Christopher Bales, also spelt Christopher Bayles, alias Christopher Evers (1564–1590), was an English

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 external party. In ...

. He was

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "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 name. ''Beati'' is the ...

in 1929.

Biography

Christopher was born at Coniscliffe near

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

, County Durham, England, about 1564. He entered the English College at Rome on 1 October 1583, but owing to ill-health was sent to the

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

. Bales suffered from

consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...

.Brown, C.F. Wemyss. "Nicholas Horner." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 16 April 2020 He was ordained on 28 March 1587 at Reims. Sent to England on 2 November 1588, he was soon arrested,

racked Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB ...

and tortured by Topcliffe, and hung up by the hands for twenty-four hours at a time and "bore all most patiently".Camm, Bede. "Ven. Christopher Bales." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 16 April 2020, Bales was tried and condemned for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

on the charge of having been ordained beyond seas and coming to England to exercise his office. He asked Judge Anderson whether

Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury (early 6th century in England, 6th century – most likely 26 May 604) was a Christian monk who became the first archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English". Augustine ...

, Apostle of the English (who did the same), was also a traitor; the judge said no, but that the act had since been made treason by law. He was executed on 4 March 1590, "about Easter", in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

(London), opposite

Fetter Lane Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London, England. It forms part of the A4 road (England), A4 road and runs between Fleet Street at its southern end and Holborn. History The street was originally called F ...

. On the

gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...

was set a

placard A placard is a notice installed in a public place, like a small :wikt:card, card, Signage, sign, or :wikt:plaque, plaque. It can be attached to or hung from a vehicle or building to indicate information about the vehicle operator or contents of a ...

: "For treason and favouring foreign invasion". He spoke to the people from the ladder, saying that his only "treason" was his priesthood. On the same day, Nicholas Horner was executed in Smithfield for having made Bales a jerkin, and Alexander Blake for lodging him in his house.

Alexander Blake

Alexander Blake was an ostler convicted of aiding Bale and was hanged outside his own door at

Gray's Inn Lane Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in Central London, located in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at its junction with Holborn at the City of London boundary, passes north through the Holborn and King's Cross, ...

.Mann, Stephanie. "A Martyred Priest and His Lay Companions", ''National Catholic Register'', March 4, 2017
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References

Sources

* *John Gibbons, ''Concertatio Ecclesiae Catholicae in Anglia'' (Trier, 1589). (Formerly attributed to

John Bridgewater John Bridgewater was an English clerical historian of the Catholic Confessors under Queen Elizabeth I. Biography Bridgewater was born in Yorkshire about 1532; died probably at Trier, about 1596. He proceeded M. A. at Oxford University in 1556, w ...

). *

Richard Challoner Richard Challoner (29 September 1691 – 12 January 1781) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Vicar Apostolic of the London District during the greater part of the 18th century, and as Titular Bishop of Doberus. In 1738, he publishe ...

, ''Memoirs'' * John Hungerford Pollen, ''Acts of English Martyrs'' (London, 1891) *''Northern Catholic Calendar'' *

Thomas Francis Knox Father Francis Knox (born as Thomas Francis Knox; 24 December 1822 – 20 March 1882, London)Thompson Cooper''Knox, Thomas Francis (1822–1882)'' reviewed by Sheridan Gilley, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Pr ...

, ''Douay Diaries'' (London, 1878) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bales, Christopher English beatified people 1560s births 1590 deaths 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 16th-century venerated Christians 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests One Hundred and Seven Martyrs of England and Wales

Biography

Alexander Blake

See also

References

Sources