Thomas Atkinson (born about 1546, died 11 March 1616) 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

He was born in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, was ordained priest at

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, and returned to England in 1588.Ryan, Patrick W.F. "Ven. Thomas Atkinson." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 5 February 2014
/ref> He was well known, especially for visiting poor Catholics, and eventually he could not safely travel by day. He always travelled by foot until, having broken his leg, he had to ride a horse. At the age of 70 he was betrayed and taken to

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 ...

with his host, Mr. Vavasour of

Willitoft Willitoft is a Hamlet (place), hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bubwith, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated just south of the A163 road and west of the B1228 road. It is approximately east of Selby and ...

, and some members of the family. A pair of beads and the form of an

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

were found upon him, and he was condemned to be

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 ...

"Nicholas Atkinson"

Nicholas Atkinson (died 1610) was said to have been an English Catholic 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 ...

. According to the historian

Charles Dodd Hugh Tootell (1671/72 – 27 February 1743) was an English Catholic historian. He is commonly known under his pseudonym Charles Dodd. Life Tootell was born in Lancashire. He was tutored by his uncle, Christopher Tootle, before studying wi ...

Real name Hugh Tootell he was executed in York in 1610, in the reign of

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

. The

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 ...

thinks that it was probable that Dodd had confused him with Thomas Atkinson, the subject of this article, although there was a

Marian priest Marian Priests is a term is applied to those English Roman Catholic priests who were ordained in or before the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary (1553–1558) and who survived into the reign of her Anglican successor, Queen Elizabeth I. The expres ...

called Nicholas, or "Ninny", Atkinson.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Thomas 1616 deaths 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests English beatified people Executed people from the East Riding of Yorkshire 17th-century venerated Christians Year of birth unknown People executed by Stuart England by hanging, drawing and quartering Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales

Life

"Nicholas Atkinson"

See also

References