Edmund Campion

Lore & Background

Edmund Campion was born in London on 25 January 1540, the son of a bookseller in Paternoster Row. He received his early education at Christ's Hospital school and, at age 13, was chosen to make the complimentary speech when Queen Mary visited the city in August 1553. William Chester sponsored him as a scholar to St John's College, Oxford, where he became junior fellow in 1557 and took the Oath of Supremacy, probably on the occasion of his B.A. degree in 1560. He took a master's degree at Oxford in 1564. Two years later, Campion welcomed Queen Elizabeth to the university and won her lasting regard; he was selected to lead a public debate in front of the Queen. By the time the Queen left Oxford, Campion had earned the patronage of William Cecil and the Earl of Leicester. When Sir Thomas White was buried in 1567, Campion gave the Latin oration. Campion began to question Anglican teachings and, at the persuasion of Richard Cheyney, Bishop of Gloucester, received Holy Orders in 1564 and was ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church. Rumours of his support of Catholic opinions spread, and he left Oxford in 1569 for Ireland. There he stayed with Richard Stanihurst and his father James Stanihurst, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. Warned of imminent arrest by Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney, he was transferred to the house of Christopher Barnewall at Turvey House in the Pale. For some three months he eluded pursuers, going by the name 'Mr Patrick' and writing A Historie of Ireland. In 1571, Campion escaped to Douai in the Low Countries, where he was reconciled to the Catholic Church and received the Eucharist for the first time in twelve years. He entered the English College founded by William Allen, taught rhetoric, and was granted a Bachelor of Divinity by the University of Douai on 21 January 1573. He then travelled to Rome on foot, alone and in the guise of a pilgrim, to join the Jesuits. In April 1573, he became the first novice accepted into the Society of Jesus by Mercurianus, the order's fourth Superior General. He began his two-year novitiate at Brünn in Moravia, was ordained deacon and priest by Antonín Brus, Archbishop of Prague, and said his first Mass on 8 September 1578. For six years, Campion taught at the Jesuit college in Prague as professor of rhetoric and philosophy. In 1578, his play Ambrosia was staged in Prague by students of the Jesuit College Clementinum. In 1580, the Jesuit mission to England began. The mission was strictly forbidden, according to Campion's Challenge to the Privy Council, 'to deal in any respects with matters of state or policy of this [English] realm...' Campion accompanied Robert Persons, who as superior was intended to counterbalance his own fervour. Campion entered England in the guise of a jewel merchant, arriving in London on 24 June 1580, and at once began to preach. His presence became known to authorities and to fellow Catholics held in London's prisons. A meeting in the Marshalsea prison led to Campion writing a brief declaration of the true causes of his coming, popularly known as the Challenge to the Privy Council, or Campion's Brag. For the next few years, he led a hunted life, administering sacraments and preaching to Catholics in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, and Lancashire. During this time he wrote Decem Rationes ('Ten Reasons'), arguments against the validity of the Anglican Church. This pamphlet, written in Latin, was printed at a clandestine press at Stonor Park, Henley, and 400 copies were found on the benches of St Mary's, Oxford, at the Commencement on 27 June 1581. On his way to Norfolk, he stopped at Lyford Grange, the house of Francis Yate in Berkshire, where he preached on 14 July and the following day. Here he was betrayed by a spy named George Eliot, who had pretended to be a Catholic. After being captured, Campion was taken to London with his arms pinioned and bearing on his hat a piece of paper with the inscription 'Campion, the Seditious Jesuit'. Imprisoned for four days in the Tower of London in a tiny cell called 'Little Ease', Campion was then questioned by three Privy Councillors—Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas Bromley, Vice-Chamberlain Sir Christopher Hatton, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester—on matters including whether he acknowledged Queen Elizabeth to be the true Queen of England. He replied that he did, and was offered his freedom, wealth and honours, including the Archbishopric of Canterbury, which he could not accept in good conscience. Campion was imprisoned in the Tower more than four months and tortured on the rack two or three times. He had four public disputations with his Anglican adversaries, on 1, 18, 23 and 27 September 1581, at which they attempted to address the challenges of his Challenge to the Privy Council and Decem Rationes. Although still suffering from torture and allowed neither time nor books for preparation, he reportedly conducted himself so easily that 'even the spectators in the court looked for an acquittal'. He was arraigned and indicted on 14 November 1581 with several others at Westminster on a charge of having conspired, in Rome and Reims, to raise a sedition in the realm and dethrone the Queen. The trial was held on 20 November 1581. After hearing pleadings for three hours, the jury deliberated an hour before delivering its verdict: Campion and his fellow defendants were found guilty of treason. He answered the verdict: '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.' Lord Chief Justice Wray read the sentence: '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.' On hearing the death sentence, Campion and the other condemned men broke into the words of the Te Deum. After spending his last days in prayer, he was dragged with two fellow priests, Ralph Sherwin and Alexander Briant, to Tyburn where the three were hanged, drawn and quartered on 1 December 1581. Campion was 41 years of age.

Reader's Guide

Edmund Campion's significance lies in his role as a Jesuit missionary during a period of religious conflict in England. His underground ministry and writings, particularly the Decem Rationes and the Challenge to the Privy Council, articulated Catholic opposition to the Anglican settlement. His capture, trial, and execution became a cause célèbre, highlighting the tensions between the English crown and the Catholic Church. Campion's legacy was later recognized by the Catholic Church through beatification by Pope Leo XIII on 9 December 1886 and canonization by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. His feast day is celebrated on 1 December. The historical record notes that his mission was strictly forbidden to deal with matters of state, though his activities were perceived as treasonous by the authorities. His life and death continue to be studied as an example of religious conviction and martyrdom in the Elizabethan era.

Did You Know?

• At age 13, Campion was chosen to make the complimentary speech when Queen Mary visited London in August 1553.
• Campion was the first novice accepted into the Society of Jesus by Mercurianus, the order's fourth Superior General, in April 1573.
• His play Ambrosia was staged in Prague in 1578 by students of the Jesuit College Clementinum.
• 400 copies of his pamphlet Decem Rationes were found on the benches of St Mary's, Oxford, at the Commencement on 27 June 1581.
• After his capture, Campion was taken to London with a paper on his hat reading 'Campion, the Seditious Jesuit'.