BOSTE, JOHN, ST.

One of martyrs of Durham; b. Dufton, Westmoreland, c. 1543; d. Dryburn, near Durham; July 24, 1594. John Boste (Boast, Bost) was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, and after receiving his M.A. took the Oath of Supremacy. However, he was converted to Catholicism in 1576 and four years later began his studies for the priesthood at the English College at Rheims. He was ordained in 1581 and returned to England to an active apostolate among the English Catholics. Traveling disguised as a servingman in the livery of Lord Montacute, he visited Norwich, Maidenhead, Colnbrook, and Gloucestershire. Most of his missionary years were spent in the northern counties—Westmoreland, Cumberland and the Border, Durham, and Yorkshire. Because of his energy and success, he was sought after by both his Catholic friends and the English government. He was betrayed by a Catholic apostate, Francis Ecclesfield, and arrested near Durham, September 1593. He was conveyed to York, and thence to the Tower of London. Several times he was tortured in an effort to make him reveal his associates and was finally sent back to Durham for trial in July 1594, together with Father John Ingram and George Swallowell, both later beatified. Boste was charged under the statute of 1585 with having been ordained abroad as a Roman priest and with having returned to England to further the Catholic faith. He refused to plead to the indictment, saying he would not have a jury guilty of his blood. When accused of having had foreknowledge of the attempt at a Spanish invasion he answered: "It is our [priests'] function to invade souls, and not to meddle with these temporal invasions." He was condemned for high treason and sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. His trust and tranquility in the face of death inspired Swallowell, who in his fear was near apostatizing, to persevere. Boste endured his martyrdom with heroic resolution, joy, and fortitude, forgiving his executioners and inspiring a multitude of spectators. He was beatified in 1929 and canonized in 1970. (see england, scotland, and wales, martyrs of.)

Feast: July 24; Oct. 25; May 4.

Bibliography: r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (new ed. London 1924). j. morris, ed., The Troubles of Our Catholic Forefathers Related by Themselves, 3 v. (London 1872–77) v.3. Publications of the Catholic Record Society 1 (1905); 5 (1908). t. cooper, The Dictionary of National Biography from the Earliest Times to 1900 (London 1908–09), 2:884.

[a. m. c. forster]