Rochester, John, Bl.

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ROCHESTER, JOHN, BL.

Carthusian priest, martyr; b. ca. 1498, Terling (?), Essex, England; hanged in chains at York, May 11, 1537. Cambridge-educated John Rochester, the third son of John Rochester of Terling and Grisold Writtle of Bobbingworth and brother to Sir Robert Rochester (14941557), joined the Carthusians of the London Charterhouse as a choir monk. After his arrest for opposing the Act of Supremacy, he was placed under house arrest at the Hull Charterhouse, then moved to York where he was manacled with Bl. James Walworth. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on Dec. 9, 1886.

Feast of the English Martyrs: May 4 (England).

See Also: england, scotland, and wales, martyrs of.

Bibliography: r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924; repr. Farnborough 1969). j. morris, ed., The Troubles of Our Catholic Forefathers Related by Themselves (London 1872), I. j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891). e. m. thompson, The Carthusian Order in England (New York 1930). w. weston, Blessed Carthusian Martyrs (London 1962).

[k. i. rabenstein]

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