Robert Lawrence (died 4 May 1535) was one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn for declining to sign the

Oath of Supremacy The Oath of Supremacy required any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Failure to do so was to be treated as treasonable. The Oath of Supremacy was ori ...

. His feast day is 4 May.

Life

Born about 1485, Robert Lawrence was a graduate of Cambridge. After joining the

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

, in 1531, he succeeded

John Houghton John Houghton may refer to: Politicians * John Houghton (fl.1393), MP for Leicester (UK Parliament constituency) * John Houghton (died 1583) (before 1522–1583), MP for Stamford (UK Parliament constituency) * John Houghton (Manx politician) * J ...

as Prior of the

Beauvale Priory Beauvale Priory (also known as Beauvale Charterhouse) was a Carthusian monastery in Beauvale, Nottinghamshire. It is a scheduled ancient monument. History The priory was founded in 1343 by Nicholas de Cantelupe (d.1355), in honour of the Bless ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, when Houghton was appointed Prior of the

London Charterhouse The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Farringdon, London, dating back to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square, and lies within the London Borough of Islington. It was originally built ( ...

."Saint Robert Lawrence", English Martyrs Parish
/ref>Monks of Ramsgate. "Carthusian Martyrs". ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 29 September 2012
/ref> By February 1535

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

declared that everyone had to take the

, declaring

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

to be

Supreme Head of the Church of England The title of Supreme Head of the Church of England was created in 1531 for King Henry VIII when he first began to separate the Church of England from the authority of the Holy See and allegiance to the papacy, then represented by Pope Clement VI ...

."History of Beauvale", The Beauvale Society
/ref> Lawrence went with Houghton to see

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

, who had them arrested and placed in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

. When they refused to sign the Oath of Supremacy, they were

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 ...

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 ...

, making them among the first Carthusian martyrs in England. Beatified in 1886, Robert was canonized by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

with thirty-nine other martyrs on 25 October 1970.

References

External links

Catholic ForumArco, Anna. "Vatican approves English feast days", ''Catholic Herald'', 20 July 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Robert Forty Martyrs of England and Wales Year of birth missing 1535 deaths Canonizations by Pope Paul VI English saints English Roman Catholic saints Carthusian Martyrs of London Carthusian saints People executed by Tudor England by hanging, drawing and quartering 16th-century Christian saints 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Executed English people People executed under Henry VIII

Life

See also

References

External links