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189-607: Robert Southwell , SJ (c. 1561 – 21 February 1595), also Saint Robert Southwell , was an English Catholic priest of the Jesuit Order . He was also an author of Christian poetry in Elizabethan English , and a clandestine missionary in Elizabethan England . After being arrested and imprisoned in 1592, and intermittently tortured and questioned by priest hunter Sir Richard Topcliffe , Southwell

378-555: A Humble Supplication to Queen Elizabeth , circulated in manuscript. Mary Magdalen's Funeral Tears was openly published in 1591. It proved to be very popular, going through ten editions by 1636. Thomas Nashe 's imitation of Mary Magdalen's Funeral Tears in Christ's Tears over Jerusalem proves that the works received recognition outside of Catholic circles. Soon after Southwell's death, St Peter's Complaint with other poems appeared, printed by John Windet for John Wolfe , but without

567-781: A "college of venerable confessors". The following year he mediated in a dispute there between secular and regular clergy (the latter represented by the Jesuits), which became known as the Wisbech Stirs . The argument was settled by the end of the year, but Garnet was concerned that reports of discontent at the Jesuit-administered English College in Rome and tension between some Catholic English exiles in Brussels might undermine his efforts to stabilise

756-471: A Catholic from the throne. In 2013, this law was partially changed when the disqualification of the monarch marrying a Catholic was eliminated (along with male preference in the line of succession). The law was also changed to limit the requirement that the monarch "must give permission to marry to the six persons next in line to the throne." Still, Catholics today once again are permitted to hold Wolsey and More's office of Lord Chancellor as did Catholics before

945-430: A Catholic, Catherine of Braganza . (He would become Catholic himself on his deathbed.) Charles' brother and heir James, Duke of York (later James II ), converted to Catholicism in 1668–1669. When Titus Oates in 1678 alleged a (totally imaginary, a hoax) " Popish Plot " to assassinate Charles and put James in his place, he unleashed a wave of parliamentary and public hysteria which led to the execution of 17 Catholics on

1134-573: A book published for her son (1604), described how she sang stanzas from Saint Peter's Complaint as part of her daily prayer. The best-known modern setting of Southwell's words is Benjamin Britten 's use of stanzas from "New Heaven, New War" and "New Prince, New Pomp", two of the pieces in his Ceremony of Carols (1942). In the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, Southwell and his companion and associate Henry Garnet were noted for their allegiance to

1323-716: A court with " Papist " elements and a Parliament in which the Puritans were strong was one of the major factors behind the English Civil War , in which almost all Catholics supported the King. The victory of the Parliamentarians meant a strongly Protestant, anti-Catholic regime, content for the English Church to become "little more than a nationwide federation of Protestant parishes." The restoration of

1512-461: A court with continental influences, where Catholicism was the official religion of many countries, and tolerated in others; even somewhat fashionable. Some anti-Catholic legislation became effectively a dead letter. The Counter-Reformation on the continent of Europe had created a more vigorous and magnificent form of Catholicism (i.e., Baroque , notably found in the architecture and music of Austria, Italy and Germany) that attracted some converts, like

1701-574: A dispute between secular and regular clergy . Fr. Garnet preferred nonviolent resistance to the religious persecution Catholics faced in England. He accordingly approved of the disclosure by Catholic priests of the existence of the 1603 Bye Plot , and repeatedly exhorted English Catholics not to plot violent regime change . In summer 1605 Garnet met with Robert Catesby , a member of the English nobility who, unknown to him, planned to assassinate

1890-703: A former pupil, Thomas Weld (of Lulworth) , as Europe became engulfed in war. This act was followed in Ireland with the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793 , an Act of the Irish Parliament with some local provisions such as allowing Catholics to vote in elections to the Irish House of Commons and to take degrees at Trinity College Dublin . Henry Garnet Henry Garnet SJ (July 1555 – 3 May 1606), sometimes Henry Garnett ,

2079-634: A good mount; his supplies were paid for by the king. The group was accompanied by a Puritan minister who "ranted at length without interruption", but Garnet's replies remained erudite, brief and clear—much to the minister's disappointment. On his arrival in London he was taken to the Gatehouse Prison in Westminster , which was already home to many Catholic prisoners, including his nephew, Father Thomas Garnet . Garnet first appeared in front of

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2268-488: A half a million Catholics in England." Their civil rights were severely curtailed: their right to own property or inherit land was greatly limited, they were burdened with special taxes, they could not send their children abroad for Catholic education, they could not vote, and priests were liable to imprisonment. Writing about the Catholic Church during this time, historian Antonia Fraser notes: The harsh laws and

2457-617: A legal publisher, Richard Tottell , as a proof-reader and corrector. He often dined with Sir John Popham , who as Lord Chief Justice was to preside over the trial of the Gunpowder Plotters, men whose association with Garnet would eventually prove so fateful. Although Garnet professed to Popham an interest in legal studies, in 1575 he sailed for Portugal with Giles Gallop , to enter the Society of Jesus . The two men travelled to Rome and on 11 September 1575 were accepted into

2646-529: A letter to Catesby and Digby, he urged them to abandon their "wicked actions" and follow the pope's advice. He spent weeks on the run but was eventually arrested on 27 January 1606, at Hindlip Hall . There, for eight days, he and Fr. Edward Oldcorne (later beatified as the Blessed Edward Oldcorne) had secreted themselves in a small, cramped space, unable even to stand or stretch their legs. They received sustenance from their protectors through

2835-603: A manuscript of Southwell's collection of lyric poems, brought out a little book containing a further twenty-two poems, under the title Maeoniae . When in 1602 Cawood added another eight poems to his book, the English publication of Southwell's works came to an end. Southwell's Of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar , unpublishable in England, appeared in a broadsheet published at Douai in 1606. A Foure fould Meditation of

3024-476: A month he was moved by order of the council to solitary confinement in the Tower of London. According to the early narratives, his father had petitioned the queen that his son, if guilty under the law, should so suffer, but if not should be treated as a gentleman, and that as his father he should be allowed to provide him with the necessities of life. No documentary evidence of such a petition survives, but something of

3213-667: A noblewoman named Richeldis de Faverches reputedly experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1061, asking her to build a replica of the Holy House at Nazareth . Some of the other holiest shrines were those at Holywell in Wales which commemorated St Winefride , and at Westminster Abbey to Edward the Confessor . In 1170, Thomas Becket , Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in his cathedral by followers of King Henry II and

3402-476: A small drinking straw hidden within the building's structure, but with no commode or drainage they were eventually forced by "customs of nature which must of necessity be done" to emerge from hiding, and were immediately captured. They were taken first to Holt Castle in Worcestershire, and a few days later to London. Garnet was still weak from his ordeal, and Salisbury therefore ordered that he be given

3591-542: A small group of Catholic conspirators who aimed to kill both King and Parliament and establish a Catholic monarchy. A mix of persecution and tolerance followed: Ben Jonson and his wife, for example, in 1606 were summoned before the authorities for failure to take communion in the Church of England, yet the King tolerated some Catholics at court; for example George Calvert , to whom he gave the title Baron Baltimore (his son, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore , founded in 1632

3780-484: A state trial, early in March he confessed, possibly as a result of torture. Vaux too was arrested and interrogated twice, just as further questions were being asked of Garnet by the council and the king, the latter of whom was interested in his opinion on theological matters. Despite his claims to have been horrified by Catesby's plan, his declaration, which admitted that he had "dealt very reservedly with your Lordships in

3969-454: A sympathetic crowd. The trial began at about 9:30 am and lasted all day. In attendance were King James (hidden from public view) and several courtiers including Lady Arbella Stuart and Catherine Howard, Countess of Suffolk . Garnet was introduced with his various aliases, which included "Whalley, otherwise Darcy, otherwise Roberts, otherwise Farmer, otherwise Philips". He was accused of having conspired with Catesby on 9 June 1605 to kill

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4158-449: A thanksgiving service at Old St Paul's Cathedral , celebrating the failed Spanish invasion . Spain's actions gave Garnet much cause for concern, "For when we thought that there was an end to these disasters by which we are already nearly destroyed, our hope was suddenly turned to sorrow, and now with redoubled effort the overseers are pressing upon us". People were allowed to spectate from windows only if their loyalty to Queen Elizabeth I

4347-561: A thousand years. That is, there was no doctrinal difference between the faith of the English and the rest of Catholic Christendom, especially after calculating the date of Easter at the Council of Whitby in 667 and formalizing other customs according to the See of Rome. The designation "English Church" ( Ecclesia Anglicana in Latin) was made, but always in the sense of the term as indicating that it

4536-558: A unique monastic tonsure and calculations for the date of Easter . Regardless of these differences, historians do not consider this Celtic or British Christianity a distinct church separate from general Western European Christianity. During the Heptarchy , the English people (referred to as the Anglo-Saxons ) were converted to Christianity from Anglo-Saxon paganism , from two main directions: The Gregorian mission , as it

