Gibson, William, Bl.

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GIBSON, WILLIAM, BL.

Lay martyr; b. near Ripon, Yorkshire, England; d. Nov. 29, 1596, hanged, drawn, and quartered at York. Arrested for his involvement in an uprising in the North, he spent many years imprisoned at York Castle where he gained a reputation for piety. He was sentenced with BB. George errington and William knight for trying to "persuade to popery" a Protestant prisoner, who indicated an interest in Catholicism, but used it as a tool to gain freedom for himself and intelligence for the authorities. Gibson was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Nov. 22, 1987 with George Haydock and Companions.

Feast of the English Martyrs: May 4 (England).

See Also: martyrs of england and wales.

Bibliography: r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924). j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891). yepes, Historia Particular de la persecucion de Inglaterra (Madrid 1599). stapleton, Post-Reformation Catholic Missions in Oxfordshire (London 1906).

[k. i. rabenstein]