Robert Thorpe (died 15 May 1591) was an English

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest. He is a Catholic martyr,

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 1987.

Life

Thorpe was born in

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 ...

. He reached the English College at

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 ...

1 March 1584, was ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in December following, and priest by Cardinal Louis de Guise in April 1585. He was sent on the English mission, 9 May 1585. He was active in Yorkshire. He was arrested in bed very early on

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

, 1595, at the house of Thomas Watkinson, at Menthorpe in East Yorkshire. Someone had seen palms being gathered the night before, and informed John Gates of

Howden Howden () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62 motorway, M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, ...

, the nearest justice of the peace. Watkinson, an old Catholic yeoman who lived a solitary life, is described by John Cecil as a clerk, which the 1913

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

speculates may indicate Cecil's being in

minor orders In Christianity, minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders—priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders— acolyt ...

. Thorpe was condemned as a traitor for being a Catholic priest, and was

hanged, drawn, and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered was a method of torturous capital punishment used principally to execute men convicted of high treason in medieval and early modern Britain and Ireland. The convicted traitor was fastened by the feet to a h ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. Watkinson, condemned as a

felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that ...

for harbouring priests, was hanged, despite having been offered his life if he would go to church.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **

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 ...

, ''Missionary Priests'', I, no. 86; ** John Hungerford Pollen, ''English Martyrs'', 1584–1603 (London, 1908), 200–2; **

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), passim. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe, Robert 1591 deaths 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests English beatified people People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering 16th-century venerated Christians Year of birth unknown Clergy from Yorkshire Executed English people Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales

Life

See also

References