4725-674: A wholly Catholic board. The last straw was the birth of a Catholic heir in 1688, portending a return to a pre-Reformation Catholic dynasty. Observing this was Princess Mary, James' daughter by his first wife, and her husband " 'Stadhouder Willem,' whose wife stood to lose her future thrones through this new arrival." In what came to be known as the Glorious Revolution , Parliament deemed James to have abdicated (effectively deposing him, though Parliament refused to call it that) in favour of his Protestant daughter and son-in-law and nephew, Mary II and William III . Although this affair

4914-489: Is a strong case to be made for Southwell's influence on his contemporaries and successors, among them Drayton , Lodge, Nashe, Herbert , Crashaw , and especially William Shakespeare , who seems to have known his work, both poetry and prose, extremely well. More recently, the posthumously published 1873 first edition of Southwell's literary translation into Elizabethan English of Fray Diego de Estella 's Meditaciónes devotíssimas del amor de Dios ("A Hundred Meditations on

5103-506: Is celebrated as solidifying both English liberties and the Protestant nature of the kingdom, some argue that it was "fundamentally a coup spearheaded by a foreign army and navy". James fled into exile, and with him many Catholic nobility and gentry. The Act of Settlement 1701 , which remains in operation today, established the royal line through Sophia, Electress of Hanover , and specifically excludes any Catholic or anyone who marries

5292-462: Is evidence of Shakespeare's allusions to Southwell's work, particularly in The Merchant of Venice, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, and King Lear. Southwell's influence can be seen in the work of Donne , Herbert, Crashaw and Hopkins. A memoir of Southwell was drawn up soon after his death. Much of the material was incorporated by Richard Challoner in his Memoirs of Missionary Priests (1741), and

5481-821: Is for obvious reasons more difficult to uncover than that of their theoretical superiors. The unspoken survival of the Catholic community in England, despite Penal laws, depended also on these loyal families unknown to history whose existence is recorded as Catholics in Anglican parish registers. That of Walton-le-Dale parish church, near Preston in Lancashire in 1781, for example, records 178 families, with 875 individuals as 'Papists'. Where baptisms are concerned, parental occupations are stated as weaver, husbandman and labourer, with names such as Turner, Wilcock, Balwin and Charnley. A bishop at this time (roughly from 1688 to 1850)

5670-521: Is in doubt whether he did this to gain support from Dissenters or whether he was truly committed to tolerance (seventeenth century Catholic regimes in Spain and Italy, for example, were hardly tolerant of Protestantism, while those in France and Poland had practiced forms of toleration). James earnestly tried "to improve the position of his fellow Catholics" and did so "in such an inept way that he aroused

5859-623: Is known, is of particular interest in the Catholic Church as it was the first official Papal mission to found a church. With the help of Christians already residing in Kent , particularly Bertha , the Merovingian Frankish consort of the then pagan King Æthelberht , Augustine established an archbishopric in Canterbury , the old capital of Kent. Having received the pallium earlier (linking his new diocese to Rome), Augustine became

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6048-486: Is still considered controversial. Anglicans like Giles Fraser have noted that the property "was stolen" from the Roman Catholic Church and that "this theft of land is the really dirty stuff – the original sin of the Church of England." Nevertheless, Henry maintained a strong preference for traditional Catholic practices and, during his reign, Protestant reformers were unable to make more radical changes to

6237-526: Is this pattern in his writing that has caused scholars to declare him a leading Baroque writer. Pierre Janelle published a study on Southwell in 1935 in which he recognized him as a pioneer Baroque figure, one of the first Baroque writers of the late 16th century and influential on numerous Baroque writers of the 17th century. Ben Jonson remarked to Drummond of Hawthornden that "so he had written that piece of [Southwell's], 'The Burning Babe', he would have been content to destroy many of his." In fact, there

6426-579: The Babington plot , together with other subversive activities of supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots , all reinforced the association of Catholicism with treachery in the minds of many, notably in middle and southern England. The climax of Elizabeth's anti-Catholic legislation was in 1585, two years before the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, with the Act against Jesuits, Seminary priests and other such like disobedient persons . This statute, under which most of

6615-470: The Dominicans and Franciscans , settled in both universities and maintained houses for students. Archbishop Walter de Merton founded Merton College , Oxford and three different popes – Gregory IX , Nicholas IV , and John XXII – gave Cambridge the legal protection and status to compete with other European medieval universities . Augustinians also had a significant presence at Oxford. Osney Abbey,

6804-1007: The English Catholic martyrs were executed, made it high treason for any Jesuit or any seminary priest to be in England at all, and a felony for any one to harbour or relieve them. The last of Elizabeth's anti-Catholic laws was the Act for the Better Discovery of Wicked and Seditious Persons Terming Themselves Catholics, but Being Rebellious and Traitorous Subjects. Its effect was to prohibit all recusants from going more than five miles from their place of abode, and to order all persons suspected of being Jesuits or seminary priests, and not answering satisfactorily, to be imprisoned until they did so. However, Elizabeth did not believe that her anti-Catholic policies constituted religious persecution, though "she strangled, disembowelled, and dismembered more than 200" English Catholics and "built on

6993-756: The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales . He was born at Horsham St Faith , Norfolk, England. Southwell, the youngest of eight children, was brought up in a family of the Norfolk gentry. Despite their Catholic sympathies, the Southwells had profited considerably from King Henry VIII 's Suppression of the Monasteries . Robert was the third son of Richard Southwell of Horsham St. Faith's , Norfolk, by his first wife, Bridget, daughter of Sir Roger Copley of Roughway, Sussex. The hymnodist's maternal grandmother

7182-622: The Province of Maryland as a refuge for persecuted Catholics), and the Duke of Norfolk , head of the Howard family . The reign of Charles I (1625–1649) saw a small revival of Catholicism in England, especially among the upper classes. As part of the royal marriage settlement Charles's Catholic wife, Henrietta Maria , was permitted her own royal chapel and chaplain. Henrietta Maria was in fact very strict in her religious observances, and helped create

7371-801: The Seven Years' War when the British Empire , in 1763, acquired the French-speaking (and predominantly Catholic) territory of Canada. Only after the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and in 1789 with the consecration of John Carroll , a friend of Benjamin Franklin , did the U.S. have its own diocesan bishop, free of the Vicar Apostolic of London, James Robert Talbot . The introduction of Vicars Apostolic or titular bishops in 1685

7560-661: The doctrine of mental reservation , a controversial ethical concept of the period. Under Southwell's Latinised name, Sotvellus, and in his memory, the English Jesuit Nathaniel Bacon , Secretary of the Society of Jesus, published the updated third edition of the Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis Iesu (Rome, 1676). This Jesuit bibliography containing more than 8000 authors made "Sotvel" a common reference. Southwell

7749-517: The lute . Father Thomas Stanney wrote that Garnet was "the prime scholar of Winchester College, very skilful in music and in playing upon the instruments, very modest in his countenance and in all his actions, so much that the schoolmasters and wardens offered him very great friendship, to be placed by their means in New College, Oxford." Garnet did not enter New College ; instead, late in 1571, he left Winchester for London. There he worked for

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7938-520: The seal of the confessional , he later claimed to have felt unable to warn anyone of Catesby's plan. According to his own account, the two had a third meeting around 24 July. He read to Catesby a letter he had received from Persons, urging him to speak to the Pope before attempting any scheme, but fearful of being discovered, Catesby declined. So Garnet wrote to Aquaviva, claiming to have prevented several outbreaks of violence, and of his suspicion that there

8127-512: The "Act to retain the Queen's Majesty's subjects in their obedience", passed in 1581, made it high treason to reconcile anyone or to be reconciled to "the Romish religion", or to procure or publish any papal Bull or writing whatsoever. The celebration of Mass was prohibited under penalty of a fine of two hundred marks and imprisonment for one year for the celebrant, and a fine of one hundred marks and

8316-418: The "intolerable burden of loneliness" he carried while in England. In November 1593 Garnet travelled to the decrepit and decayed Wisbech Castle , requisitioned by the government in 1579 for the internment of Catholic priests. William Weston was held there. The castle's inhabitants were supported by Catholic alms and lived a relatively comfortable existence; Garnet was complimentary about Wisbech, calling it

8505-961: The 1603 Bye Plot , revealed (with his blessing) to the Privy Council by two Catholic priests, he wrote that it was "a piece of impudent folly, for we know that it is by peaceful means that his Holiness and other princes are prepared to help us." He exhorted that Pope Clement VIII instruct all English Catholics not to engage in violent rebellion, "quiete et pacifice". It was a message echoed by Archpriest George Blackwell , who commanded his priests never to attempt any such thing, but it proved controversial; early in summer 1605 Garnet reported to Rome that English Catholics had reached "a stage of desperation". The two met again in July at Fremland in Essex . Garnet told Catesby that he "wished him to look what he did if he intended anything. That he must first look to

