Rowland Taylor

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Rowland Taylor (October 6, 1510 - February 9, 1555) was an English Protestant martyr of the Tudor period.

He was born in Northumberland, England, and died at Hadleigh. At the time of his death he was Rector, or Anglican parish priest of a small parish in a (now) small market town called Hadleigh (also spelled Hadley). Taylor provided pastoral leadership for several parishes in Suffolk county England. He was Queen "Bloody Mary's" (Mary I) third martyr-victim among hundreds during her brief reign in England (1553-1558), as she attempted to bring about Roman Catholic major reforms against the Protestants. His sentence was execution by burning at the stake, a common method of punishment for religious dissenters and perceived heretics in the 16th century. He was viewed as a heretic by Roman Catholics but is viewed by Protestants as one of the great Christian martyrs.

1 Taylor's early life and education
- 1.1 John Taylor (1480-1534), Rowland's father
- 1.2 Rowland Taylor (b. 1510), education
2 Taylor's religious career
3 Taylor's troubles (circa 1553)
4 Taylor's trial and martyrdom
5 Taylor's final words
6 Reference
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Taylor's early life and education

[edit] John Taylor (1480-1534), Rowland's father

Rowland Taylor was the first-born and son of John Taylor (1480-1534) who married Susan Rowland, in Rothbury, England in 1509. John was himself distinguished as a leading religious figure in early 16th century England.

In 1503 he was ordained Rector at Bishop's Hatfield.
In 1504 he became Rector of Sutton Coldfield.
One of the Royal Chaplains at Henry VII’s funeral, April 21, 1509.
Appointed by King Henry VIII as the King’s Clerk and Chaplain in 1509.
In 1511 was made Clerk to the Parliament.
Appointed Archdeacon of Derby in 1515.
Appointed Royal Ambassador to Burgundy and France and Prolocutor of Convocation.
In 1516 was appointed Archdeacon of Buckingham.
Conferred the degrees of Doctor of Civil Law and Doctor of Canon Law at Cambridge in 1520.
From 1527 - 1534 he was Master of the Rolls of the Court of Chancery. This position was the third most senior judicial position in England; Lord Chancellor being first and Lord Chief Justice being second.
The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal.
Was appointed as one of the commissioners to decide if King Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon was valid.
In 1528 appointed Archdeacon of Halifax, West Yorkshire.
John Taylor died in 1534, when his son Rowland was 24 years old, the year his son Rowland received the L.L.D. from Cambridge.

[edit] Rowland Taylor (b. 1510), education

The son had no less an illustrious career than his father. One year before Rowland Taylor's birth (1509), Henry VIII succeeded Henry Tudor. In 1530, Taylor received his L.L.B. degree from Cambridge University. From 1531-1538 Rowland Taylor was Principal of Borden Hostel. In 1534 he received the L.L.D. from Cambridge, the same year Luther completed his German Bible. One year later, 1535, William Tyndale was tried and denounced as a heretic for his new English Bible translation. Tyndale was burnt at the stake in 1536. Many believe that Rowland's wife - Margaret Tyndale - was William Tyndale's sister.

