On This Day In History: ‘Earl of Northumberland’ Thomas Percy Executed Because He Was Catholic – On August 22, 1572

MessageToEagle.com – On 22 August 1572, “Earl of Northumberland” Thomas Percy was executed because he was Catholic.

Thomas Percy was a Catholic and lived when the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I (a member of the Tudor dynasty) ruled England. The English allegedly told Thomas Percy to reject his Catholic faith, and they would spare his life if he did so.

Percy refused and was publicly executed on this day in 1572.

He was a member of the English aristocracywith the title of “Earl of Northumberland”  similar title to that of ‘count’ in the rest of Europe.

He was also addressed as “Lord Northumberland” (the English barons, Viscounts, Earls and Marquises are also addressed as lords).

Thomas’s father was also executed because he was a Catholic, which happened when Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII ruled England and broke all ties with the Catholic Church.

But, relations between Protestants and Catholics in England became very strained. It is well known that Catholic families could only secretly “practice” their faith, and there were even special holes in the houses so Catholic priests could find their shelter in the case of a raid.

When the so-called ‘Rising of the North’ (the uprising of the Catholics against the Protestant authorities) broke out in the north of England, Thomas Percy, ‘Earl of Northumberland’, was one of its main leaders.

Unfortunately, this uprising failed, and Thomas Percy was caught in Scotland. He was extradited to the English government, supposedly for 2,000 pounds and executed.

Pope Leo XIII beatified Thomas Percy in 1895.

MessageToEagle.com