Robert Wilcox (martyr)
Encyclopedia
Blessed Robert Wilcox was a Catholic martyr in Elizabethan England. He was born in Chester, England in 1558 and entered the seminary at Rheims when he was twenty-five years old. He was ordained on 20 April 1585 and was sent to England with other priests seeking to expand the Catholic faith and deal with the country's expanding Protestantism under Queen Elizabeth I on 7 January 1586,. Wilcox arrived in England on 7 June 1586 but was arrested almost immediately at Lydd in Kent, near to where he entered the country. As a captive, he was sent to the Marshalsea
prison where he was examined on 15 August 1588. Here he admitted he was a Catholic priest and was sent for trial with the others to Canterbury, England.
Wilcox is known as one of the Oaten Hill Martyrs
, as he was one of four Catholic clergy and laymen were martyred at Oaten Hill, Canterbury on 1 October 1588. With him suffered two other priests, Christopher Buxton
and Gerard Edwards
(arrested under the name of Edward Campion), and a layman, Robert Widmerpool
. Wilcox was the first of the four to be executed by hanging, drawing and quartering. It is recorded that he told his companions to be of good heart. He was going to heaven before them, where he would carry the tidings of their coming after him.
Wilcox was beatified by Pope Pius XI
in 1929. He shares the feast day of 1 October with the Blessed Robert Widmerpool.
Marshalsea
The Marshalsea was a prison on the south bank of the River Thames in Southwark, now part of London. From the 14th century until it closed in 1842, it housed men under court martial for crimes at sea, including those accused of "unnatural crimes", political figures and intellectuals accused of...
prison where he was examined on 15 August 1588. Here he admitted he was a Catholic priest and was sent for trial with the others to Canterbury, England.
Wilcox is known as one of the Oaten Hill Martyrs
Oaten Hill Martyrs
The Oaten Hill Martyrs were Catholic Martyrs who were executed at Oaten Hill, Canterbury, on 1 October 1588. These four were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929.* Robert Wilcox* Edward Campion * Robert Widmerpool* Christopher Buxton...
, as he was one of four Catholic clergy and laymen were martyred at Oaten Hill, Canterbury on 1 October 1588. With him suffered two other priests, Christopher Buxton
Christopher Buxton
Christopher Buxton was an English Catholic priest and martyr.He was a scholar of Nicholas Garlick at the Grammar School, Tideswell, in the Peak District, studied for the priesthood at Reims and Rome, and was ordained in 1586...
and Gerard Edwards
Edward Campion
Edward Campion was the pseudonym of Father Gerard Edwards. Campion was one of the Oaten Hill Martyrs executed on 1 October 1588 and beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929.-References:*http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3050...
(arrested under the name of Edward Campion), and a layman, Robert Widmerpool
Robert Widmerpool
Blessed Robert Widmerpool, an English martyr, was arrested for giving aid to a Catholic priest. Widmerpool and his companion, Robert Wilcox were hanged, drawn and quartered. They share the feast day of 1 October....
. Wilcox was the first of the four to be executed by hanging, drawing and quartering. It is recorded that he told his companions to be of good heart. He was going to heaven before them, where he would carry the tidings of their coming after him.
Wilcox was beatified by Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
in 1929. He shares the feast day of 1 October with the Blessed Robert Widmerpool.