was, nor is, nor ever shall be, the head of the church of England". Feastday Oct 29

St. John Roberts, Roman Catholic Benedictine Priest and English Martyr. With Blessed Thomas Somers, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Feastday Oct 25

St. John Houghton, Roman Catholic Carthusian Monk and Protomartyr of the English Reformation. He refused to swear to the Oath of Supremacy, the first man to make this refusal. Dragged through the streets, he was executed at Tyburn with four companions by being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Parts of his remains were put on display in assorted spots throughout London. Feastday Oct 25

St. Ambrose Edward Barlow, Roman Catholic Benedictine Priest and English Martyr. he was taken from Lancaster Castle, drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, hanged, dismembered, quartered, and boiled in oil. His head was afterwards exposed on a pike. Feastday Oct 25

The Welsh Martyrs The Welsh Martyrs commemorated today are: are the priests Philip Evans and John Lloyd, John Jones, David Lewis, John Roberts, and the teacher Richard Gwyn. Wales also continues to keep 4 May as a separate feast for the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales. Saint Philip Evans and St John Lloyd Philip Evans was a Jesuit priest, born in Monmouth in 1645, educated at Jesuit College at St Omer, joined the Society of Jesus in Watten on 7 September 1665, and was ordained at Liège and sent to South Wales as a missionary in 1675. He worked in Wales for four years, and despite the official anti-Catholic policy no action was taken against him. When the Oates' scare swept the country both Lloyd and Evans were caught up in the aftermath. In November 1678 a John Arnold, of Llanvihangel Court near Abergavenny, a justice of the peace and hunter of priests, offered a reward of £200 (equivalent to £30,000 in 2015) for his arrest. Despite the dangers Fr Evans refused to leave ...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: John of Salisbury, RIP and St. Thomas a Becket : John of Salisbury , English bishop and associate of St. Thomas a Becket and Nicholas Breakspear (the only Briton to be elected pope, as...

Bl. Thomas Thwing, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. He was condemned and hanged, drawn, and quartered at York. Feastday Oct 23

English Historical Fiction Authors: The Crowning of a King 1066... Two Views : By Helen Hollick On January 5th 1066, King Edward,  (later known as the Confessor)  lay dying at Westminster, London. He passed pe...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Saint Philip Howard and His Dog : From my post last year on the National Catholic Register blog roll: In a 19th century engraving (above), Sir Philip Howard, the 20th E...

Roman Catholic Jesuit Priests and Martyrs.  six North American Martyrs. Captured and tortured to death at the hands of the Indians.

St. Richard Gwyn, Roman Catholic Layman and English Martyr. He Converted from Protestantism, he returned to Wales in 1562, married, had six children, and opened a school. Arrested in 1579, he spent four years in prison before his execution by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Wrexham on October 15, for being a Catholic. Feastday Oct 17

Bl. Robert Sutton, Roman Catholic English Martyr. He was an Anglican minister before his conversion to Catholicism. In 1575, he converted and went to Douai, France. He returned to England and was arrested in London and hanged at Clerkenwell. Feastday Oct 5

Bl. William Hartley, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. He was an Anglican minister before his conversion to Catholicism. Going to Reims, France, he received ordination in 1580 and went back to the English mission to aid St. Edmund Campion. William was hanged at Shoreditch.  Feastday Oct 5  #english   #saint   #nationalism   #missions  

Bl. Robert Wilcox, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Robert was arrested in Marshsea. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered with Blessed Robert Widmerpool at Canterbury. Feastday Oct.1

Bl. Edward James, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Returning as a missionary to England, he was arrested and martyred at Chichester. Feastday Oct 1

St. Ralph Crockett, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. Ralph was martyred at Chichester by being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Feastday Oct 1

Bl. William Way, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr, He was executed at Kingston-on-Thames by being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Feastday Sept 23 

Bl. Thomas Johnson, Roman Catholic Priest and English Carthusian Martyr. A member of the London Charterhouse, he was arrested with fellow monks for opposing the claim by King Henry VIII of spiritual supremacy over the English Church. Imprisoned at Newgate, Thomas was starved to death. Feastday Sept 20

