medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Sir Adrian Fortescue (d. 1539) was a member of the Oxfordshire gentry and an occasional courtier who was made Knight of the Bath in 1503. He was present at such major pageants as the funeral of Henry VII and the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Arrested for treason in February 1539 and included, for reasons unspecified, in the act of attainder of that year, Sir Adrian was duly beheaded on Tower Hill. His missal and book of hours show that he had conformed to Henry VIII's creation of a national church, with the king rather than the pope at its head. In the seventeenth century the Knights of Malta, believing that Sir Adrian had been one of their number -- as another who was executed with him actually was --, initiated his veneration as a martyr for the Catholic cause. He was beatified in 1895. The nature of his offence remains a mystery. Today (9. July) is Adrian Fortescue's day of commemoration in the Roman Martyrology.
Best,
John Dillon
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