John Lowe (1553–1586) was an English

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

and

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 ...

. John Lowe was born the son of Simon Lowe (or Low) and Margaret Lacy of London in 1553. His father Simon was perhaps the Simon Low who was a merchant-tailor and citizen of London. He was for some time a Protestant minister. After his conversion, he studied at Douai. He was a servant at

Anchin Abbey Anchin Abbey was a Benedictine monastery founded in 1079 in the commune of Pecquencourt in what is now the Nord department of France. Geography Aquicintum then Aquacignium , Anchin (or Chisho ) is an island of 25 hectares, part of the territory ...

for 1578–1579. He entered the

English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...

, arriving on 19 November 1581, and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

there on 19 August 1582, but there is no record of where and when he was ordained a priest. Leaving Rome in September 1583, he was recorded as leaving

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

for the mission in England on 20 December 1583. Records show that his absence abroad had been noted by the English government. By this time his father had died, and his mother Margaret was living 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 ...

. Walking with her one evening nearby in May 1586, he talked too unguardedly about his aspirations to martyrdom and was overheard and denounced to the authorities. He was immediately arrested. It is recorded that he was taken to

the Clink The Clink was a prison in Southwark, England, which operated from the 12th century until 1780. The prison served the Liberty of the Clink, a local manor area owned by the Bishop of Winchester rather than by the reigning monarch. As the Lib ...

in London on the 11 May of that year. He was executed by

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

Tyburn Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern Ox ...

on 8 October 1586. He was executed along with two fellow priests,

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

and

Robert Dibdale Robert Dibdale (or Debdale) (ca. 1556 – 8 October 1586) was an English Catholic priest and martyr. Biography Dibdale was born the son of John Dibdale of Shottery, a village in the county of Warwickshire, within the parish of Stratford-upon-Avon ...

."Beati Giovanni Adams, Roberto Dibdale e Giovanni Lowe"
Santi e Beati, 18 September 2000 All three priests were beatified (the last stage prior to

canonisation Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...

) by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on 22 November 1987. Members of the Lowe family maintained their loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church, refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, losing privileges, titles and land to remain loyal to the Roman Catholic faith.

References

Sources

*The most reliable compact source is Godfrey Anstruther, ''Seminary Priests'', St Edmund's College, Ware, vol. 1, 1968, pp. 214–215. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, John 1553 births 1586 deaths English beatified people Martyred Roman Catholic priests 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 16th-century venerated Christians Executed people from London People executed at Tyburn Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales

See also

References

Sources