Polydore Plasden (1563–1591) was one of the Catholic Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. A native of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, he studied for the priesthood at

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 ...

and Rome and was ordained in 1586 before being sent back to England soon after.

Life

Polydore Plasden was born in 1563, the son of a London horner. He was educated at Rheims and at the English College at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he was ordained priest on 7 December 1586. He remained at Rome for more than a year, and then was at Rheims from 8 April till 2 September 1588, when he was sent on the mission. While at Rome he had signed a petition for the retention of the Jesuits as superiors of the English College, but in England he was considered to have suffered injury through their agency. Plasden ministered in Sussex and in London from 1588 to 1591. He was captured on 2 November 1591, in London, at Swithun Wells' house in Gray's Inn Fields, where

Edmund Gennings Edmund Gennings, sometimes called ''Edmund Jennings'', (1567 – 10 December 1591), was an English martyr, who was executed during the English Reformation for being a Roman Catholic priest. He came from Lichfield, Staffordshire. Life Genning ...

was celebrating Mass. On 6 December together with Edmund Gennings and

Eustace White Eustace White (1559 - 1591) was a Catholic priest. Due to his service he was put on trial in December 1591 and subsequently hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 10 December 1591, along with another priest and three laymen. He is one of the ...

, priests, and Sydney Hodgson, Swithin Wells, and John Mason, laymen, he was tried before the King's Bench, and condemned for coming into England contrary to law. At his execution on 10 December 1591, he acknowledged

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

as his lawful queen, whom he would defend to the best of his power against all her enemies, and he prayed for her and the whole realm, but said that he would rather forfeit a thousand lives than deny or fight against his religion. Plasden was

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 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 ...

.Camm O.S.B., Bede. ''The One Hundred and Five Martyrs of Tyburn'', p.77. Burns & Oates, London. 1917
/ref> By the orders of Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

, he was allowed to hang till he was dead, and the sentence was carried out upon his corpse. He was beatified in 1929, and was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

References

External links

"Decree Of The Sacred Congregation Of Rites, On The Introduction Of The Cause of Beatification or Declaration of Martyrdom, of Two Hundred And Sixty-One Venerable Servants Of God, Who Were Put To Death In England For The Faith"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plasden, Polydore 1591 deaths 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests Forty Martyrs of England and Wales English Roman Catholic saints People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering Executed people from London 16th-century Christian saints 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 1563 births