Saints, Blesseds, and Venerables The Douai Martyrs | |
---|---|
Priests and Martyrs | |
Born | Various |
Died | 29 November 1577 (Saint Cuthbert Mayne) - 23 October 1680 (Blessed Thomas Thwing) Various, many at Tyburn |
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church (6 were declared Venerable by Pope Leo XIII in 1886) |
Beatified | 14 beatified on 29 December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII 62 beatified on 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI 56 beatified on 22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II |
Canonized | 20 canonized on 25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI |
Feast | 29 October [1] 4 May (all English Martyrs) 25 October (those from the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales group) 22 November (those from the Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales group) Various feast days for individual martyrs |
Attributes | Martyr's palm Knife in chest Noose around neck Book or Bible Crucifix Chaucible Eucharist Various religious habits Crown of martyrdom |
The Douai Martyrs is a name applied by the Catholic Church to 158 Catholic priests trained in the English College at Douai, France, who were executed by the English state between 1577 and 1680. [2]
Having completed their training at Douai, many returned to England and Wales with the intent to minister to the Catholic population. Under the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584 the presence of a priest within the realm was considered high treason. Missionaries from Douai were looked upon as a papal agents intent on overthrowing the queen. Many were arrested under charges of treason and conspiracy, resulting in torture and execution. In total, 158 members of Douai College were martyred between the years 1577 and 1680. [1] The first was Cuthbert Mayne, executed at Launceston, Cornwall on the 29 November 1577. [3] The last was Thomas Thwing, hanged, drawn, and quartered at York in October 1680. [4] Each time the news of another execution reached the College, a Solemn Mass of thanksgiving was sung.
Many people risked their lives during this period by assisting them, which was also prohibited under the Act. A number of the "seminary priests" from Douai were executed at a three-sided gallows at Tyburn near the present-day Marble Arch. A plaque to the "Catholic martyrs" executed at Tyburn in the period 1535 - 1681 is located at 8 Hyde Park Place, the site of Tyburn convent. [5]
They were beatified between 1886, 1929 and 1987, and only 20 were canonized in 1970. Today, British Catholic dioceses celebrate their feast day on 29 October. [1]
The Douay Martyrs School in Ickenham, Middlesex is named in their honour.
Ralph Sherwin was an English Roman Catholic priest, executed in 1581. He is a Catholic martyr and saint.
The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales or Cuthbert Mayne and Thirty-Nine Companion Martyrs are a group of Catholic, lay and religious, men and women, executed between 1535 and 1679 for treason and related offences under various laws enacted by Parliament during the English Reformation. The individuals listed range from Carthusian monks who in 1535 declined to accept Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy, to seminary priests who were caught up in the alleged Popish Plot against Charles II in 1679. Many were sentenced to death at show trials, or with no trial at all.
Cuthbert Mayne was an English Catholic priest executed under the laws of Elizabeth I. He was the first of the seminary priests trained on the Continent to be martyred. Mayne was beatified in 1886 and canonised as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.
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The Eighty-five Martyrs of England and Wales, also known as George Haydock and Eighty-four Companion Martyrs, are a group of men who were executed on charges of treason and related offences in the Kingdom of England between 1584 and 1679. Of the eighty-five, seventy-five were executed under the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584.
Events from the 1570s in England.
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