One of the most barbaric and brutal executions of the Tudor Period, saw a woman lying on
a bridge in York being pressed to death in front of a number of people.
The execution of Margaret Clitherow was even commented on by the Queen Elizabeth I, who
denounced her killing and was struck by horror at the brutality she suffered.
There were rumours at the time that she was pregnant, and after her horrific execution,
she was made a saint in the Church.
But what is the story of one of the Tudor period’s most shocking and barbaric executions?
Join us today as we look at the execution of Margaret Clitherow, the Pearl of York and
remember to support our channel please make sure to subscribe.
The English Reformation changed religion across the country for centuries.
Henry VIII broke from the Roman Catholic Church after being forced to as the Pope would not
grant his divorce.
Scholars would advise the King that he should not have to answer to anyone in matters regarding
his kingdom, and Henry decided to go through with the change.
He became the Supreme Head of the Church of England, and with this it ushered in a great
time of turmoil with regards to religion, as subsequent monarchs would bring in a number
of religious reforms that would leave people confused and liable to punishment.
Henry VIII for example even executed some of his closest friends such as Thomas More
for not accepting his supremacy over the church, and Mary I for example would change the religion
of the country from the flourishing Protestantism under Henry and Edward VI back to catholicism,
leaving people shocked not knowing what to believe, or how to worship.
It was in this era of religious persecution that Margaret Clitherow a normal woman inside
of York would be sentenced to death.
Margaret Clitherow was born in 1556, and was the daughter of the Sheriff of York and the
Churchwarden of St Martin’s Church found on Coney Street in the city.
The church is still there today, but as a young girl, Margaret was protestant, but in
the 1570s she became converted to Catholicism by the wife of a prominent York catholic doctor.
Around the time of her conversion, Margaret married John Clitherow, who was a very known
figure inside of york.
John was a popular butcher, who owned a shop inside the heart of the city, on the historic
street of the shambles.
Each day hundreds of people would walk by his shop, and he had a number of different
customers, so the clitherows were a feature of York city life.
Despite being a butcher, John Clitherow was also responsible for reporting Catholic worshippers
to the authorities as part of Elizabeth I’s religious settlement.
For Elizabeth I, she needed to bring in a form of compromise with regards to religious
worship, and she hoped to bring a fair solution for both Protestants and Catholics, but her
ideas did little to cure the animosity.
The Queen herself would be subject to a number of different plots wrapped in religion that
would hope to bring about her death and overthrow from the throne, in favour of the Catholic
Mary Queen of Scots.
The 1570s and 80s were in particular very dangerous for her, and she had a spy network
set up to uncover different plots and plans against her.
John Clitherow was trusted with reporting Catholic worshippers, and they were in particular
persecuted and treated poorly at the time.
He would have known about his wife Margaret’s briefs and this would have stressed the couple
out.
John was in charge of telling on Catholics, yet he was married to one.
Margaret began to take things further, and she became a recusant who refused to attend
church services, which was considered a great crime at the tme.
Te punishment for this was a number of fines, and Margaret’s husband John would have to
pay the financial penalty of 12 pence for his wives indiscretions and refusals to attend
Church of England services.
Margaret CLitherow was first impriosned in 1577 for refusal to attend, and then was imprisoned
twice more at York Castle for the same crime.
She was a persistent offender, and her final imprisonment was for around 2 years.
Whilst in prison, she learned how to read latin so she could deliver Latin mass, which
was at the time banned in the settlement.
Margaret also found out about a number of persecutions of Catholics across England,
and she was moved by this.
She decided to go on pilgrimage to the gallows of Tyburn, where a number of Catholic priests
were hanged for their beliefs.
It was clear as time was continuing, Margaret clitherow was becoming more ardent catholic.
She had escaped death a number of times for her religious views, and many catholics across
the country were fleeing to Europe or were being sentenced to death and were being imprisoned
for their beliefs.
But Margaret went further still.
She became involved in hiding and shielding Catholic priests and key catholic figures.
This was a crime which was punishable by death, and during this time many noble families had
priest holes built into houses where priests could be hidden if the authorities came.
Many of these can still be seen today, and this was a rather effective way of hiding
underground catholic worship, in which suspicion wasn’t aroused if the wealthier family had
enough money to shield catholic priests.
Clitherow though began to shield priests not in wealthy stately homes or castles, but inside
of her own home on the shambles, the bustling heart of the city go York.
Her husband remember was tasked with telling on Catholics, but under his nose, she made
a secret hidden wall in her home on the Shambles using a secret cupboard.
Here she hid priests vestments and wine and bread for Catholic mass, which were also banned
under the religious settlement.
If someone was found hiding these, they could also be sentenced to death.
But unfortunately for Margaret, a young boy who found these items gave up the location
to authorities, and in March 1586, the Clitherow home was raided.
It was said that Margaret also had two other chambers where she hid items, and that she
rented a house nearby where priests were also hidden.
She was arrested for harbouring Catholic officials, and the sentence of this crime was sometimes
death.
Margaret was brought to trial and was brought to the York Assize courts.
At trial she refused to give over an innocent or guilty pleas, and this prevented a trial
taking place, but also prevented her 3 children from being implicated and being forced to
testify either for her or against her.
By doing this, she protected her children from torture or being forced to speak out
against their mother, and the judge tried desperately to get a pleas from her, but Margaret
continued to refuse.
She claimed that she had committed no such crime, and that Catholicism was the true religion,
and that she wished to become a Catholic Martyr rather than to conform to Protestantism and
the new Church of England teachings.
She was very brave, and had made up her mind, and she made sure her friends and husband
were not implicated in her actions.
But what happened next was incredibly brutal for Margaret Clitherow.
At the time of her death, it’s claimed that she was infact pregnant with her fourth child.
She was led to her death and execution on the 25th March 1586, and her method of execution
was pressing.
It was incredibly savage, and she was taken to the toll booth on the Ouse Bridge.
Along with Clitherow, her own from door was Brought, and she would be crushed to death
by this, in an attempt to force a plea.
Margaret, who it’s believed was pregnant, was stripped and then forced to lie over a
sharp rock the size of a mans fist which jabbed into her spine and her back.
A handkerchief was placed over her head, and then her heavy front door was placed ontop
of her.
Over time, the weight of around 900 pounds was added to the door, which with the rock
on her spine, caused her back to snap, breaking her spine.
This was incredibly brutal, and with this it took 15 minutes of complete agony for Margaret
Clitherow to die whilst the people of york watched her slow last gasps.
She would have been screaming such was the agony, and her body was then disgustingly
left out for 6 hours before the weight was taken off, with her remains being a mangled
state.
After her shocking death, one of her children would leave England to train as a Catholic
priest and a missionary, but the death of Margaret Clitherow shocked even Queen.
Elizabeth I. With her execution, the Queen condemned those who had carried out her awful
fate, and blamed the fact she was a woman for her barbaric treatment.
She claimed it should never have happened, but it was her religious rules that brought
about this sort of persecution.
Her death shows how savage and dangerous of a time it was during the Elizabeth period
and also the Tudor Period with regards to religion.
To follow a different belief from those set by the monarchy could result in someone being
executed.
Clitherow wasn’t alone, there were thousands of people burned at the stake, beheaded and
killed in other brutal ways for their religious beliefs.
It certainly was a very brutal and dangerous time.
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