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Robert Southwell
Robert Southwell 1561?–1595, English Jesuit poet, venerated by Roman Catholics as a martyr, b. Norfolk. He was brought up a Catholic and educated abroad, mainly at Douai. In 1580 he made his simple vows as a Jesuit, and in 1586 at his own request, desiring martyrdom as he said, he was sent to England with Father Garnett to minister to the oppressed Catholics. For six years he was active in the south of England as their pastor, but in 1592 he was arrested and imprisoned. After being tortured he was tried for treason, and on admitting his priesthood he was hanged. His poetry is deeply religious, extolling the beauty and magnificence of the spiritual in contrast to the material. Southwell's major work is St. Peter's Complaint (1595), but he also wrote several fine short devotional poems, such as "The Burning Babe." |
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"Robert Southwell." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Robert Southwell." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SthwelR.html "Robert Southwell." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SthwelR.html |
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Southwell, St Robert
Southwell, St Robert (?1561–95), educated by the Jesuits at Douai and Rome, took Roman orders and came to England in 1586 with Henry Garnett (who was subsequently executed for complicity in the Gunpowder Plot). He became in 1589 domestic chaplain to the countess of Arundel, was captured when going to celebrate mass in 1592, repeatedly tortured, and executed after three years' imprisonment. His poems were mainly written in prison. Of these it was his object to make spiritual love, instead of ‘unwoorthy affections’, the subject. His chief work was St Peters Complaint (1595), a long narrative of the closing events of the life of Christ in the mouth of the repentant Peter. He also wrote many shorter devotional poems (some of them collected under the title Moeoniae, 1595) of a high order, notably ‘The Burning Babe’. He was beatified in 1929 and canonized in 1970.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Southwell, St Robert." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Southwell, St Robert." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-SouthwellStRobert.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Southwell, St Robert." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-SouthwellStRobert.html |
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Southwell, St Robert
Southwell, St Robert (c.1561–95), Jesuit poet. A native of Norfolk, he was sent on the English mission in 1586. He was betrayed in 1592, and after three years' imprisonment he was hanged and quartered as a traitor. He was among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonized in 1970. Most of his poems were probably written in prison. Designed to encourage Catholics under persecution, they express deep religious feeling and became popular with both Catholics and Protestants.
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Southwell, St Robert." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Southwell, St Robert." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-SouthwellStRobert.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Southwell, St Robert." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-SouthwellStRobert.html |
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