Elizabeth Barton: Difference between revisions
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==Life== |
==Life== |
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Little is known of Barton's early life. She appears to have come from a poor background: she was working as a servant when her [[vision (spirituality)|vision]]s began in 1525. |
Little is known of Barton's early life. Elizabeth Barton was born in 1506 in the parish of Aldington, about twelve miles from Canterbury.<ref name=hamilton>[http://archive.org/stream/theangelofsyonth00hamiuoft#page/26/mode/2up Hamilton O. S. B., Adam. ''The Angel of Syon, The Life and Martyrdom of Blessed Richard Reynolds'', Sands & Co., London, 1905]</ref> She appears to have come from a poor background: she was working as a servant when her [[vision (spirituality)|vision]]s began in 1525. At the age of eighteen, while working as a domestic servant in the household of Thomas Cobb, a farmer of Aldington, she suffered from a severe unknown illness and claimed to have received divine revelations. These either predicted future events (such as the death of a child living in her household) or, more frequently, took the form of pleas for people to remain in the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. She also urged people to pray to the [[Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)|Blessed Virgin Mary]] and to undertake [[pilgrimage]]s. Thousands believed |
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in her prophecies, even before the controversy surrounding [[Henry VIII]]; [[Archbishop]] |
in her prophecies, even before the controversy surrounding [[Henry VIII]]; [[Archbishop]] |
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[[William Warham]] and [[Bishop]] [[John Fisher]] attested to her pious life.<ref>A Popular History of the Reformation, p.177, Philip Hughes, 1957</ref> |
[[William Warham]] and [[Bishop]] [[John Fisher]] attested to her pious life.<ref>A Popular History of the Reformation, p.177, Philip Hughes, 1957</ref> |
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Some events she seemed to have foretold coming to pass, and her reputation spreading, the parish priest, Richard Masters, referred the matter to Archbishop Warham. Warham appointed a commission to ensure that nothing of her communications was at variance with Catholic teaching. The commission deciding favorably, Warham then arranged for Barton to be received in the Benedictine priory of St. Sepulchre at Canterbury.<ref name=hamilton/> |
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| ⚫ | She rapidly became extremely popular among all classes: both the masses and members of the élite. She held a private meeting in 1528 with [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Thomas Wolsey]], the most powerful man in England after the king, and shortly thereafter met twice with the king himself. Barton was accepted by Henry because her prophecies did not then challenge the existing order and also explicitly upheld it as God's will. The prophecies warned against heresy when Henry was trying to exterminate [[Lutheranism]], condemned [[rebellion]] when Henry had so many enemies and was paranoid of being overthrown and killed, and urged people to be very devout when Henry was the same way. |
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| ⚫ | Henry turned against her when he wanted to obtain an [[annulment]] of his marriage to [[Catherine of Aragon]] and sought to seize control of the [[Church of England]] from Rome. Barton strongly opposed the [[English Reformation]] and, around 1532, began prophesying that if Henry remarried, he would die shortly thereafter. She said that she had also seen the exact place in [[Hell]] where he would go. (In fact, he lived for another 15 years.) Remarkably, Barton went unpunished for nearly a year, largely, it appears, because she was more popular than the King among both very rich and very poor. Since she had only talked and not done anything treasonous, Henry had to pass an [[attainder]], an Act of Parliament that could, without trial, punish actions done when they were legal. Henry's agents spread rumours that she was engaged in sexual relationships with priests and that she suffered from [[mental illness]]. |
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| ⚫ | Henry turned against her when he wanted to obtain an [[annulment]] of his marriage to [[Catherine of Aragon]] and sought to seize control of the [[Church of England]] from Rome. Barton strongly opposed the [[English Reformation]] and, around 1532, began prophesying that if Henry remarried, he would die shortly thereafter. She said that she had also seen the exact place in [[Hell]] where he would go. (In fact, he lived for another 15 years.) Remarkably, Barton went unpunished for nearly a year, largely, it appears, because she was more popular than the King among both very rich and very poor. Since she had only talked and not done anything treasonous, Henry had to pass an [[attainder]], an Act of Parliament that could, without trial, punish actions done when they were legal. Henry's agents spread rumours that she was engaged in sexual relationships with priests and that she suffered from [[mental illness]]. Many prophecies, as [[Thomas More]] thought, were fictitiously attributed to her.<ref name=hamilton/> |
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Her reputation thus undermined, the Crown was then able to arrest Barton in 1533 and forced her to confess that she had fabricated her revelations.<ref name= "catholic" /> However, all that is known regarding her confession emanates from [[Thomas Cromwell]] or his agents, and all available documents are on the Crown's side. Furthermore, she and her companions were condemned without a hearing. She, along with five of her chief supporters, four of whom were priests, were executed for [[treason]] and hanged at the [[Tyburn]] gallows.<ref name="catholic"/> She was buried at [[Greyfriars, London|Greyfriars Church]] in [[Newgate|Newgate Street]] but her head was put on a spike on London Bridge, the only woman in the history of the bridge to have that dishonour. |
Her reputation thus undermined, the Crown was then able to arrest Barton in 1533 and forced her to confess that she had fabricated her revelations.<ref name= "catholic" /> However, all that is known regarding her confession emanates from [[Thomas Cromwell]] or his agents, and all available documents are on the Crown's side. Furthermore, she and her companions were condemned without a hearing. She, along with five of her chief supporters, four of whom were priests, were executed for [[treason]] and hanged at the [[Tyburn]] gallows.<ref name="catholic"/> She was buried at [[Greyfriars, London|Greyfriars Church]] in [[Newgate|Newgate Street]] but her head was put on a spike on London Bridge, the only woman in the history of the bridge to have that dishonour. |
