Noble Martyr

A Spiritual Biography of St Philip Howard

The witness and example of their martyrs inspired the courage and endurance of Catholic recusants in England for generations. The prayers and example of the martyrs also speak particularly to our own world; as most Englishmen in Elizabethan times accommodated themselves to the prevailing religious climate, so in our own day people accommodate themselves to the secular climate for much the same reasons, though not yet at risk of the same cost. Many of these saintly men and women have long been forgotten, but in this book Dudley Plunkett presents one outstanding layman, noble, saint and martyr, uncovering from the texts that St Philip studied, translated and wrote -- mainly during his ten-year long imprisonment in the Tower of London -- a deeper story than just a simple outline of his life. The book attests the saint's vibrant spirituality and persevering life of virtue, while appealing for a fuller appreciation of the Elizabethan martyrs and of the relevance of their lives and sufferings to spiritual renewal in our own time.

"I especially welcome a book about St Philip that combines scholarly research with spiritual sensitivity and thus offers a reminder of the courage and fidelit of our ancestors with more than a historian's interets." Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk.