During the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

, a number of believers were executed at Lancaster in England as a consequence of their Catholic faith. They are commonly referred to as the Lancaster Martyrs and are commemorated locally by the Lancaster Martyrs Memorial Stone which may be found close to the centre of Lancaster city. Law at the time, such as the ''

Jesuits, etc. Act 1584 An act against Jesuits, seminary priests, and such other like disobedient persons, also known as the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584, (27 Eliz.1, c. 2) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of England passed during the English Reformation. The A ...

,'' made it treason to be a Catholic priest in England and therefore Catholic priests were typically

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 ...

. Laymen convicted of assisting priests were usually sentenced to the lesser punishment of execution by hanging.

List of the Lancaster Martyrs

The Lancaster Martyrs include the following individuals: *

Edmund Arrowsmith 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 main source of information on Arrowsmith is a contemporary account written ...

: A Jesuit priest born in Haydock and executed in Lancaster on 28 August 1628. Declared a saint by the Catholic church. *

Ambrose Barlow Ambrose Edward Barlow, O.S.B. (1585 – 10 September 1641) was an English Benedictine monk who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. He is one of a group of saints canonized by Pope Paul VI who became known as the Forty Martyrs of En ...

: A Benedictine priest born in Manchester and executed in Lancaster on 10 September 1641. Declared a saint by the Catholic church. *

Edward Bamber Edward Bamber (alias Reading) (b. c. 1600, at the Moor, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire; executed at Lancaster 7 August 1646) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He was beatified in 1987. Life Educated at the English College, Valladolid, he was ...

: A priest born in Poulton-le-Fylde near Blackpool and executed in Lancaster on 7 August 1646. Beatified by the Catholic church. * James Bell: A priest born in Warrington and executed in Lancaster on 10 April 1584. Beatified by the Catholic church. * John Finch: A layman born in Eccleston near Preston and executed alongside James Bell in Lancaster on 10 April 1584. Beatified by the Catholic church. *

Richard Hurst Richard Hurst is a British writer and director of comedy, theatre and television. Biography Born Richard Turner in Surrey, he attended Boston Grammar School and Oakham School before studying at St Hugh's College, Oxford, and training as a directo ...

: A layman born in Broughton and executed alongside Edmund Arrowsmith in Lancaster on 28 August 1628. Beatified by the Catholic church. *

Thurstan Hunt Thurston Hunt (executed 31 March 1601 at Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster) was an English Catholic priest (Catholic Church), priest. He was trial, tried and executed with Robert Middleton, also a priest. They were declared to be martyrs by the ...

: A priest born in Rothwell near Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire and executed in Lancaster on 3 April 1601. Beatified by the Catholic church. * Robert Middleton: A Jesuit priest born in York and executed alongside Thurstan Hunt in Lancaster on 3 April 1601. Beatified by the Catholic church. *

Robert Nutter Robert Nutter (c. 155026 July 1600) was an English Catholic priest, Dominican friar and martyr. He was beatified in 1987. Life Throughout the religious upheavals following the English Reformation, the vast majority of English Catholics, many of ...

: A Dominican priest born in Burnley and executed in Lancaster on 26 July 1600. Beatified by the Catholic church. * John Thules: A priest born in Whalley and executed in Lancaster on 18 March 1616. Beatified by the Catholic church. *

Thomas Whittaker Thomas or Tom Whittaker may refer to: *Thomas Bartlett Whitaker (born 1979), American criminal, former Texas Death Row inmate *Thomas Whittaker (martyr) (1614–1646), English Roman Catholic priest *Thomas Whittaker (metaphysician) (1856–1935), E ...

: A priest born in Burnley and executed in Lancaster on 7 August 1646. Beatified by the Catholic church. * John Woodcock: A Fransciscan priest born in

Clayton-le-Woods Clayton-le-Woods (Commonly shortened to Clayton) is a large village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it has a population of 14,528. At the 2011 census the population of Cuerde ...

and executed in Lancaster alongside Thomas Whitaker on 7 August 1646. Beatified by the Catholic church. *

Edward Thwing Edward Thwing ( - 26 July 1600) was an English Catholic priest and martyr. Life Edward Thwing was born about 1565, the second son of Thomas Thwing of Heworth, York and Jane (née Kellet, of York), his wife. He was related to the 14th-century sa ...

