Robert Southwell

by abdo Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:25 pm

Robert
Southwell (Jesuit)

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Saint
Robert Southwell, S.J. (1561-1595). Illustration from the frontispiece of Saint
Peter's Complaint.

Sir Robert Southwell
(c. 1561 – 21 February 1595), also Saint Robert Southwell, was an [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] priest and
poet who worked as a missionary in post-Reformation England. He was hanged, drawn
and quartered at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and became a Catholic [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. He was born at Horsham
St. Faith in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Early life in England

Southwell, the youngest of
eight children, was brought up in a family of Catholic gentry. In 1576, he was
sent to the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], to become affiliated with
the Jesuit Missionaries. Upon arrival in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], he was actually admitted
to the College of Anchin, a French college associated with the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
At the end of the summer, however, his education was interrupted by the
movement of French and Spanish forces. Southwell was sent to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for greater safety as a
student of the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], under the tutelage of the
Jesuit Thomas
Darbyshire^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}.
He returned to Douai
on 15 June 1577. A
year later, he set off on foot to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
with the intention of joining the society of Jesus. A two-year [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] was required before
joining the society, however, and initially he was denied entry to the
training. He appealed the decision by sending a heartfelt, emotional letter to
the school^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}.
He bemoans the situation, writing: How can I but wast in anguish and agony
that find myself disjoined from that company severed from that Society,
disunited from that body wherein lyeth all my life my love my whole hart and
affection (Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Anglia 14, fol. 80, under date
1578).^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

His efforts succeeded as he
was admitted to the probation house of Sant’ Andrea on 17 October 1578 and in
1580 he joined the Society
of Jesus.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Immediately after the completion of the novitiate, Southwell began studies in philosophy
and theology at the Jesuit College in Rome.
During this time, he worked as a secretary to the rector and writings of his
are to be found amongst the school’s documents. Upon completion of his studies,
Southwell was admitted BA in 1584.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
In spite of his youth, he was made prefect of studies in the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] at Rome and was ordained
priest in 1584. He was appointed “repetitor” (tutor) at the English College
for two years before making prefect of studies.

It was in that year that an
act was passed forbidding any English-born subject of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], who had entered into
priests' orders in the Catholic Church since her accession, to remain in
England longer than forty days on pain of death^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}.
But Southwell, at his own request, was sent to England in 1586 as a Jesuit [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] with Henry
Garnett.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
He went from one Catholic family to another, administering the rites of his
Church, and in 1589 became domestic chaplain to Ann Howard, whose husband, the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], was in
prison convicted of treason^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}.
It was to him that Southwell addressed his Epistle of Comfort^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}.
This and other of his religious tracts, A Short Rule of Good Life, Triumphs
over Death, Mary Magdalen's Funeral Tears and a Humble
Supplication to Queen Elizabeth, were widely circulated in manuscript. Mary
Magdalen's Funeral Tears was published in 1591. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]'s imitation
of Mary Magdalen's Funeral Tears in Christ's Tears over Jerusalem
proves that the works received recognition outside of Catholic circles.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

Arrest and imprisonment

After six years of successful
labor, Southwell was arrested. He was in the habit of visiting the house of
Richard Bellamy, who lived near [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
and was under suspicion on account of his connection with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], who had
been executed for sharing in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. One of the
daughters, Anne Bellamy, was arrested and imprisoned in the gatehouse of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for being linked to the
situation. Having been interrogated and raped by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
the Queen's chief priest-hunter and torturer, she revealed Southwell's
movements and he was immediately arrested.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

He was imprisoned at first in
Topcliffe's house, where he was repeatedly put to the torture in the vain hope
of extracting evidence about other priests. He was transferred to the gatehouse
at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and when he was brought up for
examination after a month his clothes were covered with vermin. So abominable
was his treatment that his father petitioned Elizabeth that he might either be
brought to trial and put to death, if found guilty, or removed in any case from
that filthy hole.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}
Southwell was then lodged in the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and
allowed clothes and a bible and the works of St Bernard. His imprisonment
lasted for 3 years, during which period he was tortured on ten occasions.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

Trial and execution

In 1595 the Privy Council
passed a resolution for Southwell's prosecution on the charges of treason. He
was removed from the Tower to Newgate
prison, where he was put into a hole called Limbo.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

A few days later, Southwell
appeared before the Lord Chief Justice, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], at the bar of the King's
Bench. Popham made a speech against Jesuits and seminary priests. Southwell
was indicted before the jury as a traitor under the statutes prohibiting the
presence within the kingdom of priests ordained by Rome. Southwell admitted the facts but denied
that he had "entertained any designs or plots against the queen or
kingdom." His only purpose, he said, in returning to England had
been to administer the sacraments according to the rite of the Catholic Church
to such as desired them. When asked to enter a plea, he declared himself "not
guilty of any treason whatsoever," objecting to a jury being made
responsible for his death but allowing that he would be tried by God and
country.^{[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]}

As the evidence was pressed,
Southwell stated that he was the same age as "our Saviour." He
was immediately reproved by Topcliffe for insupportable pride in making the
comparison, but he said in response that he considered himself "a worm
of the earth." After a brief recess, the jury returned with the
predictable guilty verdict. The sentence of death was pronounced — [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
He was returned through the city streets to Newgate.

On the next day, 20 February
1595, Southwell was sent to Tyburn. Execution of sentence on a notorious
highwayman had been appointed for the same time, but at a different place —
perhaps to draw the crowds away — and yet many came to witness Southwell's
death. Having been dragged through the streets on a sled, he stood in the cart
beneath the gibbet and made the sign of the cross with his pinioned hands
before reciting a Bible passage from Romans xiv. The sheriff made to
interrupt him; but he was allowed to address the people at some length,
confessing that he was a Jesuit priest and praying for the salvation of Queen
and country. As the cart was drawn away, he commended his soul to God with the
words of the psalm in manus tuas. He hung in the noose for a brief time,
making the sign of the cross as best he could. As the executioner made to cut
him down, in preparation for bowelling him while still alive, Lord
Mountjoy and some other onlookers tugged at his legs to hasten his death.
His lifeless body was then bowelled and quartered. As his severed head was
displayed to the crowd, no one shouted the traditional "Traitor!"