Saint Robert Southwell

Life story

Robert was born around 1561 at Horsham St Faith in Norfolk. In 1576 he was sent to the English college at Douai. On 17 October 1578 he was admitted to the Jesuit probation house of Sant'Andrea in Rome and became a Jesuit in 1580. He was ordained a priest in 1584.

In 1586 he returned to England as a Jesuit missionary with Henry Garnet. He wrote a good deal, including Mary Magdalen's Funeral Tears (published 1591), Saint Peter's Complaint (with other poems, published after his death), Epistle of Comfort, A Short Rule of Good Life, Triumphs over Death and Humble Supplication to Queen Elizabeth.

He was arrested in 1592 at Uxendon Hall, Harrow, and held at Topcliffe's house, then the Gatehouse and finally the Tower of London, for about three years in all. In 1595 he was convicted of treason under the statute of 1585, which made it treason to be a Catholic priest in England. He was executed at Tyburn, London, on 21 February 1595. He was beatified on 15 December 1929 and canonised by Pope Paul VI on 25 October 1970 among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. His feast is 21 February.

Works and witness

• Studied at Douai from 1576; entered the Jesuit probation house in 1578, Jesuit in 1580
• Ordained a priest in 1584
• Returned to England in 1586 with Henry Garnet
• Wrote Saint Peter's Complaint and other works
• Executed at Tyburn on 21 February 1595

Saints from the same country

Saint Thomas Becket, Saint Thomas More, Saint Carlo Acutis, Saint Bede the Venerable

References

• Poetry Foundation, "Robert Southwell SJ" (poetryfoundation.org)
• Jesuits in Britain, "Jesuit figures through history" (jesuit.org.uk)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.