Thomas Cottam

Thomas Cottam, like many other martyrs, was hanged on the place of execution in Tyburn

Thomas Cottam (* 1549 in Lancashire , † May 30, 1582 in London , Tyburn ) was an English Jesuit and martyr. Thomas Cottam was on December 29, 1886 by Pope Leo XIII. Beatified, his feast is on December 1st .

Cottam was born in Lancashire in 1549 to Laurence Cottam of Dilworth and Anne Brewer. He studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he earned the degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1568 and his Magister Artium on July 14, 1572. He then ran a grammar school in London. In London he met Thomas Pound, who converted him to Catholicism.

After converting from the Anglican to the Catholic faith, he studied philosophy and theology in Douai from 1575 and became a Jesuit as a deacon on April 8, 1579 in Rome . As a missionary he wanted to go to the East Indies , but was considered unsuitable because of his health, which is why he was sent to Douai and Reims . Cottam was ordained a priest in 1580 and then sent on a mission to England.

In June 1580 he went ashore in Dover , where he was betrayed by an English spy and arrested directly. First he was imprisoned in Marshalsea Prison, from where he was transferred to the Tower of London on December 4, 1580. On May 30, 1582 he was executed together with other priests, so William Filby, Luke Kirby and Laurence Richardson in London at the execution place in Tyburn . All four were on December 29, 1886 by Pope Leo XIII. beatified .

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Cottam, Thomas. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1139-1140.