Saint Richard Gwyn
Saint Richard Gwyn (born c. 1537 AD in Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire, Wales; died October 17, 1584 AD in Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales) was a Welsh Catholic schoolteacher and poet who was the first layperson to be martyred in Wales during the Elizabethan religious settlement. He is the principal Welsh martyr of the post-Reformation era and one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970. His feast day is October 25 (Forty Martyrs) and October 17 (individual).
Stored in Cargo: Saint Richard Gwyn
| Saint Richard Gwyn | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | October 25 (Forty Martyrs); October 17 (individual feast) |
| Profession | Welsh Catholic schoolteacher; Welsh-language poet; layman; martyr |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Welsh Catholicism; Elizabethan recusancy; Forty Martyrs of England and Wales; the Welsh Catholic literary tradition; martyrs of the post-Reformation British Isles |
| Patronage | Wales; Welsh Catholics; teachers; Welsh-language Catholics; those who refuse to compromise their faith for social conformity; the Diocese of Wrexham; North Wales |
| Attributes | Schoolmaster's dress; chains (his imprisonment); Welsh harp or scroll (his poetry); the hurdle on which he was dragged; Wrexham setting; the Welsh cross |
| Birthplace | Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire, Wales |
| Death Place | Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales |
| Cause of Death | Martyrdom; hanged, drawn, and quartered at Wrexham on October 17, 1584, for refusing to attend Church of England services (recusancy) and for maintaining the Roman Catholic faith; he had been imprisoned and tortured for several years before his execution; he was dragged through the streets of Wrexham on a horse-drawn hurdle |
| Primary Shrine | The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales Shrine, Tyburn Convent, London (main English shrine); locally at the Catholic parish in Wrexham; Welsh Martyrs Church, Cardiff; Diocese of Wrexham broadly |
| Liturgical Class | Feast (Roman Rite); October 25 (Forty Martyrs of England and Wales); October 17 in Wales |
| Historic Class | Not in 1962 calendar (canonized 1970) |
Biography
Richard Gwyn was born c. 1537 in Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire, Wales. After briefly attending Cambridge and living as a Protestant, he returned to the Catholic faith. He married Catherine Edwards and had six children. He worked as a schoolteacher in North Wales.
Under the Elizabethan religious settlement, attendance at Church of England services was required by law. Richard refused as a recusant Catholic. He was arrested, escaped, and re-arrested. From 1580 he was imprisoned in North Wales for approximately four years, tortured, and appeared at Protestant services in chains — reportedly rattling them to disrupt the services.
During imprisonment he wrote Welsh-language poems defending Catholicism — among the earliest Welsh-language religious verse of the post-Reformation period.
He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Wrexham on October 17, 1584.
Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1886. Pope Paul VI canonized him as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales on October 25, 1970.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire, Wales
Death location: Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales
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Feast day
October 25 (with the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales); October 17 (individual)
Veneration
Saint Richard Gwyn was the first layperson martyred in Wales during the Elizabethan settlement and the principal Welsh representative among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was a Welsh-language poet who defended the Catholic faith in verse during his imprisonment. His feast is October 25.
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