Library

1535 · Reformation

John Haile was an elderly secular priest who was vicar of Isleworth Middlesex in the early 16th century; his significance in history, like that of many of the English martyrs, begins only with the events which led to his death.

1560–1587 · Reformation

John Hambley (died 1587) was an English Catholic and martyr, who died during the reign of Elizabeth I. John Hambley was a native of the parish of St. Mabyn, near Bodmin, Cornwall. Hambley was converted to Catholicism by reading one of Robert Persons' books in 1582.

1588 · Reformation

John Hewitt or Hewett (alias Weldon, alias Savell) (date of birth unknown; executed at Mile End Green, 5 October 1588) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929. His father was William Hewett, a draper of York.

1565–1590 · Reformation

The Dryburne Martyrs: Richard Hill, Richard Holiday, John Hogg and Edmund Duke (all died 27 May 1590) were English Roman Catholic priests and martyrs, executed at Dryburne, County Durham, in the reign of Elizabeth I. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987.

1487–1535 · Reformation · Carthusian Order

John Houghton, OCart (c. 1486 – 4 May 1535) was a Catholic priest of the Carthusian order and the first martyr to die as a result of the Act of Supremacy by King Henry VIII of England. He was also the first of the Carthusians to die as a martyr.

1565–1594 · Reformation · Society of Jesus

John Ingram (1565 – 26 July 1594) was an English Jesuit and martyr from Stoke Edith, Herefordshire, who was executed in Gateshead on 26 July 1594, during the reign of Elizabeth I.

1598 · Reformation · Franciscans

John Jones O.F.M (c. 1530 - 12 July 1598), also known as John Buckley, John Griffith, Godfrey Maurice (in religion), or Griffith Jones, was a Franciscan priest and martyr.

1545–1604 · Reformation · Oratory of Saint Philip Neri

Giovanni Giovenale Ancina (19 October 1545 – 30 August 1604) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Saluzzo and was a professed member from the Oratorians. The bishop was also a scholar and music composer and was also known for being a noted orator.

1599–1679 · Reformation

John Kemble (c. 1599 – 22 August 1679) was an English Catholic priest killed by the crown due to his ministry. He was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

1597 · Reformation · Franciscans

John Kinuya was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis who died as a martyr in Japan in 1597. When persecution against Catholics intensified, he and 25 companions—8 priests and religious and 17 laypeople—were arrested, insulted, and severely tortured.

1401–1544 · Reformation

John Larke (fl. c. 1500 – died 7 March 1544) was an English Catholic priest and martyr, who was executed during the reign of Henry VIII. Larke was a notable personal friend of Thomas More, Lord High Chancellor of England. Larke was beatified in 1886 by Pope Leo XIII.

1649–1679 · Reformation

John Lloyd (Brecknockshire, 1630 – Cardiff, July 22, 1679) was a Welsh priest. Martyred under Charles II, he is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and is remembered as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

1555–1642 · Reformation

John Lockwood (born about 1555; executed at York, 13 April 1642) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929.

1553–1586 · Reformation

John Lowe (1553–1586) was an English Catholic priest and martyr. John Lowe was born the youngest son of Simon Lowe and Margaret Lacy of London in 1553. His father was probably the Simon Low, a merchant-tailor and citizen of London.

1585–1645 · Reformation · Dominican Order

John Macías, OP (or Massias, born Juan de Arcas y Sánchez; 2 March 1585 – September 16, 1645), was a Spanish-born Dominican friar who evangelized in Peru in 1620. He was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI.

1535–1578 · Reformation · Society of Jesus

John Nelson (1535 – 3 February 1578) was an English Jesuit martyr who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I. Nelson was from Skelton, York. He was nearing 40 when he left for Douai in 1573 for training as a priest.

1579–1615 · Reformation · Society of Jesus

John Ogilvie, SJ (1580 – 10 March 1615) was a Scottish Jesuit priest. For his work in service to a persecuted Catholic community in 17th century Scotland, and in being hanged for his faith, he became the only post-Reformation Scottish saint.

