John Rochester (c. 1498–1537) was an English Carthusian choir monk 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 hanged at York for refusing to concede King Henry VIII's supremacy over the church.

Background

The government was at first anxious to secure the public acquiescence of the monks of the London Charterhouse regarding royal supremacy in ecclesiastical matters, since for the austerity and sincerity of their mode of life they enjoyed great prestige. Having failed in this, the only alternative was to annihilate the resistance since a refusal engaged the prestige of the monks in the opposite sense. On 4 May 1535 the authorities sent to their death at

Tyburn Tree Tyburn was a manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne, means 'bo ...

three leading English

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

: John Houghton, the

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

of the London Charterhouse; Robert Lawrence, prior of

Beauvale Beauvale, or Beauvale Newthorpe, is a village in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located 1 mile to the east of Eastwood. It is in Greasley parish. Beauvale Priory is the remains of a Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order o ...

; and

Augustine Webster Augustine Webster, O.Cart (died 4 May 1535) was an English Catholic martyr. He was the prior of Our Lady of Melwood, a Carthusian house at Epworth, on the Isle of Axholme, in north Lincolnshire, in 1531. His feast day is 4 May. Background A ...

prior of Axholme. Little more than a month later, it was the turn of three leading monks of the London house:

Humphrey Middlemore Humphrey Middlemore, OCart (died 19 June 1535) was an English Catholic priest and Carthusian monk, who was executed for treason during the Tudor period. He is considered a martyr by the Catholic Church, and, along with other members of his r ...

, William Exmew and

Sebastian Newdigate Sebastian Newdigate, O.Cart (7 September 1500 – 19 June 1535) was the seventh child of John Newdigate, Sergeant-at-law. He spent his early life at court, and later became a Carthusian monk. He was executed for treason on 19 June 1535 for his ...

, who were to die at

on 19 June. This process of attrition was to claim as its victims no less than fifteen of the London Carthusians.

Life

John was the third son of John Rochester, of

Terling Terling (pronounced Ter-ling) is a village and civil parish in the county of Essex, England, between Braintree to the north, Chelmsford to the south-west and Witham to the east. History A settlement at Terling dates back to Roman times. Acc ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and Grisold Writtle, daughter of Walter Writtle, of

Bobbingworth Bobbingworth is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. The village is situated approximately north-west from Chipping Ongar, west from the county town of Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the Cit ...

. He was the brother of

Robert Rochester Robert Rochester ( – 28 November 1557) was an English Catholic and Comptroller of the Household and a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Privy Council in the reign of Mary I of England, Mary I. Family Rochester's family were ...

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of ...

and a member of the Privy Council under Queen Mary. He joined the Carthusian convent in London and strenuously opposed the new doctrine of the royal supremacy. Four more monks of the convent were seized; two being taken to the Charterhouse at

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, while John Rochester and James Walworth were taken to the Charterhouse of St. Michael in Hull,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

Pilgrimage of Grace

That autumn, the government had just succeeded in putting down a rising in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, when on 13 October 1536, the far more serious

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

began, mustering an enormous multitude of adherents, perhaps as many as 40,000. This time, having dealt with the problem, the government was desperate to stamp out any centres of resistance. Since one of the flashpoints had been the Northern capital of York, it was necessary for the government to mount a lesson in the city.

Executions

The two London monks were brought from Hull to York and brought before the Lord President of the North, the Duke of Norfolk, on trumped up treason charges, and condemned to death. On 11 May 1537, both were hanged and their bodies hung in chains from the city battlementsBrown, C.F. Wemyss. "Bl. John Rochester." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 12 Jan. 2013
/ref> until they fell to pieces.Stanton, Richard, ''A Menology of England and Wales'', p. 207, Burns & Oates, Ltd., London, 1892
/ref> Both monks were beatified by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

in 1888.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rochester, John 1490s births 1537 deaths Carthusian Martyrs of London English beatified people Carthusian saints Martyred Roman Catholic priests 16th-century English clergy People executed under the Tudors for treason against England People from Terling Executed people from Essex 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 16th-century venerated Christians People executed by the Kingdom of England by hanging People executed under Henry VIII Forty-one Martyrs of England and Wales