Edmund Sykes
Encyclopedia
Edmund Sykes was an English Roman Catholic priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987.
, where he was ordained 21 February 1581. He was sent to the English Mission on 5 June following.
Working in Yorkshire
, his health broke down. Arthur Webster, an apostate Catholic, took advantage of his illness to betray him, and he was committed to the York Kidcot by the Council of the North
. He consented once to be present at a Protestant service; but he refused to repeat the act and remained a prisoner.
After confinement for about six months, he was again brought before the Council and sentenced to banishment. On 23 August 1585, he was transferred to Hull Castle
, and within a week shipped beyond the seas. He made his way to Rome, where he was entertained at the English College, for nine days from 15 April 1586. He wanted to atone for his lapse by the pilgrimage, and he also entertained some thoughts of entering a religious order. He decided that it was God's will that he should return to the English mission, and reaching Reims on 10 June, he left again for England on the 16th.
After about six months he was betrayed by his brother, to whose house in Wath
he had resorted, and was sent a close prisoner to York Castle by the Council. He was arraigned at the Lent Assizes, condemned as a traitor on the score of his priesthood, and on 23 March 1587 was drawn on the hurdle from the castle yard to York Tyburn, where he suffered the death penalty.
Life
He was a student at the College at ReimsReims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
, where he was ordained 21 February 1581. He was sent to the English Mission on 5 June following.
Working in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, his health broke down. Arthur Webster, an apostate Catholic, took advantage of his illness to betray him, and he was committed to the York Kidcot by the Council of the North
Council of the North
The Council of the North was an administrative body originally set up in 1484 by king Richard III of England, the third and last Yorkist monarch to hold the Crown of England; its intention was to improve government control and economic prosperity, to benefit the entire area of Northern England...
. He consented once to be present at a Protestant service; but he refused to repeat the act and remained a prisoner.
After confinement for about six months, he was again brought before the Council and sentenced to banishment. On 23 August 1585, he was transferred to Hull Castle
Hull Castle
Hull Castle was built in the 16th century on the east bank of the river Hull next to Kingston upon Hull.This was a coastal fortress built by Henry VIII between 1538 and 1544. It was the most northerly of these fortresses and the last to be built during his reign. It was sited between two...
, and within a week shipped beyond the seas. He made his way to Rome, where he was entertained at the English College, for nine days from 15 April 1586. He wanted to atone for his lapse by the pilgrimage, and he also entertained some thoughts of entering a religious order. He decided that it was God's will that he should return to the English mission, and reaching Reims on 10 June, he left again for England on the 16th.
After about six months he was betrayed by his brother, to whose house in Wath
Wath
-Towns:*Wath, Cumbria*Wath, Harrogate, North Yorkshire*Wath, Ryedale, North Yorkshire*Wath-in-Nidderdale, North Yorkshire*Wath-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire-Railway locations:* Wath Central railway station* Wath railway station...
he had resorted, and was sent a close prisoner to York Castle by the Council. He was arraigned at the Lent Assizes, condemned as a traitor on the score of his priesthood, and on 23 March 1587 was drawn on the hurdle from the castle yard to York Tyburn, where he suffered the death penalty.