Adam Sedbar or Sedbergh (c. 1502–1537) was the 23rd and last Abbot of

Jervaulx Abbey Jervaulx Abbey in East Witton in North Yorkshire, north-west of the city of Ripon, was one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, England, dedicated to St Mary in 1156. It is a Grade I listed building. The place name ''Jervaulx'' is fir ...

Wensleydale Wensleydale is a valley in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Dales, which are part of the Pennines. The Dale (landform), dale is named after the village of Wensley, North Yorkshire, Wensley, formerly the valley's market tow ...

, Yorkshire.

Biography

Adam Sedbar had been elected abbot of the Cistercian abbey of Jervaulx in 1533 when

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

introduced his plans for the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He was persuaded in 1536, somewhat reluctantly, to join in a

Pilgrimage of Grace The Pilgrimage of Grace was an English Catholic popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536 before spreading to other parts of Northern England, including Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham and north Lancashire. The protests occurre ...

, together with other local abbots from Fountains, Bridlington and Guisborough Abbeys, in order to protest about the king's policies. The cause attracted a large number of followers, and urged on by a few fanatics, became increasingly militant. After a number of Yorkshire towns were attacked by the insurgents the King eventually decided, after some negotiation with their spokesman, to round up the ringleaders and charge them with treason . Sedbar sought sanctuary with

John Scrope, 8th Baron Scrope of Bolton John Scrope, 8th Baron Scrope of Bolton ( – 22 June 1549) was the son of Henry Scrope, 7th Baron Scrope of Bolton and Mabel Dacre. Around 1530 he married Catherine Clifford, daughter of Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland in Skipton, Yorks ...

at his stronghold in

Bolton Castle Bolton Castle is a 14th-century castle located in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, England (). The nearby village of Castle Bolton takes its name from the castle. The castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle was d ...

. When the King's Commissioners followed him there, Lord Scrope fled for his own safety and Sedbar hid out for several days on Witton Fell but was captured on 12 May 1537 and taken with others to be tried in London. He was imprisoned in the Beauchamp tower in the Tower of London, where his inscribed name on the wall "ADAM SEDBAR. ABBAS JOREVALL 1537" can still be clearly seen. He was charged that "''he did conspire to deprive the King of his title of Supreme Head of the English Church, and to compel him to hold a certain Parliament and convocation of the clergy of the realm, and did commit divers insurrections...''" and "tried" or examined on both 25 April and 24 May. Although he claimed that the objectives of the insurrection were non-ecclesiastical he was found guilty, as were the other abbots, several monks and various lay ringleaders. He was taken with others on 2 June 1537 to Tyburn where they were

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered was a method of torture, torturous capital punishment used principally to execute men convicted of High treason in the United Kingdom, high treason in medieval and early modern Britain and Ireland. The convi ...

. The Prior of

Bridlington Bridlington (previously known as Burlington) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part (Flamborough Head to the Humber estuary) of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is ...

suffered the same fate on the same day, as had the Abbot of

Fountains A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

and Prior of

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

a few days earlier. Their heads were all displayed on London Bridge.

References

External links

Jervaulx Abbey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sedbar, Adam 1537 deaths Prisoners in the Tower of London People executed by Tudor England by hanging, drawing and quartering Year of birth unknown Executed British people People executed under Henry VIII Year of birth uncertain

Biography

See also

References

External links