GWYN, RICHARD (WHITE), BL.

Welsh martyr; b. Llanidloes, Montgomery, date unknown; d. Wrexham, Oct. 17, 1584. Gwyn, descended from Bleddyn, Prince of Powys, who ruled Wales in 11th century, was a poet, schoolmaster, and wit. At 19 or 20, he went for a short time to Oxford, then to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was supported chiefly by its master, Dr. Bullock. On his return to Wales he became a schoolmaster at Overton in the Maelor, a small district of Flintshire encircled by Denbighshire. There he married and had six children, three of whom died in infancy. As Gwyn's influence spread, Downham, the bishop of Chester, threatened him with imprisonment if he did not attend the Protestant Church. In weakness Gwyn submitted, but he later repented. Leaving Overton, he went to Erbistock, where again he opened a school, meanwhile living with his family in an old barn. In 1579 he was recognized in Wrexham market place, denounced, and imprisoned. The next day he escaped. In June 1580 he was again seized and this time confined in Ruthin Castle. On one occasion he was carried, heavily shackled, into the Protestant church at Wrexham, but he rattled his chains so loudly that the minister was unable to make himself heard; on another he baited a red-nosed minister, who argued that St. Peter had no more been given the keys of the kingdom of heaven than any Protestant minister, by saying, "The keys you have received are obviously those of the beer cellar." In all he was indicted seven times before magistrates, was placed in the stocks, fined heavily, and tortured before October 1584, when he appeared at his eighth assizes at Wrexham and was there indicted for treason on the ground that he had tried to reconcile one Lewis Gronow to the Church and had maintained the supremacy of the Pope. Although the jury had been hand picked, they refused to return a verdict of guilty until, after a night of discussion, they were finally coerced by the judge. The next day when the long sentence was read out, Gwyn said, "What is all this? Is it more than one death?" Mrs. Gwyn, brought into court with her baby, was cautioned not to imitate her husband. She retorted, "If you lack blood, you may take my life as well as my husband's." She was imprisoned for her brave words. Gwyn refused an offer of liberty if he conformed. On Oct. 17, 1584, as he left prison for his execution, he said to the sorrowful crowd, "Weep not for me, I do but pay the rent before the rent-day." At the marketplace the hangman knelt to ask his forgiveness. As the executioner tore out his heart, Gwyn said, "O good God, what is this?" The hangman replied, "It is an execution for the Queen's Majesty." Gwyn replied "Jesu, trwgarha wrthyf" (Jesus, have mercy on me). Gwyn is the protomartyr of Wales. He was beatified by Pius XI on Dec. 15, 1932 (see england, scotland, and wales, martyrs of).

Feast: Oct. 25.

Bibliography: Blessed Richard Gwyn (Postulation Pamphlet; London 1960). r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924). a. butler, The Lives of Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York, 1956) 4:202–204. t. p. ellis, Catholic Martyrs of Wales (London 1933).

[g. fitzherbert]