John Story (or Storey) (1504 – 1 June 1571) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. Story escaped to Flanders in 1563, but seven years later he was lured aboard a boat in Antwerp and abducted to England, where he was imprisoned 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 ...

, and subsequently executed at

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 ...

on a charge of treason.

Life

He was born in 1504, the son of Nicholas and Joan Story of Salisbury. He became a Franciscan tertiary. Story was educated at Hinxsey Hall,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he became lecturer on civil law in 1535, and two years later became principal of Broadgates Hall, afterwards Pembroke College.Wainewright, John. "Bl. John Story." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 28 May 2013
/ref> He received his D.C.L. in 1538, and the following year resigned his position at Broadgates and was admitted as an advocate at

Doctors' Commons Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildi ...

. He married Joan Watts. He appears to have temporarily abjured his

beliefs and took the Oath of Supremacy. In 1544, in recognition of legal services performed in Boulogne for the crown, 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 disa ...

confirmed Story in the position of Regius Professor of civil law at Oxford. Having been chosen

for

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in 1545 and Hindon in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. Just after the accession of

King Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour ...

in 1547, Story gained notoriety by his opposition to the Act of Uniformity in 1548. For crying out "Woe unto thee, O land, when thy king is a child," Story was imprisoned by the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, but he was soon released and went into exile with his family to Louvain, where he became a member of the University. After the accession of Queen Mary he returned to England in August 1553. His patent as Regius Professor was renewed but he resigned his interest in his position at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and was made chancellor of the dioceses 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 ...

and of Oxford and

dean of arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary trib ...

. Queen Mary being now on the throne, Story was one of the officials in prosecuting

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, and one of her proctors at the trial of

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

at Oxford in 1555. Under Queen Elizabeth, he was again returned to Parliament (as member for

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

in 1553,

Bramber Bramber is a former manor, village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It has a ruined mediaeval castle which was the ''caput'' of a large feudal barony. Bramber is located on the northern edge of the South Downs ...

in April 1554, Bath in November 1554, Ludgershall in 1555 and Downton in 1559). On 20 May 1560, he underwent a short imprisonment in the

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada *Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach, ...

for "having obstinately refused attendance on public worship, and everywhere declaiming and railing against that religion we now profess."Camm, Bede. "Blessed John story", ''Lives of the English Martyrs Declared Blessed by Pope Leo XIII, in 1886 and 1895: Martyrs under Queen Elizabeth'', Burns and Oates, 1905, p. 46
/ref> In 1563, he was again arrested and committed to the

Marshalsea The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition, it became known, in ...

, but managed to escape to

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, where he became a pensioner of King Philip II, and acted as the King's almoner for the Catholic exiles. Engaged by the

Duke of Alba Duke of Alba de Tormes ( es, Duque de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as Duke of Alba, is a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. In 1472, the title of ''Count of Alba de Tormes'', inherited by G ...

(Alva in Dutch), Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, to prevent the export of heretical books from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to England, he was lured onto a trading boat at

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

in 1570 and conveyed to

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

and thence to imprisonment in the Tower of London. According to

Bede Camm Dom Bede Camm, O.S.B., (26 December 1864 – 8 September 1942) was an English Benedictine monk and martyrologist. He is best known for his many works on the English Catholic martyrs, which helped to keep their memories alive in the newly reemer ...

, Story represented the old order, and was well known among the Catholic refugees. Brought home by fraud and violence and then executed, Camm sees this as meant to send a message to the exiles, demonstrating "how strong Elizabeth was to punish and how powerless Spain to protect".Camm, Bede. ''Lives of the English Martyrs'', Intro p. xxii, Longmans, Green and Company, 1914
/ref> In spite of his claim that he was a Spanish subject, he was tried for high treason (for having supported the

Northern Rebellion The Rising of the North of 1569, also called the Revolt of the Northern Earls or Northern Rebellion, was an unsuccessful attempt by Catholic nobles from Northern England to depose Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of ...

of 1569 and encouraging the Duke of Alba to invade) and was condemned to death on 2 May 1571. The spectacle of his trial moved St. Edmund Campion, who was present, to reconsider both his own position and his Catholic duty. He was executed at

by being

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 ...

on 1 June 1571. With the rope around his neck he made a long speech and pleaded on behalf of his wife "who hath four young children".

Veneration

In 1886, John Story was

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 ...

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

owing to a papal decree originally approved by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

in 1859.

References

;Attribution *

External links

Catholic Forum Patron Saints Index: ''Blessed John Storey''Saint of the Day, 1 June: ''Blessed John Storey''
at SaintPatrickDC.org *
Story, John (c.1504-71)
The History of Parliament online: British Political, Social and Local History {{DEFAULTSORT:Story, John 1504 births 1571 deaths English beatified people People executed under the Tudors for treason against England People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 16th-century venerated Christians Alumni of the University of Oxford Principals of Broadgates Hall, Oxford Regius Professors of Civil Law (University of Oxford) Executed English people People executed at Tyburn English MPs 1545–1547 English MPs 1547–1552 English MPs 1553 (Mary I) English MPs 1554 English MPs 1554–1555 English MPs 1555 English MPs 1559 People executed by Tudor England by decapitation English politicians convicted of crimes Forty-one Martyrs of England and Wales