Blessed Thomas Belson | |
|---|---|
 Plaque commemorating the deaths of four Catholic martyrs on Longwall St, Oxford, UK. | |
| Martyr | |
| Born | c. 1563 Brill, Buckinghamshire |
| Died | 5 July 1589 (aged 35 - 36) Holywell, Oxford |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 5 July |
Thomas Belson (c. 1563 - 5 July 1589) was an English Roman Catholic layman and martyr, beatified in 1987.
Belson was born at Brill in Buckinghamshire, although the date is uncertain. He was the son of Augustine Belson. He studied at St Mary's Hall, Oxford, part of Oriel College, but did not take the B. A.; and then at the Catholic seminary in Reims. In 1584 he returned to England and was arrested, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Eventually, in 1586, he was banished. [1]
In 1589 he was in Aston Rowant, Oxfordshire when he evaded being captured and fled to Ixhill Lodge in Oakley, Buckinghamshire where he hid in a priest hole, after some days he went to Oxford and was again arrested, at the Catherine Wheel Inn, near Balliol College, Oxford. He was with his confessor George Nicols, Richard Yaxley, a priest, and Humphrey Pritchard, a servant. They were sent to London, whence, after examination before Walsingham and repeated tortures in Bridewell and the Tower, they were sent back to Oxford to be tried.
Belson was found guilty of felony for assisting the priests, and was executed at Oxford on 5 July 1589. [2]
In 1987, Belson and his companions were among eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales to be beatified by Pope John Paul II. A memorial to these four Roman Catholic martyrs was erected on the nearest house to the Holywell Gallows in October 2008. [3]
A book entitled "Blessed Thomas Belson: His Life and Times 1563 - 1589" was written by Christine Kelly in 1988. This narrative provides insights into the courage and devotion of English Catholics at a time when the practice of their faith was punishable by death.
John Story was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Member of Parliament. Story escaped to Flanders in 1563, but seven years later he was lured aboard a boat in Antwerp and abducted to England, where he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and subsequently executed at Tyburn on a charge of treason.
George Nichols was an English Catholic martyr.
John Payne (1532–1582) was an English Catholic priest and martyr, one of the Catholic Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
The Dryburne Martyrs: Richard Hill, Richard Holiday, John Hogg and Edmund Duke were English Roman Catholic priests and martyrs, executed at Dryburne, County Durham, in the reign of Elizabeth I. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987.
Polydore Plasden (1563–1591) was one of the Catholic Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. A native of London, he studied for the priesthood at Rheims and Rome and was ordained in 1586 before being sent back to England soon after.
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.
Christopher Bales, also spelled Christopher Bayles, alias Christopher Evers (c.1564–1590), was an English Catholic priest and martyr. He was beatified in 1929.
Sir Adrian Fortescue was a courtier at the court of King Henry VIII of England and member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic who was executed in 1539 and later beatified as a Roman Catholic martyr.
Stephen Rowsham was an English Catholic priest, executed on 3 April 1587. He is a Catholic martyr, and was beatified by Pope John Paul in 1987.
Edward Bamber was an English Roman Catholic priest. He was beatified in 1987.
William Freeman was an English Roman Catholic priest during the Reformation. He was convicted of treason and hanged, drawn and quartered at Warwick. He is one of 136 Catholic martyrs who were beatified by Pius XI in 1929.
Richard Thirkeld was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886.
Anthony Page was an English Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987.
George Haydock was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987. He is not to be confused with his relative, also a priest, George Leo Haydock (1774–1849).
William Spenser was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987.
George Napper (Napier) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI.
Robert Thorpe was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987.
Richard Sergeant (executed at Tyburn, 20 April 1586) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987.
The Oaten Hill Martyrs were Catholic Martyrs who were executed by hanging, drawing and quartering at Oaten Hill, Canterbury, on 1 October 1588. The gallows had been put up in 1576. These four were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
