Who Was Margaret Clitherow?
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In 1586 Margaret Clitherow lived in Shambles, York's medieval street of butchers but…
Who Was Margaret Clitherow?
"The best wife in all England and the best catholic too"
When you walk down Shambles, and most people who visit York do, you'll notice that number thirty five is a shrine to St. Margaret Clitherow, she lived from 1553 to 1586.
Margaret protected Jesuits and catholic priests. The government considered these men to be traitors who were trying to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. Margaret thought the Jesuits and catholic priests were "Virtuous men sent by god to save our souls"
This is Margaret's story.
Margaret Middleton Was born to Thomas and Jane Middleton, the year was probably 1553. Margaret's father died in 1567 and four months later her mother married Henry May, Henry May was to become the Lord Mayor of York at the time of Margaret's death.
When Margaret was 15 she married John Clitherow a prosperous butcher and lived with him in York's famous medieval street of butchers, Shambles.
In Margaret's day, (about the same time that William Shakespeare lived) you had to go to church. But Margaret was a catholic and the church was protestant so it's no surprise that Margaret didn't want to go. Margaret was arrested as a recusant and imprisoned four times all together. On one occasion she spent 18 months in jail just for being a catholic.
(In Tudor times, when a new king or queen came to power, the whole country had to change religion becoming catholic or protestant to match the current ruler. A recusant was someone who refused to change religion and continued to practice the religion they chose for themselves.)
Margaret was now the wife of a prosperous butcher and because she had been in prison three times as a recusant her neighbours knew she was a catholic. Unfortunately the law had changed making harbouring priests a crime punishable by death not imprisonment, 26 priests were executed at York Tyburn (it's near York race course) and Margaret was not only hiding some of them in her house but inviting catholic friends to come and take mass with them. This was dangerous but next Margaret, probably with the blessing of her husband John, sent their 12 year old son Henry to Rhemes in France to study to become a priest. Remember that Margaret's step father was Lord Mayor of York and what she was doing was treason, someone was bound to ask where the boy had gone, and they did.
Five minutes walk from Margaret's home in the Shambles you can see a beautiful house called Kings Manor. In 1586 the north of England was ruled from Kings Manor by The Council of the North. John Clitherow was told to attend here on the 9th of March 1586 to explain where his son had gone. The council were too busy to see him but told him to come back later. When Margaret heard the news she said
"Now that they have him, they will make my house to be searched"
So Margaret hid all evidence of her catholic faith.
On Thursday afternoon, March 10 1586, the day after John Clitherow attended, but wasn't seen by, the Council of the North, Margaret's house was raided by the authorities. A catholic tutor was teaching children in the house but escaped through a passage that Margaret had had constructed for emergencies like this. A catholic priest was in the house next door to Margaret's and he too escaped but Margaret, her family and servants were taken for questioning.
At first nothing was found to incriminate Margaret. When her family, neighbours and servants were questioned no one gave any evidence against her. Then a Flemish boy about 11 years old, possibly a servant of Margaret's was threatened with a beating. He showed the investigators a priest room in Margaret's house, it contained banned books and things used in catholic worship. He also told about catholic mass being held in the house and named the priests who performed the mass and the people who came to mass.
On the evening of 14 March 1586 Margaret attended a short hearing at York Guild Hall. After this Margaret was convinced that she would be executed what ever happened at her trial.
And what a trial it was…Margaret was tried by a very powerful and important group of people including…
Lord Evers, the Vice President of the Council of the North
Two Judges, Clench and Rodes
Two legal councillors
All the aldermen of York
And Henry May the Lord Mayor of York (who was also Margaret's step father)Against these powerful men stood one butchers wife, Margaret Clitherow, to defend herself against the charge of treason.
Margaret was accused of harbouring Jesuits and priests, when her accusers said that these men were enemies of Queen Elizabeth I, she replied…
"I know them to be virtuous men sent by god to save our souls"
She was asked how she would be tried and was expected to reply, "By god and the country"
but Margaret said…"I will be tried by none but God, and your consciences"
To us this may seem trivial but it stopped the trial in its tracks. Unless Margaret accepted the court, and the country's right to try her, then the court had no option but to sentence her to death.
Margaret wasn't executed for treason but for refusing to accept that the court had the right to try her at all.
We can only guess why she did this but the most obvious reason is that if she was tried, her husband, children, neighbours and friends would be questioned and cross examined. The examiners were very clever people who had the job of catching and prosecuting Catholics. If Margaret's loved ones were found to be Catholics, which they probably were, they could face execution as traitors. Can you imagine a friend, wife and mother facing such a decision?
Margaret was sentenced to be crushed to death under a heavy door (possibly from the guild hall York) with heavy weights placed on top of it. On hearing this news Margaret's husband John cried "She is the best wife in all England and the best catholic also"
Margaret was marched under armed guard from the Guild Hall in York to Ouse Bridge in York. She was held in a prison on the bridge called Kidcotes. When it was time for her execution Margaret walked the short distance from the prison to the toll booth which was also on the bridge. She lay on the floor and her executioners placed a door on top of her then beggars, who were paid to do the job, lifted heavy weights on to the door. The weights crushed Margaret and after about fifteen minutes she died.
Margaret was executed on Friday 25 March 1586, she was 33 years old.
In those days martyrs graves were venerated and prayed over. To avoid this happening to Margaret's grave, the authorities buried her in secret on a rubbish tip in York on the night she died. However, Catholics discovered where this was and on a stormy night six weeks later they dug her remains up and took them away to be buried in a place where her body could rest in peace, somewhere outside York. Before reburying the body legend has it that Margaret's hand was removed and kept as a sacred relic. The Bar Convent in York keeps a hand which is believed to be Margaret Clitherow's.
No one knows where Margaret Clitherow's body lies but I like to think that it is at Mount Grace, Osmotherly, resting in peace.
On 25 Oct 1970, when Pope Paul VI Was visiting York, Margaret Clitherow butchers wife and mother was canonised and became St Margaret Clitherow of York.
View photos of Margaret Clitherow's York
When you're in York why not visit Shambles and Margaret Clitherow's house?