Welsh protestant martyr (1563 ? 1593)
This article is about the Welsh martyr. For information about the convicted killer, see
Johnny Paul Penry
.
John Penry
(1563 ? 29 May 1593) was executed for
high treason
during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I
. He is
Wales
' most famous
Protestant
Separatist
martyr
.
[1]
Early life
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Penry was born in
Brecknockshire
, Wales; Cefn Brith, a farm near
Llangammarch
, is traditionally recognised as his birthplace. His parents were Meredydd (Meredith) Penry and Eleanor (nee Godley). He matriculated at
Peterhouse, Cambridge
, in December 1580,
[2]
being then probably a
Roman Catholic
, but soon became a
Protestant
, with strong
Puritan
tendencies. Having graduated B.A., he moved to
St Alban Hall
, Oxford, and gained his M.A. in July 1586. He did not seek ordination, but was licensed as university preacher.
Career
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There is not much evidence for his preaching tours in Wales; they could only have been made during a few months of 1586 or the autumn of 1587. In 1562 an
act of Parliament
had made provision for translating the Bible into
Welsh
, and the
New Testament
was issued in 1567; but the number printed would barely supply a copy for each
parish church
. Indignant at this failure, Penry published early in 1587
The Æquity of an Humble Supplication
"in the behalf of the country of Wales, that some order may be taken for the preaching of the Gospel among those people". Archbishop
John Whitgift
, angry at the implied criticism, had him brought before the High Commission and imprisoned for about a month.
On his release Penry married a lady of
Northampton
and lived there for some years. With the assistance of Sir
Richard Knightley
, he set up a
printing press
, which for nearly a year from
Michaelmas
1588 was in active operation. It was successively located at
East Moulsey
(
Surrey
),
Fawsley
(
Northamptonshire
),
Coventry
and other places in Warwickshire, and finally at
Manchester
, where it was seized in August 1589. On it were printed Penry's
Exhortation to the governours and people of Wales, and View of... such publike wants and disorders as are in the service of God... in Wales
; as well as the celebrated
Martin Marprelate
tracts.
In January 1590, his house at Northampton was searched and his papers seized, but he succeeded in escaping to
Scotland
. There he published several tracts, as well as a translation of a learned theological work known as
Theses Genevenses
.
Return to England and death
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Returning to England in September 1592, he joined the separatist, or
Brownist
, congregation in
London
, in which he declined to take office, though after the arrest of ministers
Francis Johnson
and
John Greenwood
, he seems to have been the regular preacher. He was arrested in March 1593 following his recognition by the local vicar at
Ratcliff
and imprisoned in
Poultry Compter
while efforts were made to find some pretext for a capital charge.
Failing this a charge of
sedition
was based on the rough draft of a petition to Queen Elizabeth I that had been found among his private papers; the language was harsh and offensive, but had been neither presented nor published. He was convicted by the
Queen's Bench
on 21 May 1593, and hanged at
St Thomas-a-Watering
on 29 May at the unusual hour of 4 p.m.,
without being granted permission to see his wife, Eleanor, or their four young daughters, Deliverance, Comfort, Safety and Sure-Hope before his death.
[4]
The signature of his old enemy Whitgift was the first of those affixed to the death warrant.
Notes
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References
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External links
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