8694-551: The 2021 census, the Christian population (of Catholic, Anglican, nonconformists, and unaffiliated Christians together) dropped to 46% (about 27.6 million people, the majority of whom were not of the established church). In North West England one in five are Catholic, a result of large-scale Irish migration in the nineteenth century as well as the high number of English recusants in Lancashire . Much of Great Britain

8883-643: The 20th century, while the ban on Catholic worship lasted until the Catholic Relief Act 1791 . The ban did not, however, affect foreign embassies in London , although serving priests could be hounded. During this time, the English Catholic Church was divided between the upper classes, aristocracy and gentry, and the working class . In the 2001 United Kingdom census, there were 4.2 million Catholics in England and Wales, some 8% of

9072-538: The 3rd century. Eventually, the position of the Roman authorities on Christianity moved from hostility to toleration with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, and then enforcement as state religion following the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD, becoming a key component of Romano-British culture and society. Records note that Romano-British bishops, such as Restitutus , attended the Council of Arles in 314 , which confirmed

9261-745: The 6th century, when Pope Gregory I through a Roman missionary and Benedictine monk, Augustine, later Augustine of Canterbury , intensified the evangelization of the Kingdom of Kent , linking it to the Holy See in 597 AD. This unbroken communion with the Holy See lasted until King Henry VIII ended it in 1534. Communion with Rome was restored by Queen Mary I in 1555 following the Second Statute of Repeal and eventually finally broken by Elizabeth I's 1559 Religious Settlement, which made "no significant concessions to Catholic opinion represented by

9450-480: The Anglican church as "parish Anglicans". By then most English people had largely been de-catholicised but were not Protestant. Religious "uniformity," however, "was a lost cause," given the presence of Dissenting, Nonconformist Protestants, and Catholic minorities. The reign of James I (1603–1625) was marked by a measure of tolerance, though less so after the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot conspiracy of

9639-645: The Benedictine continental rule became grafted upon the monasteries and parishes of England, drawing them closer to the Continent and Rome. As a result, the pope was often called upon to intervene in quarrels, affirm monarchs, and decide jurisdictions. In 787, for example, Pope Adrian I elevated Lichfield to an archdiocese and appointed Hygeberht its first archbishop. Later, in 808, Pope Leo III helped restore King Eardwulf of Northumbria to his throne; and in 859, Pope Leo IV confirmed and anointed Alfred

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9828-641: The Britons), due in part to their geographical distance from the rest of Western Christendom. Of particularly importance was the Easter controversy (on which date to celebrate it) and the manner of monastic tonsure . Columbanus , his fellow countryman and churchman, had asked for a papal judgement on the Easter question, as did abbots and bishops of Ireland. This was particularly important in Northumbria, where

10017-438: The Catholic gentry: Baron Petre (who wined and dined George III and Queen Charlotte at Thorndon Hall), Thomas Weld the bibliophile, (and friend of George III ) who in 1794 donated his Stonyhurst estate to the Jesuits to establish a college, along with 30 acres of land, and the Duke of Norfolk, the Premier Duke in the peerage of England and as Earl of Arundel , the Premier Earl . In virtue of his status and as head of

10206-433: The English Church passed from the Anglo-Saxons to the Normans following the Norman conquest of England . The two clerics most prominently associated with this change were the continental-born Lanfranc and Anselm , both Benedictines. Anselm later became a Doctor of the Church . A century later, Pope Innocent III had to confirm the primacy of Canterbury over four Welsh churches for many reasons, but primarily to sustain

10395-510: The English College in Seville. Given that Douai was located in the Spanish Netherlands , part of the dominions of Elizabethan England's greatest enemy, and Valladolid and Seville in Spain itself, they became associated in the public eye with political as well as religious subversion. It was this combination of nationalistic public opinion, sustained persecution, and the rise of a new generation which could not remember pre-Reformation times and had no pre-established loyalty to Catholicism, that reduced

10584-402: The French ambassador Christophe de Harlay, Count of Beaumont . In November he was with Anne Vaux (whose family he had been introduced to in summer 1586) at White Webbs near Enfield, renewing the vows given on the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady . On 9 June 1605, he was to be found in a room on Thames Street in London, with Robert Catesby . In the midst of what Garnet later recalled

10773-443: The Gatehouse Prison. Carey then placed Garnet into a cell containing a hole through which he was able to converse with Oldcorne, who was in a neighbouring cell. From "a place which was made for this precise purpose", two government eavesdroppers were therefore able to record details of conversations between the two priests. Their communications were mostly innocent, although Garnet's admission that on one occasion he drank too much wine

10962-458: The Great king, according to Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . Individual Benedictines seemed to play an important role throughout this period. For example, before Benedictine monk St. Dunstan was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury in 960; Pope John XII had him appointed legate, commissioning him (along with Ethelwold and Oswald) to restore discipline in the existing monasteries of England, many of which were destroyed by Danish invaders. Control of

11151-451: The Howard family (which included some Church of England, though many Catholic members), the Duke was always at Court. It seemed the values and worth of aristocracy "trumped those of the illegal religion". Pope, however, seemed to benefit from the isolation. In 1713, when he was 25, he took subscriptions for a project that filled his life for the next seven years, the result being a new version of Homer's Iliad . Samuel Johnson pronounced it

11340-441: The Huddlestons of Sawston Hall were "the key to Queen Mary's successful accession to the throne. Without them she would never have made it." However, Mary's execution of 300 Protestants by burning them at the stake proved counterproductive as this measure was extremely unpopular with the populace. For example, instead of executing Archbishop Cranmer for treason for supporting Queen Jane , she had him tried for heresy and burned at

11529-427: The Jesuits' landing on the east coast in July, but they arrived without molestation at the house at Hackney of William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden . In 1588 Southwell and Garnet were joined by John Gerard and Edward Oldcorne . Southwell was from the outset closely watched; he mixed furtively in Protestant society under the assumed name of Cotton. He studied the terms of sport, and used them in conversation. For

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11718-457: The King", but Monteagle's reply was vague. Author Alan Haynes suggests that Garnet may at that point have become marginalised. Garnet later claimed to have been ignorant of Catesby's designs until 24 July, when he was approached by Father Oswald Tesimond . "An intelligent and thoughtful man", Tesimond wanted his superior's advice as Catesby had recently told him of his plan. As Garnet viewed Tesimond's information as having been imparted under

11907-429: The Love of God") helped inspire Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins to write the poem The Windhover . Attribution: Catholic Church in England and Wales The Catholic Church in England and Wales ( Latin : Ecclesia Catholica in Anglia et Cambria ; Welsh : Yr Eglwys Gatholig yng Nghymru a Lloegr ) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See . Its origins date from

12096-419: The Mass", a Christian game. The rebellion—resistance to Protestantism—was put down ruthlessly. Under Queen Mary I , in 1553, the fractured and discordant English Church was linked again to continental Catholicism and the See of Rome through the doctrinal and liturgical initiatives of Reginald Pole and other Catholic reformers. Mary was determined to return the whole of England to the Catholic faith. This aim

12285-459: The North against the religious changes, were bloodily repressed. All through 1536–41, Henry VIII engaged in a large-scale dissolution of the Monasteries in order to gain control of most of the wealth of the church and much of the richest land. He disbanded monasteries , priories , convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland, appropriated their income, disposed of their assets, sold off artefacts stolen from them, and provided pensions for

12474-414: The Polish primate, whose Catholic career came "to an abrupt end in 1540 when he married", and who later become a Calvinist —arrived in London and became superintendent of the Strangers' Church of London . He, among other Protestants, became an associate of Thomas Cranmer and of John Hooper . He had some influence on ecclesiastical affairs during the reign of Edward VI. For instance, the Tridentine Mass

12663-531: The Privy Council on 13 February 1606. Present were John Popham , Edward Coke , Sir William Waad , and the Earls of Worcester , Northampton , Nottingham and Salisbury . Superficially, they treated him with respect, removing their hats and addressing him as "Mr Garnet", although they made fun of his relationship with Anne Vaux, claiming he was her lover, not her confessor. During his questioning he admitted some of his movements, and that he had received Catesby's letter on 6 November, but he denied being involved in

12852-524: The Protestant King James I . The existence of Catesby's Gunpowder Plot was revealed to Fr. Garnet by Father Oswald Tesimond on 24 July 1605, but as the information was received under the seal of the confessional , canon law prevented Frs. Garnet and Tesimond from telling the authorities under penalty of immediate excommunication. Instead, Fr. Garnet pleaded with Catesby to cancel what he was plotting. Fr. Garnet also wrote to his superiors in Rome, urging them to order English Catholics not to use violence. When

13041-427: The Protestant succession in the Kingdom of Great Britain . This allowed Catholic schooling and clergy to operate openly and thus allowed permanent missions to be set up in the larger towns. Stonyhurst College , for example, was able to be established in 1794, as the successor establishment for the fleeing English Jesuits, previously at the Colleges of St Omer, Bruges and Liège , due to a timely and generous donation by

