During the Tudor Period, it was incredibly dangerous to possess different religious beliefs
than the monarchy. It was a time of huge religious persecution and executions relating to religion
occurred throughout the whole of England. Mary I for example would burn hundreds of
Protestants at the stake, and many would be haunted by what they saw. But throughout the
reign of Elizabeth I, the persecution continued despite the Virgin Queen attempting to solve
the problem with religion. She continued to persecute Catholics, and this had began during
the reign in particular of her younger half brother Edward VI, and despite trying to reach
a settlement on religion, Catholics continued to feel hard done by and poorly treated. One
Jesuit priest who was barbarically executed during Elizabeth’s reign was Edmund Campion
who today is considered a martyr. He was brutally executed in London, but what is the story
of his hanging, drawing and quartering? Join us today as we look at the execution of Edmund
Campion, and remember as always to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Edmund Campion was the son of a bookseller and was born in January 1540 close to St Paul’s
cathedral. He received a decent education, and he was even selected to make a speech
to Mary I at the age of 13. He was took under his wing by William Chester, a governor of
Christ’s hospital, and he sponsored him to attend St John’s college in Oxford. He
worked towards a number of degrees and he became more senior there. He even welcomed
Elizabeth I to the university and she was said to have been fond of him. He earned the
favour also of William Cecil and also Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester however Campion
was ordained as a deacon of the Church of England which was more protestant at the time,
despite holding Catholic beliefs. There were rumours about his true beliefs, and he then
left Oxford to go to Ireland. He was warned that he could have been arrested for his religious
ideas, and he managed to escape Ireland to then France where he became a more prominent
Catholic priest and scholar. He felt free from his religious shackles, and he learned
at the English College before studying for another degree in France. Following this he
then travelled to Rome and he joined the Jesuits, a sect of the Catholic Church.
He became a novice accepted into the Society of Jesus, and was then sent on a number of
missions to try and convert others to the cause. He taught at the Jesuit college in
Prague for 6 years, and then in 1580 he was given a mission to England. His task was to
try and raise support for the jesuit cause in his homeland. But Campion came to England
disguised as a jewel merchant, and he came to London on the 24th June 1580. When he was
there, he was sought by heretic hunters and the authorities, but many inside of the prisons
in London knew he was back in England. Whilst back in London, he wrote arguments against
the Anglican Church, and his pamphlet which was published in latin was distributed inside
of London. But Campion was not hunted, and he was sought after heavily. He was labelled
as seditious and was viewed as a dangerous religious criminal.
He travelled through to Norfolk to evade capture, and he then stopped in Berkshire where he
preached on the 14th July. But here he was then arrested by a spy called George Eliot,
who took him back to London with his arms tied behind his back. It must have been humiliating
for him, and he was transported straight away to the Tower of London. Campion was suspected
also of being involved in a plot from Rome to assassinate Elizabeth and members of her
government. Jesuits were greatly feared across the country, and for this Campion was imprisoned
inside the most formidable prison. Inside the tower he was held for 4 days inside the
oubliette there, known as Little Ease. This was a tiny cell which was built into the wall
of the basement of the White tower. Here Campion would have been forced to crouch as the cell
was so small that he would not have been able to stand or sit.
This was psychological and physical torture, and he was taken out of the cell to be questioned
by 3 privy councillors including trusted members of the Queen’s court, Robert Dudley the
Earl of Leicester and Sir Christopher Hatton. They asked Campion if Elizabeth was the true
Queen of England, and during this he was even offered to become the Archbishop of Canterbury
as he won the 3 men over, but he said that he could not accept this in good faith, knowing
he was betraying his catholic beliefs and ideas. He was held at the Tower of London
for months on end, and was then tortured on the horrific torture device of the rack. This
device stretched him limb from limb, and would have physically broken Campion, however it’s
believed that he did not give too much up. There were false reports that he had confessed,
but he was suffering heavily from his torture and ordeal. He was taken to Westminster on
the 14th November 1581, where he was charged with conspiracy to dethrone Elizabeth I in
collusion with a plot sent by Rome.
The trial took place 6 days later, and after hearing evidence for 3 hours the jury gave
it’s verdict. Edmund Campion and others he was tried with were found guilty of treason.
Campion replied stating, ‘In condemning us, you condemn all your own ancestors, all
our ancient bishops and kings, all that was once the glory of England—the island of
saints, and the most devoted child of the See of Peter.’ The judge then gave the horrific
and damning death sentence to Campion. Lord Chief Justice Wray stated, ‘"You must go
to the place from whence you came, there to remain until ye shall be drawn through the
open city of London upon hurdles to the place of execution, and there be hanged and
let down alive, and your privy parts cut off, and your entrails taken out and burnt
in your sight; then your heads to be cut off and your bodies divided into four parts, to
be disposed of at Her Majesty’s pleasure. And God have mercy on your souls.’ He then
spent his last few days in prayer, and was also allegedly kept in chains for a number
of days.
On the 1st December 1581 at the age of 41, Edmund Campion was taken from the Tower of
London for his execution. He was strapped to a hurdle which was then dragged through
the streets of London by horses, and the crowds watched this on the streets of the capital.
They jeered and shouted abuse as he was taken to Tyburn, the infamous site of execution.
He was dragged with two other priests, Ralph Sherwin and Alexander Briant and when they
arrived at Tyburn a large crowd had gathered. The 3 priests were then led towards the scaffold.
He made a short speech on the scaffold, and he was then handed over to the executioner.
Whilst stood on a cart, the executioner attached a noose to his neck, and then this was driven
off and Campion was left dangling from the gallows. After this and shortly before he
succumbed to his death, he was cut down gasping for air, and he then had his intestines ripped
out and his private parts cut off and burned in front of him. Following this, he was beheaded
by the executioner, before he was then cut into four pieces. His death was one which
was a complete traitor’s death, and was one of the most harrowing executions one could
receive during the Tudor Period.
Edmund Campion was a well travelled and celebrated priest, who if he had possessed Protestant
beliefs rather than Catholic beliefs, he could have been one of the most important churchmen
in the whole of England. It was clear that he was a skilled preacher, and he was well
liked and he even impressed Elizabeth I early on in his career. But ultimately he gave himself
over to the Jesuit cause, and this caused him to be linked to a potential great Catholic
threat across the nation. He was just 41 when he was dragged to Tyburn and was brutally
executed, and today he’s considered a martyr of England. The rope which was used during
his execution is still kept inside a Catholic college, and this is an important relic of
the much celebrated, but also persecuted Edmund Campion.
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