Alexander Rawlins (1560 - 7 April 1595) was an English Roman Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929.

Life

While

Richard Challoner Richard Challoner (29 September 1691 – 12 January 1781) was an English Roman Catholic bishop, a leading figure of English Catholicism during the greater part of the 18th century. The titular Bishop of Doberus, he is perhaps most famous for h ...

says that Rawlins was born somewhere on the border between

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

and

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, Rawlins stated to the examiners that he was born a Catholic in the city of Oxford. He went to school in Winchester before continuing his studies at

Hart Hall Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

at Oxford. He then went to London where he apprenticed himself to an apothecary. In June 1586, he was arrested for the second time, with

Swithun Wells Swithun Wells (c. 1536 – 10 December 1591) was an English Roman Catholic martyr who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I. Wells was a country gentleman and one time schoolmaster whose family sheltered hunted priests. He himself often ...

, a known Catholic sympathizer, and seminarian Christopher Dryland and imprisoned in Newgate. After imprisonment, he was banished as "an obstinate Papist". Sailing from

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

he landed at

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

and proceeded to Picardy. He travelled widely, mostly on foot, going to Rome and Paris before arriving at Reims, where he entered the college in December 1587. Rawlins was ordained a priest at Soissons on 18 March 1590 and sent on the English mission on 9 April. He arrived in England as a missioner with

Edmund Gennings Edmund Gennings, sometimes called ''Edmund Jennings'', (1567 – 10 December 1591), was an English martyr, who was executed during the English Reformation for being a Roman Catholic priest. He came from Lichfield, Staffordshire. Life Gen ...

and Hugh Sewell. His mother's maiden name was Yeale, and Rawlins sometimes went by the alias "Francis Yeale". Rawlins worked in York and Durham. On Christmas Day 1594 he was arrested at Winston, Durham. In the spring of 1595, he was in York awaiting trial, where he was joined by Henry Walpole. On Monday 7 April they were both hanged, drawn and quartered at

Knavesmire The Knavesmire is one of a number of large, marshy undeveloped areas within the city of York in North Yorkshire, England, which are collectively known as '' Strays''. Knavesmire, together with Hob Moor, comprises Micklegate Stray. It has bee ...

. Rawlins was put to death first. The hangmen would have cut him down to be disembowelled alive, but they were stayed by a gentleman on horseback who made them wait until Rawlins was dead, and then lower the rope so his body should not fall.Miola, Robert S., ''Early Modern Catholicism: An Anthology of Primary Sources'', OUP Oxford, 2007
, p. 151 His feast is 7 April.

References

Sources

*Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, Stephen Bunson (2003), ''Our Sunday Visitor's encyclopedia of saints'', p. 65. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlins, Alexander 1595 deaths 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests English beatified people People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering Year of birth unknown Executed people from Worcestershire 1560 births One Hundred and Seven Martyrs of England and Wales