13230-412: The Reformation. Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart , the last Jacobite heir to publicly assert a claim to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland, died in Rome in 1807. A monument to the Royal Stuarts exists today at Vatican City. In the 21st century, Franz, Duke of Bavaria , head of the Wittelsbach family, is the most senior descendant of King Charles I and is considered by Jacobites to be heir of

13419-408: The State represented an opportunity for spiritual growth. In his view, martyrdom was one of the most sincere forms of religious devotion. Southwell's poem "Life is but Losse" is an example of this concern. Throughout the seven stanzas, Southwell describes the martyrdom of English Catholics at the time, employing biblical figures of both Testaments ( Samson and the Apostles). The poem's title forewarns

13608-507: The Stuarts. Though direct descendant of the House of Stuart, Franz has said being king is not a claim he wishes to pursue. The years from 1688 to the early 19th century were in some respects the lowest point for Catholicism in England. Deprived of their dioceses, four Apostolic Vicariates were set up throughout England until the re-establishment of the diocesan episcopacy in 1850. Although

13797-535: The Tower to Newgate Prison , where he was put into a hole called Limbo. A few days later, Southwell appeared before the Lord Chief Justice, John Popham , at the bar of the King's Bench . Popham made a speech against Jesuits and seminary priests. Southwell was indicted before the jury as a traitor under the statutes prohibiting the presence, within the kingdom, of priests ordained by Rome. Southwell admitted

13986-799: The actions of Mary." In the context of the uncompromising wording of the Papal Bull against her, she failed to distinguish between those Catholics in conflict with her from those with no such designs. The number of English Catholics executed under Elizabeth was significant, including Edmund Campion , Robert Southwell , and Margaret Clitherow . Elizabeth herself signed the regicidal death warrant of her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots , after 19 years as Elizabeth's prisoner. As MacCulloch has noted, "England judicially murdered more Roman Catholics than any other country in Europe, which puts English pride in national tolerance in an interesting perspective." So distraught

14175-467: The appointment of William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury . How many Catholics and Puritans there were is still open to debate. Religious conflict between Charles and other "High" Anglicans and Calvinists – at this stage mostly still within the Church of England (the Puritans ) – formed a strand of the anti-monarchical leanings of the troubled politics of the period. The religious tensions between

14364-557: The author's name. A second edition, including eight more poems, appeared almost immediately. Then on 5 April, John Cawood , the publisher of Mary Magdalen's Funeral Tears, who probably owned the copyright all along, entered the book in the Stationers' Register , and brought out a third edition. Saint Peter's Complaint proved even more popular than Mary Magdalen's Funeral Tears ; it went into fourteen editions by 1636. Later that same year, another publisher, John Busby, having acquired

14553-413: The base of the ladder, disrobed down to his long, sewn-up shirt, "that the wind might not blow it up", and mounted the ladder. He ignored a Protestant minister who came forward, replying to an objectionable member of the audience that he "ever meant to die a true but perfect Catholic". Bishop Overal protested that "we are all Catholics", although Garnet disagreed with this. He once again said his prayers, and

14742-473: The case of the late powder action", gave the government proof that he had prior knowledge of the plot, and in their view, he was therefore guilty of misprision of treason . Garnet's trial took place on Friday 28 March 1606. He was taken to the Guildhall by closed coach; an unusual method, considering prisoners were usually walked to trial, though the authorities may have had some concern about support from

14931-588: The century there was some liberalization of the anti-Catholic laws on the basis of Enlightenment ideals. In 1778 the Catholic Relief Act allowed Catholics to own property, inherit land and join the army, provided they swore an oath of allegiance. Hardline Protestant mobs reacted in the Gordon Riots in 1780, attacking any building in London which was associated with Catholicism or owned by Catholics. The Catholic Relief Act 1791 provided further freedoms on condition of swearing an additional oath of acceptance of

15120-464: The church at Sant'Andrea della Valle . Garnet studied under the theologian Father Robert Bellarmine . Two of his professors, Christopher Clavius and Robert Bellarmine , praised his abilities. He was ordained sometime around 1582 and stayed in Rome as a Professor of Hebrew, lecturing also on metaphysics and mathematics. He was also an English confessor at St Peter's, but in May 1584 his academic career

15309-478: The church hierarchy and much of the nobility." For 250 years, the government forced members of the pre-Reformation Catholic Church known as recusants to go underground and seek academic training in Catholic Europe, where exiled English clergy set up schools and seminaries for the sons of English recusant families. The government also placed legislative restrictions on Catholics, some continuing into

15498-519: The confessional, and claimed anyway that Garnet could have warned the authorities after his more ordinary conversation with Catesby about the death of innocents; the priest replied by saying that at the time, he did not understand the relevance of Catesby's questions. The Earl of Northampton said, in Latin, " quod non-prohibet cum potest, jubet " (what a man does not forbid when he can, he orders). Garnet's defence, that he had forbidden Catesby from proceeding,

15687-454: The continent and joined the Society of Jesus . He was ordained in Rome some time around 1582. In 1586 Garnet returned to England as part of the Jesuit mission, soon succeeding Father William Weston as Jesuit superior , following the latter's capture by the English authorities. Garnet established a secret press, which lasted until late 1588, and in 1594 he interceded in the Wisbech Stirs ,

15876-476: The countess at Arundel House in The Strand, London . During 1591 he occupied most of his time in writing; although Southwell's name was not publicly associated with any of his works, his literary activity was suspected by the government. After six years of missionary labour, Southwell was arrested at Uxendon Hall, Harrow. He was in the habit of visiting the house of Richard Bellamy who lived near Harrow and

16065-447: The danger had been averted. On 24 August he was at White Webbs near Enfield, with Anne Vaux, her sister Eleanor Brooksby , her nephew William Brooksby and his wife Dorothy. A few days later the group set out on a pilgrimage to St Winefride's Well at Holywell in Wales. They travelled to John Grant 's home at Norbrook , then Huddington Court near Worcester , through Shrewsbury , and finally to Wales. About 30 people made

16254-632: The end of his career. The very choice of this subject would seem the epitome of the Baroque; for it is a commonplace that the penitent Magdalen , with her combination of past sensuality and current remorsefulness, was a favourite object of contemplation to the Counter-Reformation." Southwell's poetry is largely addressed to an English Catholic community under siege in post-Reformation Elizabethan England. Southwell endeavoured to convince remaining English Catholics that religious persecution by

16443-680: The end of his trial on 28 March 1606, was a foregone conclusion. Criticised for his use of equivocation , which Coke called "open and broad lying and forswearing", and condemned for not warning the authorities of what Catesby planned, he was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered . He was executed on 3 May 1606. Henry Garnet (or Garnett) was born some time around July 1555 at Heanor in Derbyshire, son of Brian Garnet (or Garnett) and Alice (née Jay). He had at least five siblings: two brothers, Richard and John, and three sisters, Margaret, Eleanor and Anne, all of whom became nuns at Louvain . He

16632-590: The establishment of a secret press, which was probably located somewhere around a former Augustinian hospital near Spitalfields . It lasted until late 1588 and was responsible for A Consolatory Letter to All the Afflicted Catholikes in England , author unknown, and An Epistle of Comfort , by Southwell. From a friend's window in Ludgate Hill , Garnet witnessed the November 1588 procession to

16821-406: The evidence was pressed, Southwell stated that he was the same age as "our Saviour". He was immediately reproved by Topcliffe for insupportable pride in making the comparison, but he said in response that he considered himself "a worm of the earth". After a brief recess, the jury returned with the predictable guilty verdict. The sentence of death was pronounced – to be hanged, drawn and quartered . He

17010-462: The facts but denied that he had "entertained any designs or plots against the queen or kingdom". His only purpose, he said, in returning to England had been to administer the sacraments according to the rite of the Catholic Church to such as desired them. When asked to enter a plea, he declared himself "not guilty of any treason whatsoever", objecting to a jury being made responsible for his death but allowing that he would be tried by God and country. As

17199-612: The fears of both the Anglican establishment and the Dissenters. In the process, he encouraged converts like the poet John Dryden , who wrote " The Hind and the Panther ", to celebrate his conversion. Protestant fears mounted as James placed Catholics in the major commands of the existing standing army, dismissed the Protestant Bishop of London and dismissed the Protestant fellows of Magdalen College and replaced them with

17388-521: The first in the series of Catholic archbishops of Canterbury , four of whom ( Laurence , Mellitus , Justus and Honorius ) were part of the original band of Benedictine missionaries. (The last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury was Reginald Pole , who died in 1558.) During this time of mission, Rome looked to challenge some different customs which had been retained in isolation by the Celts (the Gaels and

17577-471: The foure last things , formerly attributed to Southwell, is by Philip Earl of Arundel . Similarly, the prose A Hundred Meditations of the Love of God , once thought to be an original work by Southwell, is now known to be his literary translation of Fray Diego de Estella 's Meditaciones devotisimas del amor de Dios . Much of Southwell's literary legacy rests on his considerable influence on other writers. There

