Margaret Clitheroe converted to Catholicism at a time when being a Catholic could mean death.
Margaret Clitheroe is an English saint who was executed for her refusal to give up the Roman Catholic religion. Born in 1556, she was the daughter of York residents Thomas and Jane Middleton and was brought up in a wealthy Protestant household. A few years after her marriage to Protestant John Clitheroe, Margaret converted to the Catholic faith and began to practise her new religion in enforced secrecy.
Catholic Life Under Queen Elizabeth I
Margaret’s new religious beliefs were strong and she joined a large group of believers in the town of York who celebrated the Mass in secret. The Roman Catholic religion remained strong in the North of England during the years of persecution and wealthy patrons would ensure that the faithful could celebrate Mass away from the authorities.
Margaret became known in the area for sheltering visiting priests and for holding religious services in her house. It was when she hired a Catholic tutor for her three children that her religious beliefs were to be officially discovered.
The Capture of Margaret Clitheroe
The childrens’ tutor, Mr Stapleton, was teaching a group of Catholic children at Margaret’s York home when the authorities stormed the building, looking for evidence against Margaret. The tutor managed to escape from a window and so all the soldiers who entered the house saw was a group of children working at their lessons.
Unfortunately, one of the children collapsed in fright under pressure from the questioning and gave away all the family’s secrets, including the location of a secret cupboard where bread, wine and vestments were hidden.
The three Clitheroe children were immediately taken to live with ardent Protestant families and Margaret was never to see them again. She was arrested, along with several of her servants, to face trial for promoting Catholicism.
Catholic Martyrdom
Margaret refused to enter a plea at her trial, stating that she had made no offence and so had no need of a trial. She may have been afraid to implicate her family and servants and refused to accept the possibility of others having to appear in court alongside her.
She was sentenced to death and was executed on 25 March 1586. Margaret suffered the terrible torture of being pressed to death under a heavy door, weighed down with stones.
Margaret may have died, but her strong faith inspired others long after she had gone. Her two sons became priests and her daughter a nun. Not far away, Mary Ward, the future leader of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, saw Margaret as an example of how the Catholic faith could be lived. Margaret was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 and her home on York’s Shambles can still be visited today.
