Richard Martin (died 1588) was an English martyr. A layman, Martin was charged with being a "receiver and maintainer of priests" for having bought supper for Robert Morton, a priest.

Background

In the wake of the failure of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an a ...

, the English government decided to proceed against the Catholics in the realm as a counter-move. On the initiative of

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was ov ...

, new gallows were erected in six locations. From 14 to 20 August 1588 a general examination of all prisoners then in custody because of religion was conducted by order of the Privy Council, with the reports delivered to Crown Advocate

John Puckering Sir John Puckering (1544 – 30 April 1596) was a lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1592 until his death. Origins He was born in 1544 in Flamborough, East Riding of Yor ...

to prepare indictments.

Richard Martin

Richard Martin was born in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, and attended

Broadgates Hall Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

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

, where he was granted a Master of Arts degree on 12 December 1583. He was arrested in the company of Robert Morton, a priest. The law at that time declared that those who knowingly "shall receive, relieve, aid, or comfort a

seminary priest Seminary priests were Roman Catholic priests who were trained in English seminaries or houses of study on the European continent after the introduction of laws forbidding Roman Catholicism in Britain. Such Seminaries included that at Douay, from 15 ...

, are felons...""Venerable Richard Martin", ''Lives of the English Martyrs'', vol.1, (Edwin Burton and J.H. Pollen, eds.), Longmans, Green and Co., 1914, p. 422
/ref> Martin was charged with being a "receiver and maintainer of priests" because he had bought supper for Morton for sixpence. It appears that while at

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, ...

, Martin admitted being reconciled to the Catholic Church. Martin was

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the reign of King Henry III ...

on 30 August 1588 at

Tyburn Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern ...

, along with Blesseds Richard Leigh, Edward Shelley, John Roche and Richard Flowers, and St.

Margaret Ward Margaret Ward (c. 1550-30 August 1588), the "pearl of Tyburn", was an English Catholic martyr who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I for assisting a priest to escape from prison. She was canonised in 1970, as one of the Forty Marty ...

. Martin was beatified in 1929. His feast day is 30 August.

Robert Morton

Robert Morton was born in 1547 at

Bawtry Bawtry is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It lies between Doncaster, Gainsborough and Retford, on the border with Nottinghamshire and close to Lincolnshire. The town is historically part of ...

, Yorkshire, the son of Robert and Anne Morton. At the age of twenty-six, he entered the

English College, Douai The English College (''College des Grands Anglais'') was a Catholic seminary in Douai, France (also previously spelled Douay, and in English Doway), associated with the University of Douai. It was established in 1568, and was suppressed in 179 ...

, but his theological studies were interrupted with the death of his father. He later continued his studies at Rheims. In 1586, he travelled with his uncle, Nicholas Morton D.D., to Rome, where his uncle later died. Robert had a memorial tablet in his uncle's memory erected in the chapel of the

English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...

.Watt, Reginald J.J., "Venerable Robert Morton', ''Lives of the English Martyrs'', vol.1, (Edwin Burton and J.H. Pollen, eds.), Longmans, Green and Co., 1914, p. 372
/ref> He was ordained deacon at Rome and priest at Reims on 14 June 1587. Morton was apprehended shortly after arriving in England and condemned at the Old Bailey on 26 August 1588 for being a priest contrary to the

Jesuits, etc. Act 1584 An act against Jesuits, seminary priests, and such other like disobedient persons, also known as the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584, (27 Eliz.1, c. 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England passed during the English Reformation. The Act commanded all ...

. On 28 August 1588, Morton was hanged at the new gallows erected at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London.Wainewright, John. "Ven. Robert Morton." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 22 March 2020

Hugh More

Hugh More was born about 1563 in

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln a ...

, Lincolnshire. In 1581 he entered

, Oxford, and in 1583 Gray's Inn, London, to study law. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1584 or 1585 by Fr. Thomas Stephenson, and was immediately disinherited by his father, a staunch Protestant. In June 1585 he entered the

English College at Rheims The English College (''College des Grands Anglais'') was a Catholic seminary in Douai, France (also previously spelled Douay, and in English Doway), associated with the University of Douai. It was established in 1568, and was suppressed in 1793. ...

, but had returned to England by May 1587 as his health had collapsed. He was soon arrested, and refusing to attend a Protestant church was tried and condemned at the Old Bailey for having been "reconciled to the See of Rome by one Thomas Stephenson". He was executed, along with Robert Morton, at Lincoln's Inn Fields on 28 August 1588.

Others martyred at that time

* Near the Theatre, William Gunter, a priest, born at Raglan, Monmouthshire, educated at Reims * At Clerkenwell, Thomas Holford, a priest, born at Aston, in Acton, Cheshire, educated at Reims, who was hanged only * Between Brentford and Hounslow, Middlesex, James Claxton or Clarkson, a priest, born in Yorkshire and educated at Reims * Thomas Felton, born at Bermondsey Abbey in 1567, son of B. John Felton, tonsured 1583 and about to be professed a Minim, who had suffered terrible tortures in prison.

References

Sources

"St. Richard Martin"
Catholic Online, Saints and Angels, Retrieved 2009-11-06. {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Richard Alumni of Broadgates Hall, Oxford English Roman Catholics People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering 1588 deaths Executed people from Shropshire Year of birth unknown 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs One Hundred and Seven Martyrs of England and Wales