17766-626: The government to turn the head upward, so its face was no longer visible. A bloodstained straw husk saved from the scene of the execution and said to bear Garnet's image became an object of curiosity. It was smuggled out of the country into the possession of the Society of Jesus , before being lost during the French Revolution . Garnet's writings include An Apology Against the Defence of Schisme (1593), an attack against church papistry in which he scolded Thomas Bell for supporting

17955-600: The greatest translation ever achieved in the English language. Over time, Pope became the greatest poet of the age, the Augustan Age , especially for his mock-heroic poems, Rape of the Lock and The Dunciad . Around this time, in 1720, Clement XI proclaimed Anselm of Canterbury a Doctor of the Church. In 1752, mid-century, Great Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar decreed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Later in

18144-568: The homes of her friends and family, and confessed to Garnet her fear that "these wild heads had something in hand". She asked him to speak with Catesby, but Garnet reassured her that Catesby was instead seeking a commission in Flanders. Garnet wrote a letter of recommendation for Catesby for that very purpose. When in October Vaux raised the issue once more, claiming that several women had asked her where they should retreat to once "the brunt

18333-493: The importance of the Gregorian foundation of Augustine's mission. During mediaeval times, England and Wales were part of western Christendom: monasteries and convents, such as those at Shaftesbury and Shrewsbury , were prominent institutions, and provided lodging, hospitals and education. Likewise, centres of education like Oxford University and Cambridge University were important. Members of religious orders , notably

18522-535: The importation of several religious cults into Britain, including Roman mythology , Mithraism and the imperial cult . One of these sects, then disapproved by the Roman authorities, was the Palestinian -originated religion of Christianity . While it is unclear exactly how it arrived, the earliest British figures considered saints by the Christians are St. Alban followed by SS Julius and Aaron , all in

18711-431: The issue was causing factionalism. Later, in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum , Bede explained the reasons for the discrepancy: "He [Columba] left successors distinguished for great charity, Divine love, and strict attention to the rules of discipline following indeed uncertain cycles in the computation of the great festival of Easter, because far away as they were out of the world, no one had supplied them with

18900-556: The journey west, including Everard Digby and his wife, and their secret chaplain Edward Oldcorne , and Nicholas Owen . On his return from Wales, Garnet travelled with Anne Vaux to Rushton Hall , home of the recently deceased Thomas Tresham (father to Francis Tresham ). From there they travelled to Digby's home at Gayhurst House in Buckinghamshire. Vaux was suspicious that so many horses were being collected at

19089-499: The journey with his hands together and eyes closed. Present in the churchyard were the Sheriff of London , Sir Henry Montague , George Abbot and John Overal . When asked if he had knowledge of any further treasons, Garnet replied that he had nothing to say. He rejected any entreatments to abandon his faith for Protestantism, and said that he had committed no offence against the king. The only thing he thought he might be condemned for

19278-629: The journey, Garnet travelled with Robert Southwell , leaving for Calais on 8 May. He landed near Folkestone early in July 1586. After meeting the Jesuit superior for England William Weston at a London inn, Garnet, Southwell and Weston travelled to Harlesford , near Marlow, Buckinghamshire . Spending just over a week at the home of Richard Bold, they engaged in prayer and masses, and also took confessions. They discussed their mission in England, deciding to meet each year in February and August (later changed to Easter and autumn). Weston also gave

19467-469: The kind must have happened since his friends were able to provide him with food and clothing, and to send him the works of St. Bernard and a Bible. His superior Henry Garnet later smuggled a breviary to him. He remained in the Tower for three years, under Topcliffe's supervision. In 1595 the Privy Council passed a resolution for Southwell's prosecution on the charges of treason. He was removed from

19656-413: The king, his son, and to "alter and subvert the government of the kingdom and the true worship of God established in England". He was also accused of having conspired with several others to blow up the House of Lords with gunpowder. He pleaded "not guilty". Speaking for the government, Edward Coke accused him of involvement in every treason since 1586, the year he returned to England. According to Coke,

19845-507: The lawfulness of the act itself, and then he must not have so little regard of Innocents that he spare not friends and necessary persons for the Commonwealth." When Catesby offered to tell the priest more, Garnet declined: "I told him what charge we all had of quietness and to procure the like in others." Garnet also spoke with William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle , asking him "if Catholics were able to make their part good by arms against

20034-479: The live-and-let-live reality were two very different things. This world was divided into the upper classes, the aristocracy and the gentry, and what were literally the working classes. Undoubtedly, the survival of Catholicism in the past [up until 1829] was due to the dogged, but hopefully inconspicuous, protection provided by the former to the latter. Country neighbours, Anglicans and Catholics, lived amicably together in keeping with this "laissez-faire" reality. There

20223-628: The manuscript is now in the Public Record Office in Brussels. See also Alexis Possoz, Vie du Pre R. Southwell (1866); and a life in Henry Foley 's Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus: historic facts illustrative of the labours and sufferings of its members in the 16th and 17th centuries , 1877 (i. 301387). Foley's narrative includes copies of documents connected with his trial, and gives information on

20412-447: The mentality "of the crusader who does not hesitate to employ the sword in the cause of values which he considers are spiritual". Catesby was also described as "exceedingly tangled in debts and barely able to subsist" In contrast, Garnet believed that "things were best settled by submission to the will of God." He was ebullient over King James I 's succession to the English throne and hoped that there would be no foreign interference. Of

20601-464: The military struggle was demanded of them, not spiritual allegiance". Fraser also notes that the role of the working class among themselves was important: ...servants of various degrees and farm workers, miners, mill workers and tradesmen, responded with loyalty, hard work and gratitude for the opportunity to practice the faith of their fathers (and even more importantly, in many cases, their mothers). Their contributions should not be ignored, even if it

20790-653: The monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England . Failure to so swear was a crime, although it did not become treason until 1562, when the Supremacy of the Crown Act 1562 made a second offence of refusing to take the oath treason. During the first years of her reign from 1558 to 1570 there was relative leniency towards Catholics who were willing to keep their religion private, especially if they were prepared to continue to attend their parish churches. The wording of

20979-613: The monarchy under Charles II (1660–1685) also saw the restoration of a Catholic-influenced court like his father's. However, although Charles himself had Catholic leanings, he was first and foremost a pragmatist and realised the vast majority of public opinion in England was strongly anti-Catholic, so he agreed to laws such as the Test Act requiring any appointee to any public office or member of Parliament to deny Catholic beliefs such as transubstantiation . As far as possible, however, he maintained tacit tolerance. Like his father, he married

21168-577: The most part residing in London, he made occasional excursions to Sussex and the North. In 1589 Southwell became domestic chaplain to Anne Howard , whose husband, the First Earl of Arundel , was in prison convicted of treason. Arundel had been confined to the Tower of London since 1585, but his execution was postponed, and he remained in prison till his death in 1595. Southwell took up his residence with

21357-446: The negative Stoic view of the passions in his belief in the creative value of passion . Some of Southwell's contemporaries were also defenders of passion, but he was very selective when it came to where passions were directed. He was quoted as saying, "Passions I allow, and loves I approve, only I would wish that men would alter their object and better their intent". He felt that he could use his writing to stir religious feelings, and it

21546-573: The noose for a brief time, making the sign of the cross as best he could. As the executioner made to cut him down, in preparation for disembowelling him while still alive, Lord Mountjoy and some other onlookers tugged at his legs to hasten his death. His lifeless body was then disembowelled and quartered. As his severed head was displayed to the crowd, no one shouted the traditional "Traitor!". Southwell addressed his Epistle of Comfort to Philip, Earl of Arundel. This and other of his religious tracts, A Short Rule of Good Life , Triumphs over Death , and

21735-492: The notion that when questioned, for instance, on the presence of a priest in his house, a Catholic might "securely in conscience" answer "No" if he had a "secret meaning reserved in his mind". The occasions on which a Catholic might legitimately use equivocation, he supposed, were limited, but such replies could be taken as an example of insincerity or deviousness—especially to the king's council, who may not have wanted to see Garnet prove his case. The council's view of equivocation

21924-399: The number of Catholics in England during this period – although the overshadowing memory of Queen Mary I's reign was another factor that should not be underestimated (the population of the country was 4.1 million). Nevertheless, by the end of Elizabeth's reign probably 20% of the population were still Catholic, with 10% dissident "Puritan" Protestants and the remainder more or less reconciled to

22113-538: The occasional taking of Communion in the Church of England . This was followed by A Treatise of Christian Renunciation (1593), which comprised a selection of quotations on what Catholics should be prepared to renounce for their faith, and The Societie of the Rosary (1593–1594) His defence of the practice of equivocation was published in A Treatise against lying and fraudulent dissimulation (c. 1598), originally titled A Treatise of Equivocation. Equivocation

