John Rough (died 22 December 1557) was a Protestant martyr and leader of the London underground church. He was born in Scotland and died in England.
Early life
Rough is said to have been born in 1510, but as he was incorporated in St. Leonard's College in the university of St. Andrews in 1521, he was probably born a few years earlier. He left his parents when about seventeen years of age, on account of having been deprived of some property to which he thought himself entitled, and entered the Dominican friary at Stirling. According to his own statement, his opposition to the papacy was aroused or confirmed by his two visits to Rome on Dominican business, when he saw ‘with his own eyes that the pope was anti-Christ,’ inasmuch as more reverence was given to him in the procession than to the sacrament.
After the monastery
He acquired such reputation as a reformist Catholic preacher that in 1543, after the arrest of
Cardinal Beaton
David Beaton (also Beton or Bethune; 29 May 1546) was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish cardinal prior to the Reformation.
Career
Cardinal Beaton was the sixth and youngest son of eleven children of John Beaton (Bethune) of Bal ...
, the regent Arran procured a dispensation for him to leave the monastery so that he might become one of his chaplains. The entry in the treasurer's accounts for February 1543 of payment for a gown, doublet, hose, and bonnet for him as chaplain of the lord-governor, probably indicates the date when he first entered upon his duties. At their request the governor allowed him and Thomas Gwilliam (or Williams) to preach publicly against current errors and abuses. Both were very effective. Rough, although according to Knox ‘not so learned’ as Williams, was ‘yet more simple and vehement against all impiety’ The preaching roused the special indignation of the Franciscans, who, according to Knox, ‘rouped as they had been ravens, yea, rather they yelled like devils in hell “heresy ! heresy ! Gwilliam and Rough will carry the governor to the devil”’. On account of the advice, as is supposed, of John Hamilton, Abbot of Arbroath, and
David Panter
David Panter lso written Painter, or Paniter(died 1 October 1558), Scottish diplomat, clerk and bishop of Ross, was the illegitimate son of Patrick Paniter, secretary to James IV
James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of ...
(afterwards bishop of Ross), who had arrived from France, they were both prohibited from preaching; and Rough took refuge in the wild districts of Kyle in Ayrshire, where he remained until after the murder of Cardinal Beaton in 1546. By this date he had broken completely with Catholicism. After the murder Rough came to St. Andrews, and, besides acting as chaplain to the garrison in the castle, began to preach in the parish church. Here he met
John Knox
John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Born in Giffordgat ...
, whom in a sermon he publicly exhorted to undertake the office of a preacher; and Knox, who had been a disciple of
George Wishart
George Wishart (also Wisehart; c. 15131 March 1546) was a Scottish Protestant Reformer and one of the early Protestant martyrs burned at the stake as a heretic.
George Wishart was the son of James and brother of Sir John of Pitarrow, ...
, and who at this time had brought the aid of his vigorous pen to the support of the teaching of Rough in opposition to Dean Annand of St. Andrews, was at last induced to preach in the parish church his first sermon against the ‘corruptions of the Papistry’. Knox's irregular call was approved by the congregation. Knox and Rough were soon summoned before
John Winram
John Winram (1492 - 1582) was a 16th-century Scottish priest and ecclesiastical reformer. He was born in 1492, the son of one James Winram of Ratho and his wife Margaret Wilkie. He obtained a Bachelor's Degree (1515), a Master's Degree (x 1532 ...
, the Catholic vicar-general of St. Andrews, but their defence was conducted by Knox with such skill as completely to confound their adversaries.
In England
Rough managed to leave for England before the surrender of St. Andrews castle in July 1547, thus escaping being taken prisoner by the French. He went first to Carlisle and thence to the lord-protector Somerset, who assigned him a stipend of £20 sterling, and appointed him to preach at Carlisle, Berwick, and Newcastle. After his ‘marriage to a countrywoman of his,’ he was appointed by
Robert Holgate
Robert Holgate (1481/1482 – 1555) was Bishop of Llandaff from 1537 and then Archbishop of York (from 1545 to 1554). He recognised Henry VIII as head of the Church of England.
Although a protege of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, Holga ...
, Archbishop of York, to a benefice near Hull, where he ministered until the death of Edward VI in 1553, when he fled with his wife to Norden in Friesland. There he and his wife maintained themselves by knitting caps, stockings, and other hosiery. Having on 10 November 1557 come to London to buy some yarn for his business, he was induced to become minister of the underground church, a secret congregation of protestants who used the 1552 Prayer Book.
Arrest, trial and execution
His ministry was not, however, of long duration, because the underground church was infiltrated by a Catholic spy, the tailor Roger Sergeant. On Sergeant's information, Rough was arrested on 12 December, along with other members including the deacon Cutbert Symson, at the Saracen's Head, Islington, where the congregation was meeting. After examination before the privy council on 15 December, Rough was sent a prisoner to Newgate, and a letter was also sent by the council, together with the minutes of his examination, to
Edmund Bonner
Edmund Bonner (also Boner; c. 15005 September 1569) was Bishop of London from 1539 to 1549 and again from 1553 to 1559. Initially an instrumental figure in the schism of Henry VIII from Rome, he was antagonised by the Protestant reforms intro ...
, Bishop of London, requiring him to proceed against Rough. From Newgate Rough wrote two letters to his friends.
Rough excommunicated Margaret Mearing on suspicion of being the spy, because she had repeatedly brought strangers to church with her.
Foxe
Fans of X-Rated Entertainment (F.O.X.E., also known as FOXE) is a United States-based pornography fan organization founded by adult film actor, director, and critic William Margold and actress Viper.
After long examinations on doctrinal matters on 18 and 19 December, during which he was physically assaulted by an enraged Bonner, Rough was on 20 December brought into the consistory and condemned to death. Two days later he was burned at Smithfield along with Mearing. Rough was survived by his wife and their two-year-old daughter, Rachel.