Carthusian Saints (PDF) - Charterhouse of the Transfiguration

On May 4, 1535, together with Richard Reynolds, a Bridgittine
priest, (2) and John Haile, a secular priest, they were dragged lying
bound on a “hurdle” (3) through the muddy streets of London to Tyburn,
the place for execution of criminals. These five were the very
first of the many Catholics to be martyred for the faith in sixteenth
and seventeenth century England. They were first hanged, then cut
down when still half alive, disemboweled and cut into four pieces, all
the while praying for their executioners.
After their holy deaths,
the question for the London
Carthusian community was:
shall we follow our holy
Prior? Some thought that
with some mental restriction
they could swear the oath of
supremacy “in order to save
our monastery”, but most of
the community took the
right decision. Seven cloister
monks and six brothers,
thirteen in all, suffered mar-
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