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Revision as of 20:28, 27 May 2013
Sister Elizabeth Barton (1506? – 20 April 1534), known as "The Nun of Kent", "The Holy Maid of London", "The Holy Maid of Kent" and later "The Mad Maid of Kent", was an English Catholic nun. She was executed as a result of her prophecies against the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn.[1]
Life
Little is known of Barton's early life. Elizabeth Barton was born in 1506 in the parish of Aldington, about twelve miles from Canterbury.[2] She appears to have come from a poor background: she was working as a servant when her visions began in 1525. At the age of eighteen, while working as a domestic servant in the household of Thomas Cobb, a farmer of Aldington, she suffered from a severe unknown illness and claimed to have received divine revelations. These either predicted future events (such as the death of a child living in her household) or, more frequently, took the form of pleas for people to remain in the Roman Catholic Church. She also urged people to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to undertake pilgrimages. Thousands believed in her prophecies, even before the controversy surrounding Henry VIII; Archbishop William Warham and Bishop John Fisher attested to her pious life.[3]
Some events she seemed to have foretold coming to pass, and her reputation spreading, the parish priest, Richard Masters, referred the matter to Archbishop Warham. Warham appointed a commission to ensure that nothing of her communications was at variance with Catholic teaching. The commission deciding favorably, Warham then arranged for Barton to be received in the Benedictine priory of St. Sepulchre at Canterbury.[2]
She rapidly became extremely popular among all classes: both the masses and members of the élite. She held a private meeting in 1528 with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the most powerful man in England after the king, and shortly thereafter met twice with the king himself. Barton was accepted by Henry because her prophecies did not then challenge the existing order and also explicitly upheld it as God's will. The prophecies warned against heresy when Henry was trying to exterminate Lutheranism, condemned rebellion when Henry had so many enemies and was paranoid of being overthrown and killed, and urged people to be very devout when Henry was the same way.
Henry turned against her when he wanted to obtain an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and sought to seize control of the Church of England from Rome. Barton strongly opposed the English Reformation and, around 1532, began prophesying that if Henry remarried, he would die shortly thereafter. She said that she had also seen the exact place in Hell where he would go. (In fact, he lived for another 15 years.) Remarkably, Barton went unpunished for nearly a year, largely, it appears, because she was more popular than the King among both very rich and very poor. Since she had only talked and not done anything treasonous, Henry had to pass an attainder, an Act of Parliament that could, without trial, punish actions done when they were legal. Henry's agents spread rumours that she was engaged in sexual relationships with priests and that she suffered from mental illness. Many prophecies, as Thomas More thought, were fictitiously attributed to her.[2]
Her reputation thus undermined, the Crown was then able to arrest Barton in 1533 and forced her to confess that she had fabricated her revelations.[1] However, all that is known regarding her confession emanates from Thomas Cromwell or his agents, and all available documents are on the Crown's side. Furthermore, she and her companions were condemned without a hearing. She, along with five of her chief supporters, four of whom were priests, were executed for treason and hanged at the Tyburn gallows.[1] She was buried at Greyfriars Church in Newgate Street but her head was put on a spike on London Bridge, the only woman in the history of the bridge to have that dishonour.
Legacy
Churches such as the Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury[4] and the Nephite Church of Christ[5] continue to venerate Sister Barton.
The case of Elizabeth Barton is dealt with extensively in the 2009 historical novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Elizabeth Barton" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 18 Feb. 2013
- ^ a b c Hamilton O. S. B., Adam. The Angel of Syon, The Life and Martyrdom of Blessed Richard Reynolds, Sands & Co., London, 1905
- ^ A Popular History of the Reformation, p.177, Philip Hughes, 1957
- ^ Church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Anglican Catholic, 2009–10, retrieved 22 June 2010
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|year=(help). - ^ Wray, Kristopher S (2010), The Nephite Order: The Code of Doctrine & Discipline of the Nephite Church of Christ, Orem, Utah: The Association for Mormon Letters, retrieved 1 July 2010
{{citation}}: External link in|publisher=
Bibliography
- McKee, John (1925), Dame Elizabeth Barton OSB, the Holy Maid of Kent, London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne.
- Neame, Alan (1971), The Holy Maid of Kent: The Life of Elizabeth Barton: 1506–1534, London: Hodder and Stoughton, ISBN 0-340-02574-3.
- Shagan, Ethan H (2003), "Chapter 2: The Anatomy of opposition in early Reformation England; the case of Elizabeth Barton, the holy maid of Kent", Popular Politics in the English Reformation, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 61–88.
- Watt, Diane (1997), Secretaries of God, Cambridge, UK: DS Brewer.
External links
- Watt, Diane, "Barton, Elizabeth (c. 1506–1534)", Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1598.
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- Use dmy dates from July 2012
- 1500s births
- 1534 deaths
- 16th-century English people
- 16th-century nuns
- 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs
- English Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns
- English people executed by hanging
- Executed English women
- People executed by the Kingdom of England by hanging
- People executed under Henry VIII of England
- People executed under the Tudors for treason against England
- Women of the Tudor period