MIDDLETON, ROBERT, BL.

Priest, martyr; b. 1571, at York, England; d. ca. April 3, 1601, hanged, drawn, and quartered at Derby. Born into a Catholic family, he appears to have practiced as an Anglican for a time, but he was reconciled to the Church, perhaps because of the martyrdom of St. Margaret clitherow, née Middleton (d. 1586). In 1594, he began seminary studies at Rheims and then Seville before transferring to the English College in Rome (1597), where he was ordained (1598). He labored in Lancaster for two years. In 1599 Middleton wrote a letter to Jesuit superior Henry garnet requesting admittance into the Society of Jesus; it is unknown whether Middleton ever received the response informing him of his acceptance, for on Sept. 30, 1600, he was arrested while riding from Preston to Fulde in Lancashire. A rescue attempt was made but failed, leading to the apprehension of Bl. Thurston hunt also. During questioning Middleton acknowledged the authority of the queen in temporal matters and said that he prayed God would one day make her a Catholic. Middleton and Hunt were condemned in March 1601 for their priesthood and beatified by Pope John Paul II on Nov. 22, 1987 with George Haydock and Companions.

Feast: Dec. 1 (Jesuits); May 4 (Feast of the English Martyrs).

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

Bibliography: r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924). j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891). j. n. tylenda, Jesuit Saints & Martyrs (Chicago 1998), 87–88.

[k. i. rabenstein]