Robert Lawrence, OCart (died 4 May 1535) was one of the

Forty Martyrs of England and Wales The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales or Cuthbert Mayne and Thirty-Nine Companion Martyrs are a group of Catholic Church, Catholic, lay and religious, men and women, executed between 1535 and 1679 for treason and related offences under variou ...

. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn for declining to sign the

Oath of Supremacy The Oath of Supremacy required any person taking public or church office in the Kingdom of England, or in its subordinate Kingdom of Ireland, to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church. Failure to do so was to be trea ...

. His feast day is 4 May.

Life

Born about 1485, Robert Lawrence was a graduate of Cambridge. After joining the

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 ...

, in 1531, he succeeded John Houghton as Prior of the

Beauvale Priory Beauvale Priory (also known as Beauvale Charterhouse) was a Carthusian monastery in Beauvale, Nottinghamshire. History The priory was founded in 1343 by Nicholas de Cantelupe (d.1355), in honour of the Blessed Trinity. The priory was original ...

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 ...

, when Houghton was appointed Prior of the

London Charterhouse The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Clerkenwell, London, dating to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square, and lies within the London Borough of Islington. It was originally built (and ...

.Monks of Ramsgate. "Carthusian Martyrs". ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 29 September 2012
/ref> By February 1535

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

declared that everyone had to take the

, declaring King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

to be Supreme Head of the Church of England. Lawrence went with Houghton to see

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

, who had them arrested and placed in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. When they refused to sign the Oath of Supremacy, they were

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered was a method of torture, torturous capital punishment used principally to execute men convicted of High treason in the United Kingdom, high treason in medieval and early modern Britain and Ireland. The convi ...

Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, 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 ...

, making them among the first Carthusian martyrs in England. Beatified in 1886, Robert was canonized by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

with thirty-nine other martyrs on 25 October 1970.

References

External links

Catholic ForumArco, Anna. "Vatican approves English feast days", ''Catholic Herald'', 20 July 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Robert Forty Martyrs of England and Wales Year of birth missing 1535 deaths Canonizations by Pope Paul VI English saints English Roman Catholic saints Carthusian Martyrs of London Carthusian saints People executed by Tudor England by hanging, drawing and quartering 16th-century Christian saints 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Executed English people People executed under Henry VIII

Life

See also

References

External links