On this day in 1591, as the Catholic Shakespeare was working on the earliest of his plays, several Catholics were put to death in London for the practice of their faith. These included two priests, Fr. Edmund Gennings and Fr. Polidore Plasden, who were arrested after Queen Elizabeth’s chief torturer, Richard Topcliffe, arrived with a posse during a private Mass at the home of Swithin and Margaret Wells, both of whom were also arrested along with two laymen, John Mason and Sidney Hodgson. All six were sentenced to death, along with two other priests, Eustace White and Brian Lacey, both of whom were from Lincolnshire. All except Mrs. Wells were executed on December 10th, 1591, in some cases after being repeatedly tortured by Topcliffe, and they are now known collectively as the London Martyrs. They were beatified in 1929. Subsequently, Gennings, Plasden, Wells and White were canonized, in 1970, among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. May they pray for us, and for their native land, that England may return to the Faith of her fathers.
Remembering The London Martyrs Of 1591
Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!
About the Author: Joseph Pearce
Joseph Pearce is a Catholic author and biographer who has written about subjects as various as GK Chesterton, economics, and Shakespeare.
Thanks to Mr. Pearce for sharing the history of these important martyrs for the Faith!
We all need to share these stories as widely as possible to illustrate just how violently the English people were torn away from their ancient faith – and how courageous many were to hold onto it despite facing the hangman or the axe.
Perhaps the collective indifference we see among Christians today to our ongoing persecutions around the world can be be reversed into the fervor we’ll need to preserve Christianity and its authentic foundations. May these beloved martyrs pray for us that we be given the courage in our time to be examples of the Gospel in action.