Edward Arden (c. 1542–1583) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

nobleman and head of the

Arden family The Arden family is an English gentry family that can be traced back in the male line back to Anglo-Saxon landholders who managed to maintain status after the 1066 invasion of England by the Normans of France. The family takes its name from the Fo ...

, who became a Catholic

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

. Arden lived in Park Hall,

Castle Bromwich Castle Bromwich () is a large suburban village situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of the West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east; also Sutton Coldfield to the east and ...

, an estate near modern-day

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. He was a

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

Catholic 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 ...

and kept a

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 ...

, Hugh Hall, at his house disguised as a gardener. Arden's son-in-law, John Somerville, hatched a plan to assassinate

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

, but was arrested long before he could attempt it. A purge of Arden's household ensued, and Arden, who may not have known of Somerville's plan, was executed and

decapitated Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the au ...

. Arden was related to Mary Arden, mother of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Life

He was the head of a Warwick family; his father William died in 1545, and Edward succeeded his grandfather Thomas Arden in 1563. He kept to the old faith and maintained in his home, Park Hall at Castle Bromwich, a priest named Hall, in the disguise of a gardener. This priest influenced John Somerville, Edward Arden's son-in-law, who had had indirect contact with

Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

(she had visited

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

in 1569). Somerville talked of shooting the Queen of England, and set out for London. He was arrested, put to the

rack Rack or racks may refer to: Storage and installation * Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use * Bustle rack, a type of storage bin ...

, and confessed, implicating his father-in-law in his treason and naming the priest as the instigator. All three were tried and sentenced to death. Somerville strangled himself in his cell (?). Arden was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Smithfield on 20 December 1583, but the priest was spared. Arden's and Somerville's heads were set on

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

beside the skull of the

Earl of Desmond Earl of Desmond is a title in the peerage of Ireland () created four times. When the powerful Earl of Desmond took arms against Queen Elizabeth Tudor, around 1578, along with the King of Spain and the Pope, he was confiscated from his estates, s ...

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Annal ...

in his ''Annals'' reflected contemporary opinion by saying that Arden's execution was attributable to the malice

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was ov ...

, bore towards him. Somerville was thought insane by

Lord Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...

Marriage and issue

Arden married Mary Throckmorton (died 1603), the daughter of Sir Robert Throckmorton and his first wife, Muriel Berkeley, daughter of Thomas (1472–1533), 5th Baron Berkeley, by Eleanor Constable (c. 1485 – 1527), daughter of Sir Marmaduke Constable, by whom he had a son and two daughters: *Robert Arden. *Margaret Arden, who married John Somerville, by whom she had two daughters, Elizabeth and Alice. *Katherine Arden, who married Sir Edward Devereux, of

, son of

Walter Devereux, 1st Viscount Hereford Walter Devereux, 10th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, created 1st Viscount Hereford, KG (1488 – 17 September 1558) was an English courtier and parliamentarian. Baron Ferrers Walter was the son and heir of John Devereux, 9th Baron Ferrers an ...

Footnotes

References

* * ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Arden, Edward 1540s births 1583 deaths Shakespeare family People executed under Elizabeth I Executed people from the West Midlands (county) 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Year of birth uncertain People executed by Tudor England by decapitation People from Castle Bromwich Criminals from the West Midlands (county) English Roman Catholics