![[Blessed John stained glass window]](http://saints.sqpn.com/saintja9.jpg "22kb jpg photograph of the stained glass window of Blessed John at Saint Meinrad Abbey, Saint Meinrad, Indiana; much thanks to Novice Shawn Henderson; pray for Shawn's vocation and novitiate")
Also known as
- Thomas Marshall
Profile
Benedictine monk. Doctor of Divinity from Oxford in 1515. Abbot of Saint Werburgh abbey, Chester, England. Abbot of Saint John’s abbey, Colchester, England on 10 June 1530. Friend of Saint John Fisher and Saint John More. Initially opposed King Henry VIII‘s presumption of supremacy in spiritual matters, but he and sixteen of his monks took take the Oath of Supremacy on 7 July 1534. When his abbey was dissolved in November 1538, he denied the king‘s right to do so, and refused to surrender the keys. For his belated defense of the abbey, he was charged with treason, and lodged in the Tower of London. Released and re-arrested, he was tried by a special commission in Colchester in November 1539. He stood by the supremacy of the Church in matters spiritual, and the right of the Church to manage its own affairs. Martyr. Venerated in the dioceses of Westminster and Brentwood, and by the English Benedictines.
Born
- hanged, drawn, and quartered on 1 December 1539 at Colchester, England
- if you have information relevant to the canonization of Blessed John, contact
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
39 Eccleston Square
London SW1V 1BX, UNITED KINGDOM
Additional Information
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- Catholic Online
- Kirken i Norge
- For All The Saints,
- New Catholic Dictionary
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
MLA Citation