[edit] Taylor's religious career

In the late 1530s Taylor served as Hugh Latimer's chaplain and commissary general of the Diocese of Winchester.
In March of 1538 Taylor was collated by Latimer to the parish church of Hanbury.
When Hugh Latimer resigned, Taylor was taken under the wing of Thomas Cranmer, living with him and (1539) serving as his chaplain. He was ordained by Cranmer and admitted to the parish church of St. Swithins in Worcester, England. He was thus given his license to preach and did so in the diocese of London.
On April 16, 1544 he was presented to the living of Hadleigh, Suffolk, thus becoming their spiritual leader and Rector.
In 1543 the English Parliament banned Tyndale's English version and all public reading of the Bible by laymen. Religious persecution of Protestant clergy, especially by Roman Catholics, intensified in Britain at this time.
In 1546 the Council of Trent, an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, decreed that the Latin Vulgate was the authoritative version of the Bible.
In the Summer of 1547 Rowland Taylor was employed as a preacher for the royal visitation within the dioceses of Lincoln, Oxford, Lichfield and Coventry.
On August 15, 1547 he became canon of Rochester, the same King Henry the VIII died, January.
1548, Taylor was appointed Archdeacon of Bury St. Edmunds and preached at the request of the Lord Mayor at Whitsuntide or Pentecost.
Edward VI, who reigned from 1547-1553, followed Henry VIII and in 1549 the Book of Common Prayer became the uniform Protestant liturgical guide in England.
In 1550, Taylor was called to serve on a commission against Anabaptists. The same year he also helped to administer the vacant diocese of Norwich.
In 1551, at age 41, Taylor was made Archdeacon of Cornwall in the Diocese of Exeter, was also appointed one of six preachers of Canterbury, Kent and was appointed chancellor to Bishop Nicholas Ridley. His leadership was expanded by serving on a commission to revise the ecclesiastical laws.
In 1552, he helped administer the vacant Diocese of Worcester, England.

[edit] Taylor's troubles (circa 1553)

Rowland's troubles with ecclesiastical authorities first blossomed in 1553 when he was arrested on July 25th, just six days after the new Queen Mary I ascended the throne. Aside from the fact that Taylor probably supported Lady Jane Grey, Mary's rival, he was also charged with probable heresy from having preached a sermon in Bury St. Edmunds. Taylor did not support the Roman Catholic position of clerical celibacy, which stated that a Priest must be unmarried. Remaining unmarried was part of a Priest's holy orders according to Roman Catholic teaching and tradition. Taylor, an Anglican, not a Roman Catholic, believed it was acceptable for a vicar/rector to be married.

Taylor also did not hold to the Roman Catholic view known as transubstantiation which is the belief that the two elements (bread and wine) taken during Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Since the Roman Catholic position is that the Eucharist (and the miracle of transubstantiation) is a sacrament commanded by God, anyone not agreeing with it, particularly a cleric or pastor, was a heretic and thus guilty of heresy.

Not only did Taylor take issue with clerical celibacy and the doctrine of transubstantiation, he took issue with the Roman Catholic manner of Mass. Taylor received apparent strong local support from the villagers of Hadleigh.

His troubles were compounded by the fact that Edward VI died (July 6, 1553) and was eventually replaced by Queen "Bloody" Mary I in 1553 as well. In 1554 Mary I began reversing the reforms of the prior Edward VI and began strictly enforcing Roman Catholicism in England. It did not help matters that Taylor apparently supported Lady Jane Grey's cause, a rival of Mary I to the throne.

On March 26, 1554 the Privy Council ordered the arrest of Rowland Taylor and he thus appeared before Stephen Gardiner. The proceedings against Taylor were several and took place over a long period of time, perhaps nearly two years. During this time he was kept in the King's Bench prison. While in prison he befriended many inmates and was instrumental in their religious conversion to Christianity as well.

[edit] Taylor's trial and martyrdom

January 1555 was an ominous month for numerous Protestant clergy in England. Bloody Mary I would soon unleash her fury upon those who were deemed as opposing Roman Catholicism and her reforms. On January 22, 1555, Rowland Taylor (Vicar or Rector of Hadleigh), and several other clergy, including John Hooper, were examined by a commission of leading bishops and lawyers. Lord Chancellor presided at the hearings. Just two days prior, January 20th, Parliament revived the old statute of burning convicted heretics.

One of the men, Crome, recanted and was thus pardoned. Barlow equivocated and was sent to the Tower of London, but not executed. Rowland Taylor, who was steadfastly deviant, was probably taken to Compter Prison in London after his examination by Stephen Gardiner. Taylor gave a strong defence for clerical marriage which put him at odds with the Roman Catholic Church.