Bl. William Browne, Roman Catholic Martyr of England. He was a layman in Northamptonshire arrested and executed at Ripon for being a Catholic. He is associated in martyrdom with Blesseds Thomas Welbourne and John Fulthering. Feastday Sept 5

Bl. Richard Bere, Roman Catholic Monk and English Martyr. When he and his fellow monks voiced their opposition to the planned divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon, they were starved to death in Newgate Prison. Feastday Aug 31

Bl. Edward Shelley, Roman Catholic English Martyr, He sheltered priests and was hung at Tyburn. Feastday August 30 St. Richard Martin, Roman Catholic English Martyr, a devout Catholic. Arrested for giving shelter to priests, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum with Blesseds Richard Leigh, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward. Feastday Aug.30 Bl. Richard Leigh, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr, arrested for being a priest and, with Blesseds Richard Martin, Edward Shelley, John Roche, Richard Flowers, and St. Margaret Ward, was executed at Tybum. Feastday Aug.30

Bl. Hugh More, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr He was a native of Lincolnshire, educated at Oxford. After converting while at Reims, Hugh was martyred at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by hanging. Feastday Aug.28  Bl. Richard Herst, Roman Catholic English Martyr, hanged at Lancaster on August 29 because of his refusal to deny Catholicism. Feastday Aug.29

Bl. Thomas Felton, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr, hanged at lsleworth, London. Feastday Aug.28  Bl. Robert Morton, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. He was executed at Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. Feastday Aug.28  Bl. William Dean, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr, originally a minister who was converted to Catholicism, executed in Nile End Green, London.Feastday Aug.28  Bl. Thomas Holford, Roman Catholic English Martyr. Raised a Protestant, he worked as a schoolmaster in Herefordshire until converting to the Catholic faith. He left England and was ordained at Reims in 1583. Going home, he labored in the areas around Cheshire and London until his arrest. He was hanged at Clerkenwell in London.  Bl. William Guntei, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr of Wales. A native of Raglan, Gwent, Wales, he was a Catholic who received ordination at Reims, France, in 1587. He returned to England to work for the Catholic mission. Capture...

Bl. Thomas Percy, Roman Catholic English Martyr. For three years in prison, refusing fervently to abjure his faith in return for his freedom. Thomas was finally beheaded at York. Feastday Aug 26

St. John Kemble, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. At the age of eighty-one, he was arrested at Pembridge Castle, the home of his brother. He was falsely charged in the Titus Qates Plot and condemned for being a Catholic. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Hereford. Feastday Aug 22

Bl. William Lacey, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. He was arrested in York Prison while participating in the Eucharistic ceremony being sung in the cell of Blessed Thomas Bell. Condemned, he was executed at Knavesmaire ,just outside of York with Blessed Richard Kirkman. Feastday Aug 22

The Princess Mary Refuses to Conform

Bl. William Freeman, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Warwick on August 13

Bl. John Felton, Roman Catholic Priest and English Martyr. John nailed a copy of the Bull of Pope St. Pius V excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I to the doors of the bishop of London’s residence. Arrested and imprisoned, he was racked three times before being martyred in St. Paul’s churchyard. Feastday Aug 8

St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Roman Catholic Nun. together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australasia with an emphasis on education for the poor, particularly in country areas. She is the only Australian until now, to be recognised by the Roman Catholic Church as a saint. Feastday Aug. 8

Bl. William Horne, Roman Catholic Carthusian lay brother and English Martyr. A member of the London Charterhouse of the Carthusians, he was arrested for opposing the religious policies of King Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547), which included the imprisonment of Catholics and the destruction of monasteries. William was executed at Tyburn with two companions. Feastday Aug. 4

Bl. Thomas Welbourne, Roman Catholic School master and English Martyr. He worked as a schoolmaster until his arrest for preaching the Catholic faith. He was arrested and condemned with Blesseds John Fuithering and William Brown. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at York. Feastday Aug. 1