Robert Bickerdike (martyr)
Encyclopedia
Robert Bickerdike was an English Roman Catholic layman, executed on a treason charge. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987.
, and lived at York
. He was arrested for giving a Catholic priest John Boste
, a glass of ale; he was further accused at his trial of using treasonable words. He was acquitted, but Judge Rhodes had him removed from the city gaol to the Castle and tried once more at the Lammas Assizes on the same charge. He was then condemned. One of his offences was that, when Francis Ingleby
was being dragged on the hurdle to execution, hearing a minister's wife say: "Let us go into the Tolbooth and we shall see the traitorly thief come over on the hurdle", he said, "No; no thief, but as true as thou art". These words were supposed to be the cause of his death. He was executed at York on 5 August or 8 October), 1585.
Life
He was born at Low Hall, near KnaresboroughKnaresborough
Knaresborough is an old and historic market town, spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located on the River Nidd, four miles east of the centre of Harrogate.-History:...
, and lived at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. He was arrested for giving a Catholic priest John Boste
John Boste
Saint John Boste is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, and one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.-Life:John Boste was born in Westmorland around 1544. He studied at Queen's College, Oxford where he became a Fellow. He converted to Catholicism in 1576...
, a glass of ale; he was further accused at his trial of using treasonable words. He was acquitted, but Judge Rhodes had him removed from the city gaol to the Castle and tried once more at the Lammas Assizes on the same charge. He was then condemned. One of his offences was that, when Francis Ingleby
Francis Ingleby
Blessed Francis Ingleby was a Roman Catholic martyr executed in York, England during the reign of Elizabeth I.He has been described as short but well-made, fair-complexioned, with a chestnut beard, and a slight cast in his eyes. He was the fourth son of Sir William Ingleby and Anne Malory...
was being dragged on the hurdle to execution, hearing a minister's wife say: "Let us go into the Tolbooth and we shall see the traitorly thief come over on the hurdle", he said, "No; no thief, but as true as thou art". These words were supposed to be the cause of his death. He was executed at York on 5 August or 8 October), 1585.