| Blessed Adrian Fortescue | |
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A painting of Fortescue located at the Collegio di San Paolo in Rabat, Malta |
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| Born | 1476 Hertfordshire, England |
| Died | July 9, 1539 (aged 62) Tower Hill, London, England |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 13 May 1895 by Pope Leo XIII |
| Feast | July 9 |
Sir Adrian Fortescue (1476 – 9 July 1539) was a courtier at the court of King Henry VIII of England who was executed in 1539 and later beatified as a Roman Catholic martyr.
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Adrian Fortescue was the son of Sir John Fortescue of Ponsbourne Park at Newgate Street Village in Hertfordshire, and a cousin of Anne Boleyn's father. He was made a Knight of the Bath in 1503 and participated in England's wars against France in 1513 and 1523. He was made a Knight of the Order of St. John in 1532. Sir Adrian was also a Dominican Tertiary.
On 29 August 1534, he was arrested without any stated reason but was freed after a period of months.[1] In 1539, he was one of sixteen people condemned for treason without a trial by Parliament for unspecified acts presumably relating to hostility to Henry VIII's church policies. He was beheaded at the Tower of London on 9 July 1539. His widow married Thomas Parry, Comptroller of the Royal Household.
The Order of St. John of Jerusalem has advocated devotion to Blessed Adrian as a martyr since the 17th century and Pope Leo XIII beatified him on 13 May 1895.[1]