Humphrey Middlemore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blessed Humphrey Middlemore (died c. 1535) was a Roman Catholic priest and Carthusian monk, from England. He is considered a martyr by the Catholic Church.

Though the date of his birth is uncertain, his father was Thomas Middlemore of Edgbaston, Warwickshire, who had acquired his estate at Edgbaston by marriage with the heiress of Sir Henry Edgbaston. Humphrey's mother was Ann Lyttleton, of Pillaton Hall, Staffordshire. Attracted to the Carthusian Order, he was professed at the London Charterhouse, ordained, and subsequently appointed to the office of procurator. Although few details of his life have come down, it is certain that he was greatly esteemed for his learning and piety by the prior, John Houghton, and by the community generally.

In 1534 the question of Henry VIII's marriage with Anne Boleyn arose. The king was determined that the more prominent of his subjects should expressly acknowledge the validity of the marriage, and the right of succession of any issue therefrom. The government was at first anxious to secure the public acquiescence of the monks of the London Charterhouse in this matter, since for the austerity and sincerity of their mode of life they enjoyed great prestige. Accordingly, the royal commissions paid a visit to the Charterhouse, and required the monks to take the oath to that effect. John Houghton and Humphrey Middlemore refused, and were, in consequence, imprisoned in the Tower of London; but, after a month's imprisonment, they were persuaded to take the oath conditionally, and were released.

In the following year, on May 4, 1535, the authorities sent to their death at Tyburn Tree for refusal to take the new Oath of Supremacy, three leading English Carthusians, first among them John Houghton, prior of the London house, but also Robert Lawrence and Augustine Webster, respectively priors of Beauvale and Axholme. This led to Middlemore becoming vicar of the Charterhouse. Meanwhile, Thomas Bedyll, one of the royal commissioners, had again visited the Charterhouse, and endeavoured, both by conversation and writing, to shake the faith of Middlemore and his community in the papal supremacy. His efforts left them unmoved, and, after expostulating with them in a violent manner, he obtained authority from Thomas Cromwell to arrest three leading monks of the London house: Middlemore, as the vicar, and with him William Exmew and Sebastian Newdigate. All three were thrown them into prison, where they were treated with great cruelty, being bound to posts with chains round their necks and legs, and compelled so to remain day and night for two weeks. They were then brought before the Council, and required to take the oath. They refused, and gave able arguments from Scripture and the Church Fathers in favor of the papal supremacy. They were accordingly condemned to death, and suffered death with fortitude and resignation at Tyburn Tree on June 19, a little more than a month after their fellow monks. This process of attrition was to claim as its victims no fewer than fifteen of the London Carthusians.

Middlemore was beatified by Pope Leo XIII, on December 9, 1886.

This article incorporates text from the entry Bl. Humphrey Middlemore in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.