Thomas Aufield
| Blessed Thomas Aufield | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1552 Gloucestershire |
| Died | 6 July 1585 Newgate, Tyburn |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 1929 |
| Feast | 6 July |
The Blessed Thomas Aufield (1552 – 6 July 1585), also called Thomas Alfield, was an English Roman Catholic martyr.[1] He was born in Gloucestershire and educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge.[2] He then converted to Roman Catholicism and in 1576 fled to the English College at Douai, France. He was ordained a priest in 1581 and returned to England to preach in secret. He seems to have mostly operated in the North, where he was arrested on 2 May 1582. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he was tortured and apostatised, returning to Protestantism.
He was released and repented, fleeing again to Douai to seek help in returning to Catholicism. He returned to England and was again arrested circulating Catholic texts and sent to the Tower, then transferred to Newgate. He was then tried, convicted and hanged at Tyburn alongside his assistant Thomas Webley, a reprieve arriving too late to save him. He was beatified in 1929. His feast day is 6 July, the date of his martyrdom.
[edit] References
 |
Wikisource has the text of the 1885–1900 Dictionary of National Biography's article about Thomas Aufield. |
- ^ Ven. Thomas Alfield - Catholic Encyclopedia article
- ^ Venn, J.; Venn, J. A., eds. (1922–1958). "Alfield or Awfyld, Thomas". Alumni Cantabrigienses (10 vols) (online ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- 1552 births
- 1585 deaths
- Converts to Roman Catholicism
- Old Etonians
- People from Gloucestershire
- Beatified people
- Catholic martyrs of the Early Modern era
- English Roman Catholic priests
- Clergy of the Tudor period
- People executed under the Tudors
- Executed English people
- Alumni of the English College, Douai
- English martyrs
- 16th-century English people
- People executed by hanging
