Saint John of Cologne | |
---|---|
Religious, priest and martyr | |
Born | Electorate of Cologne |
Died | 9 July 1572 Brielle, Spanish Netherlands |
Beatified | 14 November 1675 by Pope Clement X |
Canonized | 29 June 1865 by Pope Pius IX |
Major shrine | Bedevaarts Church, Brielle, South Holland, Netherlands |
Feast | 9 July |
John of Cologne (Joannes van Hoornaar), was a friar and priest of the Dominican Order, born in the Electorate of Cologne, part of modern Germany. He later became a parish priest of Hoornaar, in the Spanish Netherlands. He was executed for his faith in 1572 and has been declared a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church.
In the period 1550-1560 the Dutch Provinces were trying to gain their independence from the Spanish empire of King Philip II.
The Geuzen (Sea Beggars) were adventurers, pirates and patriots who fought against the Spanish rule in the Dutch provinces. For several years their bases of operation included the ports of Emden (on the coast of the Dutch Province Friesland), La Rochelle (on the coast of France) and Dover (on the coast of England). The Sea Beggars attacked vessels of almost any nation as well as fishing villages and towns on the coast of the Dutch Provinces. [1]
All that is known of John's early life is that he attended the University of Cologne, then recognized as one of the best educational institutions in Europe. He entered the Dominican Order at Cologne and received his formation there. After completing his education, John was assigned to a parish in the Netherlands village of Hoornaar, where he served for the next twenty years. [2]
By 1572, Lutheranism and Calvinism had spread through a great part of Europe. In the Netherlands this was followed by a struggle between the two denominations in which Calvinism was victorious. On 1 April of that year Calvinists and a group called the Watergeuzen (Sea Beggars) conquered Brielle (Den Briel) and later Flushing. [1] In June of that year, Dordrecht and Gorkum also fell into their hands. There they arrested all the Catholic clergy and held them in confinement, in an attempt to get them to deny the Catholic beliefs on the Eucharist and papal primacy. [3]
As John became aware of what had happened to his fellow priests, he disguised himself and attempted to bring them the comfort of the sacraments. He secretly ministered to the captives but was eventually found out and also taken captive. These nineteen were imprisoned in Gorkum from June 26 until July 6, undergoing much abuse. [2] Meanwhile, a letter from William the Silent, Prince of Orange, enjoined all those in authority to leave priests and religious unmolested. Nevertheless Lumey, the commander of the Watergeuzen, ordered them to be hanged on the night of 9 July, [2] in a turfshed, after cruel tortures.
They are referred by the Roman Catholic Church as the Martyrs of Gorkum. [3]
The group was canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1867. Their remains are honored at a shrine built to their honor in Brielle.
Pope Clement X, born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 April 1670 to his death, in July 1676. Elected pope at age 79, he has since been ranked as the oldest pope at the time of his election.
Year 1572 (MDLXXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Brielle, also called Den Briel in Dutch and Brill in English, is a town and historic seaport in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas. The former municipality covered an area of 31.14 km2 (12.02 sq mi) of which 3.59 km2 (1.39 sq mi) was water. In 2021 its population was 17,439.
Gorinchem, also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 21.93 km2 (8.47 sq mi) of which 3.10 km2 (1.20 sq mi) is water. It had a population of 37,410 in 2021.
Geuzen was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen. In the Eighty Years' War, the Capture of Brielle by the Watergeuzen in 1572 provided the first foothold on land for the rebels, who would conquer the northern Netherlands and establish an independent Dutch Republic. They can be considered either as privateers or pirates, depending on the circumstances or motivations.
William II de la Marck was the Lord of Lumey and initially admiral of the Watergeuzen, the so-called 'sea beggars' who fought in the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), together with among others William the Silent, Prince of Orange-Nassau. He was the great-grandson of an equally notorious character, baron William de la Marck, nicknamed the "wild boar of the Ardennes".
The Passionists, officially named the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, abbreviated CP, are a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720, with a special emphasis on and devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ. A known symbol of the congregation is the labeled emblem of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, surmounted by a cross. This symbol is often sewn into the attire of its congregants.
The Holland Mission or Dutch Mission was the common name of a Catholic Church missionary district in the Low Countries from 1592 to 1853, during and after the Protestant Reformation in the Netherlands.
The Martyrs of Gorkum were a group of 19 Dutch Catholic clerics, secular and religious, who were hanged on 9 July 1572 in the town of Brielle by militant Dutch Calvinists during the 16th-century religious wars—specifically, the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule, which developed into the Eighty Years' War.
The Capture of Brielle by the Watergeuzen, on 1 April 1572 marked a turning point in the uprising of the Low Countries against Spain in the Eighty Years' War. Militarily the success was minor as the port of Brielle was undefended, but it provided the first foothold on land for the rebels at a time when the rebellion was all but crushed, and it offered the sign for a new revolt throughout the Netherlands which led to the formation of the Dutch Republic.
Nicholas Pieck, O.F.M., "Nicolaas" or "Claes Pieck" in Dutch, was a Franciscan friar who was one of a group of Catholic clergy and lay brothers, the Martyrs of Gorkum, who were executed for refusal to renounce their faith in 1572.
Frederik Schenck van Toutenburg was the first Archbishop of Utrecht (1559–1580). Prior to Schenck's ministry as archbishop, Utrecht was a bishopric with a succession of sixty bishops. The last bishop of Utrecht, prior to Schenck was George van Egmond. After Schenck's death in 1580, the see would remain vacant until Sasbold Vosmeer assumed the archbishopric in 1602.
In 16th-century Christianity, Protestantism came to the forefront and marked a significant change in the Christian world.
The Lordship of Utrecht was formed in 1528 when Charles V of Habsburg conquered the Bishopric of Utrecht, during the Guelders Wars.
The historic Diocese of Utrecht was a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church from 695 to 1580, and from 1559 archdiocese in the Low Countries before and during the Protestant Reformation.
Godfried Coart {Godfried van Melveren} was a Franciscan friar and one of the martyrs of Gorkum. He is honored as the first canonized saint of Belgium.
Anthony of Weert was a Franciscan friar and priest who was martyred during the Dutch Revolt. Eighteen other men were martyred alongside him; they are known as the Martyrs of Gorkum.
Andrew Wouters was a Dutch Catholic priest who served as pastor in Heinenoord, Hoeksche Waard. He was among the 19 Martyrs of Gorkum in 1572.
The period between the Capture of Brielle and the Pacification of Ghent was an early stage of the Eighty Years' War between the Spanish Empire and groups of rebels in the Habsburg Netherlands.
The Martyrs of Roermond were a group of 13 Dutch Catholic clerics, secular and religious, who were murdered on 23 July 1572 in the town of Roermond by militant Dutch Calvinists during the 16th-century religious wars—specifically, the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule, which developed into the Eighty Years' War.