22302-574: The official prayer book had been carefully designed to make this possible by omitting aggressively "heretical" matter, and at first many English Catholics did in fact worship with their Protestant neighbours, at least until this was formally forbidden by Pope Pius V 's 1570 bull, Regnans in Excelsis , which also declared that Elizabeth was not a rightful queen and should be overthrown. It formally excommunicated her and any who obeyed her and obliged all Catholics to attempt to overthrow her. In response,

22491-494: The original sources. The standard modern life, however, is Christopher Devlin's The Life of Robert Southwell, Poet and Martyr , London, 1956. As the prefatory letter to his poems "The Author to his Loving Cousin" implies, Southwell seems to have composed with a musical setting in mind. One such contemporary setting survives, Thomas Morley 's provision of music for stanzas from "Mary Magdalen's Complaint at Christ's Death" in his First book of ayres (1600). Elizabeth Grymeston , in

22680-475: The other hand, failure to accept his break from Rome, particularly by prominent persons in church and state, was regarded by Henry as treason, resulting in the execution of Thomas More , former Lord Chancellor, and John Fisher , Bishop of Rochester , among others. The See of Rome Act 1536 legitimised the separation from Rome, while the Pilgrimage of Grace of 1536 and Bigod's Rebellion of 1537, risings in

22869-419: The parent house of the college, lay on a large site to the west, near the current railway station. Another Augustinian house, St Frideswide's Priory, later became the basis for Christ Church, Oxford . Pilgrimage was a prominent feature of mediaeval Catholicism, and England and Wales were amply provided with many popular sites of pilgrimage. The village of Walsingham in Norfolk became an important shrine after

23058-466: The persecution was not violent as in the past, Catholic numbers, influence and visibility in English society reached their lowest point. The percentage of the population that was Catholic may have declined from 4% in 1700 (out of a population of 5.2 millions) to 1% 1800 (out of a population of 7.25 million) with absolute numbers halved. By 1825, however, the Bishop of Chester estimated that there were "about

23247-471: The plot failed Garnet went into hiding, but he was eventually arrested on 27 January 1606. He was taken to London and interrogated by the Privy Council , whose members included John Popham , Edward Coke and Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury . Imprisoned in the Tower of London , his conversations with fellow prisoner Edward Oldcorne were monitored by eavesdroppers, and his letters to friends such as Anne Vaux were intercepted. His conviction, announced at

23436-477: The plot, whose members he did not name. Garnet was convinced that his captors were interested only in the failed scheme and believed he might be able to clear his name, but the councillors also asked him about the doctrine of equivocation . His own treatise on this topic, one of the "heretical, treasonable and damnable books" found amongst Francis Tresham's possessions, was laid on the council table before him. Although it condemned lying, Garnet's treatise supported

23625-408: The poet Richard Crashaw . Ironically, the explicitly Catholic artistic movement (i.e., Baroque) ended up "providing the blueprint, after the fire of London, for the first new Protestant churches to be built in England". While Charles remained firmly Protestant, he was personally drawn towards a consciously "High Church" Anglicanism. This affected his appointments to Anglican bishoprics, in particular

23814-400: The pope excommunicated King James, he "denied to answer". His defence of equivocation was scorned by Coke, who called it "open and broad lying and forswearing". As for Tesimond's confession, the planned assassination had not at that point happened and so Salisbury said that Garnet could easily have alerted the government. Salisbury attacked the idea that it had ever been made under the seal of

24003-559: The pope's authority over Elizabeth, whereas the Catholic version proposed that they recognise her authority and "would wish with every effort to struggle to thwart and to fight to the death all those who will in any way endanger the life of her Highness". The Privy Council rejected the latter. Garnet's first few years in England were spent meeting new priests in London, including John Gerard and Edward Oldcorne . Jesuits had been banished from England since 1585, and if discovered they risked being charged with high treason . Avoiding pursuers

24192-521: The population. One hundred years earlier, in 1901, they represented only 4.8% of the population. In 1981, 8.7% of the population of England and Wales were Catholic. In 2009, post the 2004 enlargement of the European Union , when thousands of Central Europeans (mainly heavily Catholic Poles, Lithuanians, Slovakians and Slovenians) came to England, an Ipsos Morioka poll found that 9.6%, or 5.2 million people, were Catholics in England and Wales. In

24381-455: The practices and the "continued innovation" of his own "personally devised religious 'middle way. ' " Indeed, Henry "cruelly emphasized his commitment" to his innovations "by executing three papal loyalists and burning three evangelicals." The 1547 to 1553 reign of the boy King Edward VI saw the Church of England become more influenced by Protestantism in its doctrine and worship. In 1550, John Laski —a Polish ex-Catholic cleric and nephew of

24570-426: The priest regarding the nature of their conversation the previous year. He also wrote a final letter to Anne Vaux, on 21 April, relating his lack of fortune over the previous few months. After about three months spent in the Tower, on Saturday 3 May 1606 Garnet was strapped to a wooden hurdle and taken by three horses to the churchyard of St Paul's . He wore a black cloak over his clothes and hat, and spent much of

24759-522: The provincial superior was involved in the Main and Bye Plots of 1603. He had sent Edmund Baynham to Rome to gain papal approval for the 1605 plot, and while at Coughton in November, had prayed "for the success of the great action". Coke called Garnet "a doctor of five Ds, namely, of dissimulation, of deposing of princes, of disposing of kingdoms, of daunting and deterring of subjects, and of destruction". His supposed inappropriate relationship with Anne Vaux

24948-477: The reader of the pessimistic tone Southwell uses to describe life, as in the line "Life is but losse, where death is deemed gaine." Being next to God is the perfect way to achieve spiritual bliss: "To him I live, for him I hope to dye" is Southwell's manner of informing the reader of the reason for his existence, which does not end with death. Southwell's writing differs from that of the Neostoics of his time and

25137-588: The reign of Henry VIII, the English church became independent of the Holy See for a period owing to "continued" innovations with Henry declaring himself its Supreme Head. This breach was in response to the Pope's refusal to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon . Henry did not himself accept Protestant innovations in doctrine or liturgy. For example, the Six Articles of 1539 imposed the Death Penalty on those who denied Transubstantiation. But on

25326-552: The robbed monks and former residents. He did not turn these properties over to his local Church of England. Instead, they were sold, mostly to pay for the wars. The historian G. W. Bernard argues that the dissolution of the monasteries in the late 1530s was one of the most revolutionary events in English history. There were nearly 900 religious houses in England, around 260 for monks, 300 for regular canons, 142 nunneries and 183 friaries; some 12,000 people in total, 4,000 monks, 3,000 canons, 3,000 friars and 2,000 nuns. One adult man in fifty

25515-431: The sacrament. Most Catholics, it could be said, retreated to relative isolation from a popular Protestant mainstream, and Catholicism in England in this period was politically invisible to history. However, culturally and socially, there were notable exceptions. Alexander Pope , owing to his literary popularity, was one memorable English Catholic of the 18th century. Other prominent Catholics were three remarkable members of

25704-530: The same imprisonment for those who heard the Mass. This act also increased the penalty for not attending the Anglican service to the sum of twenty pounds a month, or imprisonment until the fine was paid or until the offender went to the Protestant Church. A further penalty of ten pounds a month was inflicted on anyone keeping a schoolmaster who did not attend the Protestant service. The schoolmaster himself

25893-550: The scaffold, and the death of many more over the next two years, which Charles was either unable or unwilling to prevent. Throughout the early 1680s the Whig element in Parliament attempted to remove James as successor to the throne. Their failure saw James become, in 1685, Britain's first openly Catholic monarch since Mary I (and last to date). He promised religious toleration for Catholic and Protestants on an equal footing, but it

26082-419: The sign of the cross with his pinioned hands before reciting a passage from the Christians' scriptures' Romans chapter 14. The sheriff made to interrupt him; but he was allowed to address the people at some length, confessing that he was a Jesuit priest and praying for the salvation of Queen and country. As the cart was drawn away, he commended his soul to God with the words of the psalm in manus tuas . He hung in

26271-485: The situation. Garnet spent much of 1604 on the move, although few details of his travels exist. At Easter he reportedly gave a Mass at Twigmoor Hall , the house of John Wright . In London, Garnet met the Spanish diplomats Juan de Tassis, 1st Count of Villamediana and Juan Fernández de Velasco y Tovar, 5th Duke of Frías . He visited Tassis two or three times, at Walsingham House and at Somerset House . He also met

26460-638: The stake. Foxe's Book of Martyrs , which glorified the Protestants killed at the time and vilified Catholics, ensured her a place in popular memory as Bloody Mary , though some recent historians have noted that most of the Protestants Foxe highlights in his book, who were tried for heresy, were primarily Anabaptists, which explains why mainstream Protestants like Stephen Gardiner and William Paget (who were members of Philip's "consejo codigo") went along with it. These historians also note that it

