Sr. Elizabeth Barton was an English Catholic nun. She was executed as a result of her prophecies

Prophecy

Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...

 regarding the marriage of King Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 to Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...

, which had taken place against the wishes of the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

.

Life

Little is known of Barton's early life. She appears to have come from a poor background: she was working as a servant when her visions began in 1525. During that year, she suffered from a severe unknown illness and claimed to have received divine revelations. These either predicted future events (such as the death of a child living in her household) or, more frequently, took the form of pleas for people to follow the teachings of the Church. In particular, she urged people to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)

Roman Catholic veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary is based on Holy Scripture: In the fullness of time, God sent his son, born of a virgin. The mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God through Mary thus signifies her honour as Mother of God...

 and to undertake pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

s.

Shortly after Barton began receiving visions, she became a nun. She rapidly became popular among both the masses and members of the élite. She held a private meeting in 1528 with Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

 Thomas Wolsey, the most powerful man in England after the King, and shortly thereafter met twice with King Henry VIII himself. Barton was accepted by the government because her prophecies did not then challenge the existing order.

Unfortunately for Barton, that order changed when Henry VIII, in order to obtain an annulment

Annulment

Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...

 of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...

, sought to seize control of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 from Rome. Barton strongly opposed the English Reformation

English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....

 and, around 1532, began prophesying that if the King remarried he would die shortly thereafter. In fact, he lived for another 15 years. Remarkably, Barton went unpunished for nearly a year, largely, it appears, because she was more popular than the King in many quarters. She was attained for treason by Act of Parliament (without trial) only after agents of the King spread rumours that she was engaged in sexual relationships with priests and that she suffered from mental illness.

Her reputation thus undermined, the Crown arrested Barton in 1533 and she was forced to confess she had fabricated her revelations. However, all that is known regarding her confession emanates from Thomas Cromwell or his agents and all available documents are on his side. Furthermore, she and her companions were condemned without a hearing. She, along with seven of her chief supporters, was executed for treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

 and hanged at the Tyburn

Tyburn

Tyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...

 gallows. The next day she was buried at Greyfriars Church

Greyfriars, London

In London, the Greyfriars was a Franciscan friary that existed from 1225 to 1538 on a site at the North-East of the City of London by Newgate in the parish of St Nicholas in the Shambles. It was the second Franciscan religious house to be founded in the country...

 in Newgate Street

Newgate

Newgate at the west end of Newgate Street was one of the historic seven gates of London Wall round the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. From it a Roman road led west to Silchester...

.

Legacy

Churches such as the Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury

Augustine of Canterbury

Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...

 and the Nephite Church of Christ continue to venerate Sister Barton.