Martyrs of Gorkum

The Martyrs of Gorkum were a group of 19 Dutch Catholic clerics and friars who were hanged on 9 July 1572 in the town of Gorinchem (or Gorkum) during the 16th century religious wars in the Low Countries.

Events

By 1572, Martin Luther and John Calvin had already wrested a swath of Europe from the Catholic Church. A storm of iconoclasm had swept through the Seventeen Provinces of the Low Countries, and was followed by a struggle between Lutheranism and Calvinism, in which the latter was victorious. In 1571, the Calvinists held their first synod, at Emden. Because of anti-Protestant edicts and persecution by the Spanish government, on 1 April 1572 the Watergeuzen or Gueux de mer (water-/sea-beggars, i.e., rebels), rebelled against the Habsburg crown which ruled the Low Countries, conquered Brielle and later Vlissingen and other places.

In June, Dordrecht and Gorkum fell, and at the latter they captured nine Franciscans: Nicholas Pieck, guardian of Gorkum; Hieronymns of Weert, vicar; Theodorus van der Eem of Amersfoort; Nicasius Janssen of Heeze; Willehad of Denmark; Godefried of Mervel; Antonius of Weert; Antonius of Hoornaer, and Franciseus de Roye of Brussels. To these were added two lay brothers from the same monastery, Petrus of Assche and Cornelius of Wijk bij Duurstede. At almost the same time the Calvinists arrested the parish priest of Gorkum, Leonardus Vechel of 's-Hertogenbosch and his assistant.

Also imprisoned was Godefried van Duynsen of Gorkum, a priest in his native city, and Joannes Lenartz of Oisterwijk, an Augustinian and director of the convent of Augustinian nuns in Gorkum. To these fifteen were later added four more companions: Joannes van Hoornaer (alias known as John of Cologne), a Dominican of the Cologne province and parish priest not far from Gorkum, who when apprised of the incarceration of the clergy of Gorkum hastened to the city in order to administer the sacraments to them and was seized and imprisoned with the rest; Jacobus Lacops of Oudenaar, a Norbertine, who became a curate in Monster, Holland, and was imprisoned in 1572; Adrianus Janssen of Hilvarenbeek, at one time a Premonstratensian and parish priest in Monster, who was sent to Brielle with Jacobus Lacops. Last was Andreas Wouters of Heynoord.

In prison at Gorkum (from 26 June to 6 July 1572) the first fifteen prisoners were transferred to Brielle, arriving there on 13 July. On their way to Dordrecht they were exhibited for money to the curious. The following day, William de la Marck, Lord of Lumey, commander of the Gueux de mer, had them interrogated and ordered a disputation. In the meantime, four others arrived. It was demanded of each that he abandon his belief in the Blessed Sacrament and in papal supremacy. All remained firm in their faith. Meanwhile there came a letter from the prince of Orange, William the Silent, which enjoined all those in authority to leave priests and religious unmolested. On 9 July, Lumey had them hanged in a turfshed.

Veneration

Their beatification took place on 14 November 1675, and their canonization on 29 June 1865. For many years the place of their martyrdom in Brielle has been the scene of numerous pilgrimages and processions. The reliquary of their remains is now enshrined in the Church of Saint Nicholas, Brussels, Belgium.

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "The Martyrs of Gorkum". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

External links

• "SS. Martyrs of Gorcum", Butler's Lives of the Saints