26649-537: The summer, however, his education was interrupted by the movement of French and Spanish forces. For greater safety Southwell was sent to Paris and studied at the College de Clermont under the tutelage of the Jesuit Thomas Darbyshire . He returned to Douai on 15 June 1577. A year later he set off on foot to Rome with the intention of joining the Society of Jesus . A two-year novitiate at Tournai

26838-498: The supposedly ancient truth" that he was truly the "Supreme Head of the Church within his dominions", he backed a series of legislative acts through the English Parliament between 1533 and 1536 that initiated an attack on papal authority and English Catholics. "The centrepiece of the new legislation was an Act of Supremacy of 1534." In some cases those adhering to Catholicism faced capital punishment . In 1534, during

27027-638: The synodal decrees relating to the Paschal observance." A series of synods were held to resolve the matter, culminating with the Synod of Whitby in 644. The missionaries also introduced the Rule of Benedict , the continental rule, to Anglo-Saxon monasteries in England. Wilfrid , a Benedictine consecrated archbishop of York (in 664), was particularly skilled in promoting the Benedictine Rule. Over time,

27216-706: The theological findings of an earlier convocation held in Rome (the Council of Rome ) in 313. The Roman departure from Britain in the following century and the subsequent Germanic invasions sharply decreased contact between Britain and Continental Europe. Christianity, however, continued to flourish in the Brittonic areas of Great Britain. During this period certain practices and traditions took hold in Britain and in Ireland that are collectively known as Celtic Christianity . Distinct features of Celtic Christianity include

27405-423: The two men details of Catholic houses that would shelter them. Acquaviva had instructed that should anything happen to Weston, Garnet was to succeed him as superior in England, which he did when only days after leaving Harlesford, Weston was captured en route to London. Acquaviva had also given Garnet permission to print pro-Catholic literature, and so early the next year he met Southwell in London to discuss

27594-576: Was beatified in 1929 and canonised by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales on 25 October 1970. Southwell is also the patron saint of Southwell House, a house in the London Oratory School in Fulham, London. In the view of the critic Helen C. White , probably no work of Southwell's is more "representative of his Baroque genius than the prose Marie Magdalens Funeral Teares , published late in 1591, close to

27783-446: Was "a risk that some private endeavour may commit treason or use force against the King". As he had done following the failed Bye Plot, he urged the pope to publicly warn against the use of force, attempting to hide his knowledge of the plot by suggesting that the warning be aimed at recusants in Wales. He also sent Sir Edmund Baynham to deliver the same message, and when Parliament was prorogued on 28 July, Garnet satisfied himself that

27972-422: Was Bartolome Carranza, an influential Spanish Dominican of Philip II's workforce, who insisted that Thomas Cranmer's sentence be put into effect. "It was Carranza, not Mary, who insisted that the sentence against Cranmer be carried out." For centuries after, the idea of another reconciliation with Rome was linked in many English people's minds with a renewal of Mary's fiery stakes. Ultimately, her alleged harshness

28161-604: Was Elizabeth over Catholic opposition to her throne, she was secretly reaching out to the Ottoman Sultan Murad III , "asking for military aid against Philip of Spain and the 'idolatrous princes' supporting him." Because of the persecution in England, Catholic priests were trained abroad at the English College in Rome , the English College in Douai , the English College at Valladolid in Spain , and at

28350-538: Was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Shelley ; Sir Richard Southwell was his paternal grandfather, but his father was born out of wedlock. In 1576, he was sent to the English college at Douai , boarding there but studying at the Jesuit College of Anchin, a French college associated, like the English College, with the university of Douai . He studied briefly under Leonard Lessius . At the end of

28539-470: Was a pivotal figure in the dispute between King John and Pope Innocent III. This critical situation led to the creation of Magna Carta in 1215, which, among other things, insisted that the English church should be free of ecclesiastical appointments fixed by the king. The dynamics of the pre-Reformation bond between the Catholic Church in England and the Apostolic See remained in effect for nearly

28728-431: Was a seemingly casual conversation, Catesby asked the priest about the morality of "killing innocents". Garnet replied according to Catholic theology, that often, during war, innocents were killed alongside the enemy. According to Antonia Fraser , Garnet may have thought that Catesby's request was to do with him possibly raising a regiment in Flanders. Garnet was not at all like Catesby, described by Fraser as possessing

28917-428: Was a success but at the cost of alienating a fairly large section of English society which had been moving away from some traditional Catholic devotional practices. These English were neither Calvinist nor Lutheran, but certainly leaning towards Protestant reformation (and by the late sixteenth century, were certainly Protestant). When Mary died and Elizabeth I became queen in 1558, the religious situation in England

29106-475: Was admitted to the probation house of Sant' Andrea on 17 October 1578 and in 1580 became a member of the Society of Jesus . Immediately after the completion of the novitiate, Southwell began studies in philosophy and theology at the Jesuit College in Rome . During this time, he worked as a secretary to the rector and writings of his are to be found among the school's documents. Upon completion of his studies, Southwell

29295-677: Was an English Jesuit priest executed for high treason , based solely on having had advanced knowledge of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and having refused to violate the Seal of the Confessional by notifying the authorities. Born in Heanor , Derbyshire, he was educated in Nottingham and later at Winchester College before he moved to London in 1571 to work for a publisher. There he professed an interest in legal studies and in 1575, he travelled to

29484-685: Was called a vicar apostolic . The officeholder was a titular bishop (as opposed to a diocesan bishop) through whom the pope exercised jurisdiction over a particular church territory in England. English-speaking colonial America came under the jurisdiction of the Vicar Apostolic of the London District . As titular bishop over Catholics in British America, he was important to the government not only in regard to its English-speaking North American colonies, but made more so after

29673-455: Was confused. Throughout the alternating religious landscape of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I, a significant proportion of the population (especially in the rural and outlying areas of the country) were likely to have continued to hold Catholic views, or were conservative. Nevertheless, Elizabeth was a Protestant and the "very rituals with which the parish had celebrated her accession would be swept away". Thus Elizabeth's first act

29862-445: Was curtailed when, perhaps as a consequence of a petition from the Jesuit superior for England William Weston , Father Robert Persons asked that he be sent to England. The Superior General Claudio Acquaviva , who saw Garnet as his successor, refused this request. He thought Garnet more suited to "the quiet life" than that which awaited him in England, but on 2 May 1586 he relented and allowed him to leave. Appointed superior for

30051-560: Was eventually tried and convicted of high treason against Queen Elizabeth I , but in reality for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy , renounce his belief in the independence of the English Church from control by the State , and similarly repudiate the authority of the Holy See . On 21 February 1595, Southwell was hanged at Tyburn . In 1970, he was canonised by Pope Paul VI as one of

30240-586: Was for abiding by the terms of the confessional, and if by that action he had offended the king or state, he asked for forgiveness. The recorder announced that this was an admission of guilt, but Garnet reiterated his not guilty plea and continued to argue the point. Garnet highlighted the date of his execution, 3 May, the Feast of the Cross , and reaffirmed his innocence. He defended Anne Vaux against claims that their relationship had been inappropriate. He then prayed at

30429-444: Was futile. The jury took fifteen minutes to decide that Garnet was guilty of treason. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered . The day after his trial Garnet made a new statement, which he hoped would clarify his dealings with Tresham. He also wrote to the king, reiterating his stance on violence against a rightful monarch. When the government lied and told him they had captured Tesimond, he wrote an apologetic letter to

30618-487: Was granted his BA in 1584, which was also the year of his ordination. He was appointed "repetitor" (tutor) in the Venerable English College at Rome and after two years became the prefect of studies there. It was in 1584 that an act was passed forbidding any English-born subject of Queen Elizabeth , who had entered into priests' orders in the Catholic Church since her accession, to remain in England longer than forty days on pain of death. In 1586 Southwell, at his own request,

30807-423: Was guaranteed by the householder. In a letter to Acquaviva, Garnet said that many of his supporters thought that he was more concerned for the Queen than her Calvinist ministers. In light of the Armada's destruction, he also wrote to the general to ask for advice on two versions of a proposed oath to allow Roman Catholics to swear their allegiance to the Queen. The government's version required that Catholics reject

30996-501: Was heavily intermarried. Their great houses, however, still had chapels called "libraries", with priests attached to these places (shelved for books) who celebrated Mass, which worship was described in public as "Prayers". Interestingly, one area where the sons of working class Catholics could find religious tolerance was in the army. Generals, for example, did not deny Catholic men their Mass and did not compel them to attend Anglican services, believing that "physical strength and devotion to

31185-482: Was immediately arrested. He was first taken to Topcliffe's own house, adjoining the Gatehouse Prison, where Topcliffe subjected him to the torture of "the manacles". He remained silent in Topcliffe's custody for forty hours. The queen then ordered Southwell moved to the Gatehouse, where a team of Privy Council torturers went to work on him. When they proved equally unsuccessful, he was left "hurt, starving, covered with maggots and lice, to lie in his own filth". After about

