Robert Southwell

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Robert Southwell

Robert Southwell (* around 1561 in Horsham St. Faith, † February 21, 1595 in Tyburn ) was an English Jesuit , poet and martyr .

Southwell was born to a rural Catholic nobleman near Norwich . His father sent him to the Jesuit school in Douai when he was a child . At the age of 17, Southwell wanted to join the Jesuit order in Paris but was turned down because of his age. So he went to Rome , where he was granted admission. He spent most of his time as a novice in Tournai . In 1584 Robert Southwell was ordained a priest and served as prefect of studies in Rome for the next two years.

In 1586 he was sent on a mission to England with Henry Garnet . From the underground, Southwell acted as a chaplain to English Catholics. In 1589 he found refuge in Arundel Castle . There Southwell became the local chaplain of Ann Howard, whose husband Philip Howard was imprisoned in the Tower because of his openly displayed Catholic faith . In 1591 he wrote An Epistle of Comfort , Mary Magdalens Funerall Teares , An Humble Supplication to Her Majestie and The Triumphs over Death .

On February 20, 1592, Robert Southwell was arrested at Richard Bellamy's home . A daughter of Bellamy had betrayed him. After three years in captivity, he was sentenced to death for high treason. On February 21, 1595 the judgment in Tyburn was carried out by hanging (“ hanged, drawn and quartered ”). Robert Southwell wrote most of his spiritual poems in captivity. Shortly after his death, the two anthologies St. Peter's Complaint with other Poems and Maeoniae were published.

Robert Southwell was born in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. canonized along with the other martyrs of England and Wales .

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personal data
SURNAME Southwell, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English Jesuit, poet and martyr
DATE OF BIRTH around 1561
PLACE OF BIRTH Horsham St. Faith
DATE OF DEATH February 21, 1595
Place of death Tyburn