A Little Book of English Saints

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It is surprising to learn that St George was not the first patron saint of England. That honour was originally held by St Edmund, or Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia in the 9th century AD.

Gaelic scribe-priest known only from the 9th-century work of a monk named Æthelwulf, De Abbatibus [37] The Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation are men and women executed under treason legislation in the English Reformation, between 1534 and 1680, and recognised as martyrs by the Catholic Church. Though consequences of the English Reformation were felt in Ireland and Scotland as well, this article only covers those who died in the Kingdom of England.a b c d e f Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 303. William Coker, William Hopper, Henry Laurence, Richard Colliar, Richard Wright, and William Stere. Exclassics.com. Retrieved 19 May 2013. a b c d "Foxe's Book of Martyrs – 312. Robert Glover, Gentleman, and John and William Glover, his brothers". Exclassics.com . Retrieved 1 September 2012.

The following have been identified as heroes of the Christian Church in the Anglican Communion (post-Reformation individuals commemorated in the Church of England Calendar, [4] excluding those primarily venerated by the Roman Catholic or Orthodox churches): Venerated throughout the Middle Ages in Devon, she has been linked with the 6th Cornish anchoress Sitofolla, sister of Paul Aurelian [36] Malcolm Pullan (2008). The Lives and Times of Forty Martyrs of England and Wales 1535–1680. Athena Press. pp.xvii–xxii. ISBN 978-1-84748-258-7. a b c Alexander Gordon, 'Hamont, Matthew (d. 1579)', rev. Stephen Wright, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 25 Aug 2014 Up until recently England and Wales could claim one of the largest groups of martyrs officially recognised by the Church, at least since ancient times. This has been recently challenged by the martyrs of the 20th century – those who suffered in Mexico, Spain, Nazi Germany and the Soviet bloc. In many ways these modern persecutions were even more horrific and intense than those of Elizabethan and Stuart England. But martyrdom is not something we can measure quantitatively. Every single martyrdom is a miracle of grace; by definition, every single martyr is a witness to the Good News.

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Blessed Nicholas Postgate, on the other hand, was aged 80 at the time of his martyrdom. He lived for many years in a simple thatched cottage near Ugthorpe in Yorkshire and was known as ‘the Good Samaritan of the Moors’. He posed as a gardener and travelled long distances caring for local Catholics. It is said that he planted wild daffodils to commemorate his sacramental ministry and these can still be seen in the Esk Valley. He was finally arrested while celebrating a baptism and martyred on 7 August 1679, one of the last of the English Martyrs Saints who had been canonized when the Church of England was in communion with Rome generally continued to be recognized as saints after the English Reformation in the 16th century. [1] Susan Wabuda, 'Latimer, Hugh (c. 1485–1555)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 accessed 27 June 2013 a b c Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 388. Richard Sharp, Thomas Benion, and Thomas Hale. Exclassics.com. Retrieved 31 May 2013