31374-437: Was in religious orders in a country of two and one half million. In the Catholic narrative, Henry's action was sacrilegious, a national violation of things consecrated to God, and evil. The fate of the English Carthusians was one of the worst of the period. Thomas Cromwell had them "savagely punished" with their leaders "hanged and disembowelled at Tyburn in May 1535, still wearing their monastic habits." Even today, Henry's act

31563-432: Was incorporated into the Roman Empire during the Roman conquest of Britain , starting in 43 AD, conquering lands inhabited by Celtic Britons . The indigenous religion of the Britons under their priests, the Druids , was suppressed; most notably, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus launched an attack on Anglesey (or Ynys Môn) in 60 AD and destroyed the shrine and sacred groves there. In the following years, Roman influence saw

31752-419: Was later used against him, along with other incriminating evidence recorded during their stay. His communications with his nephew, and Anne Vaux, were also intercepted. Most of these letters found their intended recipient, but not before they had first been read by Waad, who also kept Salisbury informed. Although Garnet told Vaux that the Council's evidence constituted nothing but "presumptions", insufficient for

31941-469: Was mentioned, but his adherence to the doctrine of equivocation proved extremely damaging. Francis Tresham 's deathbed letter, which claimed that Garnet had played no part in the so-called Spanish Treason, was read aloud. Tresham claimed not to have seen Garnet "for fifteen or sixteen years before", despite government evidence that the two had met more recently. Garnet had not seen the letter and did not know that it referred to events before 1602, not 1605. He

32130-470: Was no longer, as once in Stuart times, any notable Catholic presence at court, in public life, in the military or professions. Many of the Catholic nobles and gentry who had preserved on their lands among their tenants small pockets of Catholicism had followed James into exile, and others, at least outwardly in cryptic fashion, conformed to Anglicanism, meaning fewer such Catholic communities survived intact. For "obvious reasons", Catholic aristocracy at this time

32319-403: Was not necessarily at odds with the feeling of a large section of the populace; Edward's Protestant reformation had not been well received everywhere, and there was ambiguity in the responses of the parishes. Mary also had some powerful families behind her. The Jerningham family together with other East Anglian Catholic families such as the Bedingfelds , Waldegraves , Rochesters together with

32508-461: Was only the first of many. Generally, his answers were carefully considered and demonstrated a passive resistance to his questioners; the use of the rack was a distinct possibility, one which he answered with " Minare ista pueris [Such threats are only for children]". What information he did give up was of limited interest only. His jailer, a man named Carey, was employed by Waad to gain the priest's trust, offering to relay letters to his nephew in

32697-465: Was part of one Catholic Church in communion with the Holy See and localised in England. Other regions of the church were localised in Scotland ( Ecclesia Scotticana ), France ( Ecclesia Gallicana ), Spain ( Ecclesia Hispanica ), etc. These regional cognomens or designations were commonly used in Rome by officials to identify a locality of the universal church but never to imply any breach with the Holy See. When King Henry VIII "suddenly became alerted to

32886-404: Was passed in the beginning of Parliament", Garnet again mentioned Flanders, although Fraser suggests that Vaux's questioning must have concerned him deeply. Garnet was at Coughton Court on 6 November when Thomas Bates brought news of the plot's failure. Catesby wanted him to help raise support in Wales, where it was thought Catholic support would be more likely, but Garnet was horrified. In

33075-437: Was quickly canonised as a martyr for the faith. This resulted in Canterbury Cathedral attracting international pilgrimage and inspired the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer . An Englishman, Nicholas Breakspear, became Pope Adrian IV (also known as Hadrian IV), reigning from 1154 to 1159. Fifty-six years later, Cardinal Stephen Langton , the first of English cardinals and later Archbishop of Canterbury (1208–1228),

33264-435: Was replaced by the (English) Book of Common Prayer , representational art and statues in church buildings destroyed, and Catholic practices which had survived during Henry's reign, such as public prayers to the Virgin Mary, e.g. the Salve Regina , ended. In 1549 the Western Rising in Cornwall and Devon broke out to protest against the abolition of the Mass – the rebels called the 1549 Holy Communion Service, "commonly called

33453-505: Was required before joining the Society, however, and initially he was denied entry. He appealed the decision by sending a heartfelt, emotional letter to the school. He bemoans the situation, writing, "How can I but wast in anguish and agony that find myself disjoined from that company, severed from that Society, disunited from that body wherein lyeth all my life my love my whole hart and affection" (Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Anglia 14, fol. 80, under date 1578). His efforts succeeded as he

33642-399: Was returned through the city streets to Newgate. On 21 February 1595, Southwell was sent to Tyburn. Execution of sentence on a notorious highwayman had been appointed for the same time, but at a different place – perhaps to draw the crowds away – and yet many came to witness Southwell's death. Having been dragged through the streets on a sledge, he stood in the cart beneath the gibbet and made

33831-436: Was sent to England as a Jesuit missionary with Henry Garnet . He went from one Catholic family to another. The Jesuit William Weston had previously made his way to England, but he was arrested and sent to Wisbech Castle in 1587. The Garnet–Southwell Jesuit English mission is considered the third; the first such mission was that of Robert Parsons and Edmund Campion of 1580–1581. A spy reported to Sir Francis Walsingham

34020-468: Was then thrown off the ladder. Before the executioner could cut him down alive, many in the crowd pulled on his legs, and as a result, Garnet did not suffer the remainder of his grim sentence. There was no applause when the executioner held Garnet's heart aloft and said the traditional words, "Behold the heart of a traitor". His head was set on a pole on London Bridge, but crowds of onlookers fascinated by its fresh and unblemished appearance eventually forced

34209-561: Was therefore a recurrent problem, and Garnet was almost caught on several occasions. As a result of an almost disastrous meeting at Baddesley Clinton in 1591, when he and many others were almost captured together while renewing their vows, he reorganised the mission into eleven smaller groups, each assigned two weeks annually. Following Southwell's capture in June 1592, and the search of Anne Vaux and Eleanor Brooksby 's rented house in Warwickshire , he wrote to Acquaviva to ask for an assistant who could succeed him as superior. Henry Walpole

34398-402: Was thus dispatched, but was captured on his arrival in December 1593, and executed in York in April 1595. Garnet believed that it was his duty to observe (in disguise) the executions of his fellow priests, so as to secretly administer the last rites , and he may have been present at Southwell's execution at Tyburn in 1595. The latter's death was a significant blow for Garnet, who later wrote of

34587-425: Was to be imprisoned for one year. England's wars with Catholic powers such as France and Spain, culminated in the attempted invasion by the Spanish Armada in 1588. The Papal bull had unleashed nationalistic feelings which equated Protestantism with loyalty to a highly popular monarch and made Catholics "vulnerable to accusations of being traitors to the crown." The Rising of the North , the Throckmorton plot and

34776-509: Was to reverse her sister's re-establishment of Catholicism by Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity . The Act of Supremacy of 1558 made it a crime to assert the authority of any foreign prince, prelate , or other authority, and was aimed at abolishing the authority of the Pope in England. A third offence was high treason became punishable by death. The Oath of Supremacy , imposed by the Act of Supremacy 1558, provided for any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to

34965-496: Was unable to explain it, except by saying "it may be, my Lord, that he meant to equivocate." Statements regarding Jesuit-encouraged plots against Queen Elizabeth were read to the court, as well as some of the plotters' confessions. Garnet defended his use of equivocation with his own treatise on the doctrine. He had denied his conversation with Oldcorne as it was a secret, but said that in matters of faith, equivocation could never be lawful. When asked by Salisbury what he would do if

35154-418: Was uncle to Saint Thomas Garnet SJ. Henry studied at the grammar school in Nottingham where, from 1565, his father was master. Following his election as a scholar on 24 August 1567, in 1568 he entered Winchester College , where he apparently excelled. His love of music and "rare and delightful" voice were complemented by an ability to perform songs without preparation, and he was reportedly also skilled with

35343-412: Was under suspicion on account of his connection with Jerome Bellamy , who had been executed for sharing in Anthony Babington's plot . One of the daughters, Anne Bellamy, was arrested and imprisoned in the gatehouse of Holborn for being linked to the situation. Having been interrogated and raped by Richard Topcliffe , the Queen's chief priest-hunter and torturer, she revealed Southwell's movements and he

35532-479: Was very different from Garnet's. In their eyes, it was simple deceit. The next day, Garnet was moved to the Tower of London , into what he described as "a very fine chamber". He was afforded claret with his meals, though it took him some time to get bedding and coal for the fireplace. He claimed that Lieutenant of the Tower William Waad treated him well, although on the subject of religion his speeches became "violent and impotent". Garnet's recent interrogation

35721-447: Was very important at the time and ought not be misprized. For example, when John Leyburn, formerly of the English College, Douai, was appointed as Vicar Apostolic of England, it was the first time a Catholic bishop had been present in England for nearly sixty years. Up until that time, Archpriests were overseeing the church. In Leyburn's combined tour north and visitation to administer Confirmation, in 1687, some 20,859 Catholics received

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