Edmund Arrowsmith ''(baptized as "Brian Arrowsmith")'', SJ (c. 1585 – 28 August 1628) was one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The main source of information on Arrowsmith is a contemporary account written by an eyewitness and published a short time after his death. This document, conforming to the ancient style of the "Acts of martyrs" includes the story of the execution of another 17th-century recusant martyr,

Richard Herst Richard Herst (Hurst) (died 29 August 1628) was an English Roman Catholic recusant layman. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929. Life Herst is thought to have been born at Broughton, near Preston, Lancashire, England, where he was a well ...

Life

Bryan Arrowsmith was born at

Haydock Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 11,416 Haydock's historic area covers the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook ward. Haydoc ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England, in 1585, the eldest child of Robert Arrowsmith, a

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

farmer, who had served in Sir William Stanley's regiment which fought for Spain in the Low Countries. His mother was Margery Gerard, a member of the Lancashire Gerard family. Among his mother's relations was the priest

John Gerard John Gerard (also John Gerarde, c. 1545–1612) was an English herbalist with a large garden in Holborn, now part of London. His 1,484-page illustrated ''Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes'', first published in 1597, became a popular gard ...

, who wrote ''The Diary of an Elizabethan Priest'', as well as another martyr, Miles Gerard. He was baptised Brian, but always used his confirmation name of Edmund, after an uncle who trained English priests in France. The family was constantly harassed for its adherence to Roman Catholicism. One of his grandfathers died a confessor in prison. On one occasion, as a child, he was left shivering in his night-clothes by the pursuivants, who carried his parents off to Lancaster jail; he and his three siblings were cared for by neighbours.Ryan, Patrick W.F. "Ven. Edmund Arrowsmith." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 17 February 2018

Education

In 1605, at the age of twenty, Arrowsmith left England and went to the English College, Douai, to study for the priesthood. He was soon forced to return to England due to ill health, but recovered and returned to Douai in 1607.

Ecclesiastical career

He was ordained in

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

on 9 December 1612, and sent on the English mission a year later. He ministered to the Catholics of Lancashire without incident until around 1622, when he was arrested and questioned by the Anglican

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the C ...

. Arrowsmith was released when King

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...

ordered an amnesty for all arrested priests, in furtherance of negotiations to arrange a Spanish marriage for his son

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

. Arrowsmith joined the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in 1624. In the summer of 1628, Arrowsmith was reportedly betrayed by a man named Holden, who denounced him to the authorities. Arrowsmith ministered to Catholics of Lancashire at the still-standing Arrowsmith House, located in

Gregson Lane Gregson Lane is a village in Lancashire, England. It is situated between Bamber Bridge, Higher Walton, Coupe Green and Brindle, and is within four miles of the city of Preston. Most of the village is in an unparished area of South Ribble boro ...

before being arrested and questioned on Brindle Moss where his horse refused to jump a ditch. He was convicted of being a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was sentenced to death, and

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under Edward III of England, King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the rei ...

at Lancaster on 28 August 1628. His final confession was heard by John Southworth, who was imprisoned along with Arrowsmith.

Veneration

Edmund Arrowsmith's was

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

in 1929. In 1970, he was canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is 28 August, he is also commemorized on 25 October with the Forty Martyrs.

Lancaster Cathedral Lancaster Cathedral, also known as The Cathedral Church of St Peter and Saint Peter's Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It was a Roman Catholic parish church until 1924, when it was elevated to the sta ...

celebrates Arrowsmith as one of the Lancashire Martyrs, whose feast is kept throughout the diocese on 7 August each year. His hand was preserved and kept by the Arrowsmith family as a

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

and it now rests in the

Catholic Church of St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith The Catholic Church of St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith is located on Liverpool Road in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester, England. Building The first Catholic church on the site was built in 1822. The old church was demolished and th ...

, Ashton-in-Makerfield.

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Catholic Church, Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst, Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. Th ...

retains the small trunk of vestments and equipment which he carried from house to house. St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School is located in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester, England. There is also St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Academy in Whiston, Merseyside.

References

External links

Gardner, Mick. "The Death of Saint Edmund Arrowsmith", Brindle Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrowsmith, Edmund Jesuit saints 1585 births 1628 deaths People from St Helens, Merseyside Martyred Roman Catholic priests English Roman Catholic saints Forty Martyrs of England and Wales People executed by Stuart England by hanging, drawing and quartering People from Haydock 17th-century Christian saints Canonizations by Pope Paul VI 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 17th-century English Roman Catholic priests Jesuit martyrs Executed people from Merseyside Executed Roman Catholic priests