Thomas Aufield

2024-05-10T13:04:43Z

81.131.73.29:

{{Short description|English Roman Catholic priest and martyr}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=Blessed
|name=Thomas Aufield
|birth_date=1552
|death_date={{death date|1585|7|6|df=y}}
|feast_day=6 July
|venerated_in=[[Roman Catholic Church]]
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|birth_place=[[Gloucestershire]]
|death_place=[[Newgate Prison|Newgate]], [[Tyburn, London|Tyburn]]
|titles=
|beatified_date=1929
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'''Thomas Aufield''' (1552 – 6 July 1585), also called '''Thomas Alfield''', was an [[England|English]] [[Roman Catholic]] [[martyr]].<ref>{{Catholic|last=Ryan|first=Patrick W. F.|wstitle=Ven. Thomas Alfield|volume=14}}</ref>

He was born in [[Gloucestershire]] and educated at [[Eton College]] and [[King's College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{acad|id= ALFT568T|name=Alfield or Awfyld, Thomas}}</ref> He then converted to [[Roman Catholicism]] and in September 1576 went to the [[English College, Douai|English College at Douai]], [[France]], but suspecting danger returned to England in November.<ref name=Wainewright>[https://archive.org/stream/livesofenglishma01burtuoft#page/144/mode/2up Wainewright, John Bannerman. "Venerable Thomas Alfield", ''Lives of the English Martyrs'', (Edwin H. Burton and J. H. Pollen eds.), London. Longmans, Green and Co., 1914]</ref>

In September 1580 Aufield returned to the English College, by then at Rheims. He was ordained a priest on 4 March 1581 at [[Châlons-en-Champagne|Châlons-sur-Marne]] and later that month set out for the English Mission. He seems to have mostly operated in the North, where he was arrested on 2 May 1582. He was imprisoned in the [[Tower of London]], where he apostatized under torture, returning to [[Protestantism]]. Released on bond, he then returned to Gloucester.<ref name=Wainewright/>

By the following April he was again at Rheims, and having returned to Catholicism around the beginning of [[Michaelmas term]] visited his brother-in-law in [[Aldersgate|Aldersgate Street]], London. Around this time he was approached by [[John Davis (English explorer)|Captain John Davis]] requesting an introduction to [[William Allen (cardinal)|William Allen]]. Davis proposed that the ships he had been given by the government for piracy against Spain be crewed by Catholics to serve the Pope or the King of Spain against the Turks or other enemies. Aufield met Davis at Rouen and brought him to Rheims to meet Williams. Davis's plan was conveyed to the Pope, who referred Davis to the King of Spain.<ref name=Wainewright/>

On the failure of the negotiations, Aufield returned to England and was arrested for circulating Catholic texts and sent to the Tower, and again put to torture. Aufield was charged under [[Religion Act 1580]] s.4 which prohibited publication of any book against the queen. He was then transferred to [[Newgate Prison|Newgate]]. He was then tried, convicted and [[hanging|hang]]ed at [[Tyburn, London|Tyburn]] alongside his assistant Thomas Webley.<ref>[https://catholicsaints.info/dictionary-of-national-biography-thomas-alfield/ Cooper, Thompson. "Thomas Alfield". ''Dictionary of National Biography'', 1885. CatholicSaints.Info. 7 April 2019]</ref> He was [[beatified]] in 1929. His feast day is 6 July, the date of his martyrdom.

==See also==
* [[Douai Martyrs]]

==References==
{{DNB Poster|Alfield, Thomas|Thomas Alfield}}
{{reflist}}


{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= England}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aufield, Thomas}}
[[Category:1552 births]]
[[Category:1585 deaths]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Executed people from Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:English beatified people]]
[[Category:16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs]]
[[Category:16th-century English Roman Catholic priests]]
[[Category:People executed under Elizabeth I]]
[[Category:English College, Douai alumni]]
[[Category:People executed by the Kingdom of England by hanging]]
[[Category:One Hundred and Seven Martyrs of England and Wales]]

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Thomas Aufield