Jones, Edward, Bl.
JONES, EDWARD, BL.
Priest, martyr; b. Diocese of St. Asaph, Wales; d. hanged, drawn, and quartered in Fleet Street, London, England, May 6, 1590. When Jones, raised as an Anglican, was convicted of the truth of the Catholic faith, he migrated to Rheims where he was received into the Church in 1587 and ordained priest the following year. He immediately returned to England to exercise his ministry. He was arrested (1590) in a Fleet Street shop by a man pretending to be a Catholic, imprisoned in the Tower of London, and tortured into admitting his priesthood. At his trial he skillfully pled that a confession elicited under duress was not legally sufficient to ensure a conviction. Although the court complimented him on his courageous bearing, he was nevertheless convicted of high treason for entering England as an illegally ordained priest. He was executed immediately—across from the grocer's shop where he had been captured. Jones was beatified by Pius XI on Dec. 15, 1929.
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), I, 168–69. j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891).
[k. i. rabenstein]