1532–1582 · Reformation

John Payne (1532–1582) was an English Catholic priest and martyr, one of the Catholic Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. John Payne was born at Peterborough in 1532.

1501–1601 · Reformation

John Pibush (born at Thirsk, Yorkshire, England; died at St Thomas's Waterings, Camberwell, 18 February 1601) was an English Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929.

1636–1679 · Reformation

John Plessington (c. 1637 – 19 July 1679), also known as John Plesington, William Scarisbrick and William Pleasington, was an English Catholic priest who was executed by the English Crown for violating the ban on the presence of Catholic priests in the kingdom.

1570–1600 · Reformation

John Rigby (ca. 1570 – 21 June 1600) was an English Roman Catholic layman who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I. He is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

1469–1539 · Reformation · Franciscans

Giovanni Battista Righi (1469 – 11 March 1539) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member from the Order of Friars Minor. He was known for ascetic life and for his preaching and healing abilities.

1577–1610 · Reformation · Benedictines

John Roberts, OSB (1577 – 10 December 1610) was a Welsh Benedictine monk and priest, and was the first prior of St. Gregory's, Douai, France (now Downside Abbey). Returning to Britain as a missionary priest during the period of recusancy, he was martyred at Tyburn.

1588 · Reformation

John Roche (also known as John Neele or Neale) was a Catholic martyr, born in Ireland, who died in London, England on 30 August 1588. He helped Margaret Ward arrange the escape of Richard Watson from Bridewell Prison when the boatman she had originally asked to help her refused…

1498–1537 · Reformation · Carthusian Order

John Rochester (c. 1498–1537) was an English Carthusian choir monk and martyr. He was hanged at York for refusing to concede King Henry VIII's supremacy over the church.

1586 · Reformation

John Sandys (1550 or 1555 in Lancashire – 11 August 1586 executed at Gloucester) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987, and is commemorated on 11 August.

1576–1620 · Reformation

Jan Sarkander (Czech and Polish: Jan Sarkander) (20 December 1576 – 17 March 1620) was a Polish-Czech Roman Catholic priest. Sarkander was married for a short period of time before he became widowed and pursued a path to the priesthood where he became active in defence of Catholi…

1582 · Reformation

John Shert was an English Catholic priest and martyr, who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I. With the notable exceptions of the martyrdom of Cuthbert Mayne and several others the bloody persecution of Catholics under Queen Elizabeth I did not begin in earnest until mo…

1592–1654 · Reformation

John Southworth (c. 1592, Lancashire, England - 28 June 1654, Tyburn, London) was an English Catholic martyr. He is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. John Southworth came from a Lancashire family who lived at Samlesbury Hall.

1501–1594 · Reformation

John Speed (alias Spence) (executed at Durham, 4 February 1594) was an English Roman Catholic layman, condemned for aiding and abetting Catholic priests in their ministry. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929.

1540 · Reformation · Order of St. Augustine

John Stone, OSA was an English Augustinian friar who was executed, probably in December 1539; he was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI, and is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was a doctor of theology from Canterbury.

1510–1571 · Reformation

John Story (or Storey) (1504 – 1 June 1571) was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Member of Parliament. Story escaped to Flanders in 1563, but seven years later he was lured aboard a boat in Antwerp and abducted to England, where he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and s…

1558–1604 · Reformation

John Sugar or Suker (1558 – 16 July 1604) was an English Catholic priest killed by the English crown in 1604. He was beatified as a martyr in 1987. He matriculated at the University of Oxford from St.

1568–1616 · Reformation

John Thulis (also spelt Thules, Thewlis) (c. 1568 – 18 March 1616) was an English Roman Catholic priest. Beatified in 1987, he is one of the Douai Martyrs. Thulis was born at Up Holland, Lancashire, probably about 1568.

1620–1679 · Reformation · Franciscans

John Wall, (aliases John Marsh, Francis Johnson or Dormore or Webb, religious name "Joachim of St. Ann") (1620 – 22 August 1679) was an English Franciscan friar, who is honoured as a martyr by the Catholic Church.