On January 29, 1555, Taylor was brought before Gardiner again at St. Mary Overy's. The next day he was excommunicated, unwilling to recant, and sentenced to death. He was degraded, that is, literally stripped of his garments in a humiliating manner, and was offered his last supper with his family.

His reaction to his accusers revealed Taylor's belief that truth was on his side:

The following quotes are taken from Foxe's Book of Martyrs - John Foxe. Acts and Monuments […] (1576 edition), [online]. (hriOnline, Sheffield). Available from: http://www.hrionline.shef.ac.uk/foxe/. [Accessed: 09.21.2004]

"And although I know, that there is neither iustice nor truth to be looked for at my adversaries hands, but rather imprisonment and cruel death: yet know I my cause to be so good and righteous, and the truth so strong upon my side, that I will by God's grace go and appear before them and to their beards resist their false doings."

[edit] Taylor's final words

As Taylor neared the day of his execution he spoke these words on February 7, 1555 (probably) Taylor was taken back to his own place of Rectory - Hadleigh - where his wife awaited him in the early morning hours at St. Botolph's churchyard. They exchanged a few last brief words and Margaret promised to be present for his burning in a couple days. That same day Taylor was handed over to the Sheriff of Essex at Chelmsford. Before he was handed over he spoke these words to his family:

"I say to my wife, and to my children, The Lord gave you unto me, and the Lord hath taken me from you, and you from me: blessed be the name of the Lord! I believe that they are blessed which die in the Lord. God careth for sparrows, and for the hairs of our heads. I have ever found Him more faithful and favorable, than is any father or husband. Trust ye therefore in Him by the means of our dear Savior Christ's merits: believe, love, fear, and obey Him: pray to Him, for He hath promised to help. Count me not dead, for I shall certainly live, and never die. I go before, and you shall follow after, to our long home."

By February 9, Bloody Mary I had already burned Rogers on the 4th and Saunders on the 8th in the park at Coventry. Rowland Taylor would become Queen Bloody Mary's third Protestant martyr to be burned at the stake. His execution took place on February 9th, 1555, in Aldham Common in Hadleigh. His wife, two daughters, and his son Thomas, were present that day.

His final words to his son Thomas are moving:

"Almighty God bless thee, and give you his Holy Spirit, to be a true servant of Christ, to learn his word, and constantly to stand by his truth all the life long. And my son, see that thou fear God always. Fly from all sin and wicked living. Be virtuous, serve God daily with prayer, and apply thy boke. In anywise see thou be obedient to thy mother, love her, and serve her. Be ruled by her now in thy youth, and follow her good counsel in all things. Beware of lewd company of young men, that fear not God, but followeth their lewd lusts and vain appetites. Flee from whoredom, and hate all filthy lying, remembering that I they father do die in the defense of holy marriage. And another day when God shall bless thee, love and cherish the poor people, and count that thy chief riches to be rich in alms. And when thy mother is waxed old, forsake her not, but provide for her to thy power, and see that she lacks nothing. For so will God bless thee, give thee long life upon earth, and prosperity, which I pray God to grant thee."

A local butcher was ordered to set a torch to the wood but resisted. A couple of bystanders finally threw a lighted faggot on to the wood. A guard named Warwick grew increasingly frustrated of Taylor's refusal to recant and thus struck the martyr over the head with a halbard which apparently killed Taylor instantly. The fire consumed his body shortly thereafter. That same day John Hooper was burnt at the stake in Gloucester.

An unhewn stone marks the place of Taylor's martyrdom at Aldham Common. It reads:

          1555
      D.TAYLOR.IN.DE
       FENDING.THAT
       WAS.GOOD.AT
      THIS.PLAS.LEFT
        HIS.BLODE

[edit] Reference

John Foxe. Foxe's Book of Martyr's. The account of Rowland Taylor's martyrdom is the entire subject of Chapter 14.
James Ridley. Bloody Mary's Martyrs: The Story of England's Terror. 2002.