Tower of London / Torture "Rack" From the Tower

[biographical information was obtained in most cases from Wikipedia and/or the Catholic Encyclopedia; links to articles are in the caption names. The martyrs are listed chronologically by date of execution]

[See the Wikipedia article for a gruesome description of the English punishment of being hanged, drawn, and quartered]

Elizabeth Barton (The Holy Maid of Kent)

Born c. 1506. Benedictine nun. The career of this visionary, whose prophecies led to her execution under Henry VIII, has been the source of a historical controversy which resolves itself into the question: Was she gifted with supernatural knowledge or was she an impostor? From the first her utterances assumed a religious character and were "of marvellous holiness in rebuke of sin and vice." She protested "in the name and by the authority of God" against the king's projected divorce. To further her opposition, besides writing to the pope, she had interviews with Fisher, Wolsey, and the king himself. Owing to her reputation for sanctity, she proved one of the most formidable opponents of the royal divorce, so that in 1533 Cromwell took steps against her and, after examination by Cranmer, she was in November committed to the Tower. Elizabeth and her companions were hanged and beheaded at Tyburn on 20 April, 1534, when she is said to have repeated her confession. Protestant authors allege that these confessions alone are conclusive of her imposture, but Catholic writers, though they have felt free to hold divergent opinions about the nun, have pointed out the suggestive fact that all that is known as to these confessions emanates from Cromwell or his agents; that all available documents are on his side; that the confession issued as hers is on the face of it not her own composition; that she and her companions were never brought to trial, but were condemned and executed unheard; that there is contemporary evidence that the alleged confession was even then believed to be a forgery. For these reasons, the matter cannot be considered as settled, and unfortunately, the difficulty of arriving at any satisfactory and final decision now seems insuperable.

Edward Bocking

Benedictine monk. Hanged and beheaded at Tyburn on 20 April, 1534.

John Dering

Benedictine. Hanged and beheaded at Tyburn on 20 April, 1534.

Henry Gold

Priest. Hanged and beheaded at Tyburn on 20 April, 1534.

Richard Masters

Priest. Hanged and beheaded at Tyburn on 20 April, 1534.

Hugh Rich

Franciscan. Hanged and beheaded at Tyburn on 20 April, 1534.

Blessed John Hale (or, Haile)

Priest. Refused to recognize Henry VIII as head of the Church. Was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on May 4, 1535.

St. John Houghton

Born c. 1486. In 1531, he became abbot of the Carthusian Charterhouse of Beauvale in Nottinghamshire. Refused to recognize Henry VIII as head of the Church. From his prison cell in the Tower, St. Thomas More saw the three Carthusian priors drawn to Tyburn on hurdles and exclaimed to his daughter Meg: "Look, Meg," he said, "these blessed Fathers be now as cheerfully going to their deaths as bridegrooms to their marriage!" Was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on May 4, 1535. After he was hung, he was taken down alive, and the process of quartering him began. Catholic tradition relates that as Houghton was about to be quartered, as the executioner tore open his chest to remove his heart he prayed, "O Jesu, what wouldst thou do with my heart?" After his death, his body was chopped to pieces and hung in different parts of London.

St. Robert Lawrence

After joining the Carthusians, he served as prior of the Beauvale Charterhouse, Nottinghamshire, at the time when King Henry VIII of England broke with Rome and launched the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Refused to recognize Henry VIII as head of the Church. Was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on May 4, 1535.

St. Richard Reynolds

Born 1492. English Brigittine monk executed in London for refusing the Oath of Supremacy to King Henry VIII of England. Was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on May 4, 1535.

St. Augustine Webster

He became the prior of Our Lady of Melwood, a Carthusian house at Epworth, on the Isle of Axholme, North Lincolnshire, in 1531. Refused to recognize Henry VIII as head of the Church. Was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on May 4, 1535.

Blessed William Exmew

He studied at Christ's College, Cambridge, and became a proficient classical scholar. Entering the London Charterhouse, he was soon raised to the office of vicar (sub-prior). Was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 19 June, 1535. See more information under the entry for Blessed Humphrey Middlemore.

Blessed Humphrey Middlemore

Attracted to the Carthusian Order, he was professed at the Charterhouse, London, ordained, and subsequently appointed to the office of procurator. Refused to recognize Henry VIII as head of the Church and so was thrown into prison, with Blessed Sebastian Newdigate and Blessed William Exmew, where they were treated with inhuman cruelty, being bound to posts with chains round their necks and legs, and compelled so to remain day and night for two weeks. They were then brought before the council, and required to take the oath. Not only did they refuse, but justified their attitude by able arguments from Scripture and the Fathers in favour of the papal claims. They were accordingly condemned to death, and suffered at Tyburn with the greatest fortitude and resignation, and was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 19 June, 1535.

Blessed Sebastian Newdigate

He was educated at Cambridge, and on going to Court became and intimate friend of Henry VIII and a privy councillor. He married and had a daughter, named Amphelys, but his wife dying in 1524, he entered the He was educated at Cambridge, and on going to Court became and intimate friend of Henry VIII. He married and had a daughter, named Amphelys, but his wife dying in 1524, he entered the London Charterhouse and became a monk there. Refused to recognize Henry VIII as head of the Church. He was thrown into the Marshalsea prison, where he was kept for fourteen days bound to a pillar, standing upright, with iron rings round his neck, hands, and feet. There he was visited by the king who offered to load him with riches and honours if he would conform. Was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 19 June, 1535.