1647–1693 · Reformation · Society of Jesus

John de Britto, SJ (also Brito; Portuguese: João de Brito; also known as Arul Anandar; 1 March 1647 – 4 February 1693) was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary and an evangelist, often called "the Portuguese St. Francis Xavier" by Indian Catholics.

1500–1572 · Reformation · Dominican Order

John of Cologne (Joannes van Hoornaar), was a friar and priest of the Dominican Order, born in the Electorate of Cologne, part of modern Germany. He later became a parish priest of Hoornaar, in the Spanish Netherlands.

1578–1597 · Reformation · Society of Jesus

Saint John Soan de Goto (Yohane Gotō), born in 1578 on one of the Goto Islands (Japan) and executed on February 5, 1597, in Nagasaki (Japan), was a Japanese Jesuit seminarian. Along with 25 other Christians, he was crucified in hatred of the Christian faith.

1615–1687 · Reformation · Order of Friars Minor

John of Jesus Hernández y Delgado (Spanish: fray Juan de Jesús; December 1615 – 6 February 1687) was a Spanish Friar Minor and mystic. The cause for his canonization has been submitted to the Holy See.

1540–1605 · Reformation

Saint John of Prislop (c. 1540 – c. 1605) left his parents' home to live in the monastic community of Prislop, eventually becoming its abbot. On March 20, 1585, he was elected Metropolitan of Transylvania.

1572–1636 · Reformation · Carmelites

John of St. Samson (1571–1636), also known as Jean du Moulin or Jean de Saint-Samson, was a French Carmelite friar and mystic of the Catholic Church. He is known as the soul of the Touraine Reform of the Carmelite Order, which stressed prayer, silence and solitude.

1499–1569 · Reformation

John of Ávila (Spanish: Juan de Ávila; 6 January 1499– 10 May 1569) was a Spanish priest, preacher, scholastic author, and religious mystic, who has been declared a saint and Doctor of the Church by the Catholic Church.

1581 · Reformation

John the Hairy (Russian: Иоанн Власатый, also known as John the Merciful of Rostov) was a holy fool (yurodivy) of the Russian Orthodox Church in the second half of the 16th century. He endured a great many trials in his lifetime.

1500 · Reformation

Venerable Joona was an Eastern Orthodox priest who died in 1480. He is buried at the Pskovo-Pechersky Dormition Monastery.

1580–1623 · Reformation

Josaphat Kuntsevych, OSBM (c. 1580 – 12 November 1623) was a Basilian hieromonk and archeparch of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Polotsk from 1618 to 1623.

1569–1592 · Reformation

Joseph Lambton (1569–1592) was an English Catholic priest. He is honoured as a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987. Member of a prominent Durham family, Joseph Lambton was the second son of Thomas Lambton of Malton-in-Rydale, Yorkshire, and Katharine, daughter of Robert Birkhead…

1440–1515 · Reformation

Joseph Volotsky (Russian: Ио́сиф Во́лоцкий; 1439 or 1440 – September 9, 1515), also known as Joseph of Volotsk or Joseph of Volokolamsk, born Ivan Sanin (Russian: Ива́н Са́нин), was a prominent Russian theologian and early proponent of tsarist autocracy.

1534–1597 · Reformation · Society of Jesus

José de Anchieta y Díaz de Clavijo, SJ (Joseph of Anchieta; 19 March 1534 – 9 June 1597) was a Spanish missionary to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the second half of the 16th century.

1556–1612 · Reformation · Order of Friars Minor Capuchin

Joseph of Leonessa, OFMCap, (Italian: Giuseppe da Leonessa) (1556 – February 4, 1612) was an Italian Capuchin friar and is a saint of the Catholic Church commemorated on February 4.

1500–1502 · Reformation

Jovan Branković was the titular Despot of Serbia from 1493 until his death in 1502. The title of despot was given to him by Hungarian king Vladislas II of Hungary. From 1493 to 1497 he held the title together with his elder brother Đorđe Branković, who was despot from 1486.