: A priest born in Heworth near York and executed in Lancaster alongside Robert Nutter on 26 July 1600. Beatified by the Catholic church. * Roger Wrenno: A layman born in Chorley and executed in Lancaster alongside John Thules on 18 March 1646. Beatified by the Catholic church * Lawrence Bailey (Baily): A layman executed in Lancaster on 18 March 1604. The last Abbot of

Whalley Abbey Whalley Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Whalley, Lancashire, England. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey was largely demolished and a country house was built on the site. In the 20th century the house was modified ...

, John Paslew and the last Abbot of

Sawley Abbey Sawley Abbey was an abbey of Cistercian monks in the village of Sawley, Lancashire, in England (and historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire). Created as a daughter-house of Newminster Abbey, it existed from 1149 until its dissolution in 1 ...

, William Trafford along with a monk by the name of Richard Estegate are also believed to have been executed at Lancaster on 10 March 1537 after being tried for complicity in the

Pilgrimage of Grace The Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536, before spreading to other parts of Northern England including Cumberland, Northumberland, and north Lancashire, under the leadership of Robert Aske. The "most ...

, although there are some claims that Paslew was taken back to Whalley for execution. Whilst there is a tradition of considering them among Catholic martyrs of the English reformation, they are not formally listed among those martyrs that have had their cause advanced through the

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 ...

process of the Catholic church.

Lancaster Martyrs' Memorial Stone

The executions were not carried out on the same spot and their precise sites on Far Moor, to the East of the city, were never formally recorded in order to avoid any future veneration of martyrs by Catholics. However, a memorial standing in the approximate vicinity of at least some of the executions was eventually erected in 1996 and blessed in front of a crowd of several hundred people. It is located in what is now recreation ground (opposite

Williamson Park Williamson Park in Lancaster, England, was constructed by millionaire James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton, and his father, also called James Williamson. Its focal point is the Ashton Memorial. The park now covers an area of 53.6 acres (217,000 ...

and North of Quernmore Road) on a hillside above the Catholic Cathedral of St Peter and St Thomas More, looking out towards the panorama of

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second larges ...

and the mountains of the Lake District. The Lancaster Martyrs' Memorial Stone is dedicated ''"to the memory of those Martyred for their faith in Lancaster"''. It includes a quotation from the Gospel of Matthew (20:22): "Can you drink the Chalice that I am about to drink? They said to Him, we can."

Canonisation and Beatification of the Martyrs

Numerous men and women killed during the reformation period have been officially recognised as martyrs of the English reformation by the Catholic Church. Two of the Lancaster Martyrs, Edmund Arrowsmith and Ambrose Barlow, were among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonised by Pope Paul VI as saints on 25 October 1970. James Bell, John Finch, and Richard Hurst were among one hundred and thirty seven martyrs of England and Wales

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 ...

by Pope Pius XI on 15 December 1929. Edward Bamber, John Thules, Robert Nutter, Thurstan Hunt, Robert Middleton, Thomas Whitaker, John Woodcock, Edward Thwing and Roger Wrenno were among eight five martyrs of England and Wales beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22 November 1987. Lawrence Bailey has not been canonised as a saint or beatified. However he has been declared as "venerable", a lower status in the

process. Abbot John Paslew, Abbot William Trafford and Richard Estegate have not had their cause advanced to the Holy See.

Feast of the Lancaster Martyrs

The Catholic church marks the feast of the Lancaster Martyrs on 7 August. This feast is usually celebrated in the Catholic Cathedral of Lancaster on that day. A specific

collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among oth ...

for the feast day reads: ''"Almighty Father, may those who died on the hill above Lancaster, grieving for England which they prayed God soon to convert, be our patrons now in heaven that our lives may witness to the faith they professed. Through Our Lord jesus Christ, who lvies and reigns with you in unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen"'' The feast of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, which include Edmund Arrowsmith and Ambrose Barlow among their number, is celebrated on 25 October.

References

{{Reflist Groups of Christian martyrs of the Middle Ages