Arthur Bell (martyr): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox saint|name=Arthur Bell<br>aka "Francis" Bell|image=Blessed-arthur-bell.png|imagesize=|alt=|caption=|titles=[[Martyr]]|birth_date=13 January 1590|birth_place=Temple-Broughton near [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], [[England]]|home_town=|residence=|death_date=11 December 1643 (aged 53)|death_place=[[Tyburn]], [[London]], [[England]]|feast_day=11 December, 22 November (with the martyrs of England and Wales)|venerated_in=[[Roman Catholic Church]]|beatified_date=22 November 1987 by [[Pope John Paul II]]|beatified_place=|beatified_by=|canonized_date=|canonized_place=|canonized_by=|major_shrine=|attributes=|patronage=|issues=|suppressed_date=|suppressed_by=|influences=|tradition=|influenced=|major_works=|module=|birth_name=|honorific_suffix=OFM|honorific_prefix=Blessed}}

'''Arthur Bell''', OFM (13 January 1590 – 11 December 1643) was an English [[Franciscan]] [[martyr]].<ref>Also known as '''Francis Bell'''</ref> He was found guilty of being a Roman Catholic priest by a court sitting under the auspices of Parliament during the [[English Civil War]]. He was executed at [[Tyburn]] in London. Bell was beatified by Pope [[John Paul II]] on 22 November 1987.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sanalbano.org/home/college-saints-and-martyrs/arthur-bell-osf/ |title=Blessed Arthur Bell OSF, Royal English College Valladolid |access-date=12 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116065454/http://www.sanalbano.org/home/college-saints-and-martyrs/arthur-bell-osf/ |archive-date=16 January 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Bell was born at Temple-Broughton near [[Worcester, England|Worcester]] on 13 January 1590, a son of the lawyer [[William Bell (lawyer)|William Bell]]. When he was eight his father died and his mother gave him into the charge of her brother, Francis Daniel of Acton in Suffolk, a man of wealth, learning and piety. When Arthur was twenty-four he was sent to the English college at St.-Omer. He later went to the [[English College, Valladolid|St. Alban's College]] in Valladolid to continue and complete his studies.{{sfn|Donovan|1913}}

Bell received the habit of the [[Franciscan Order]] at [[Segovia]], Spain on 8 August 1618, taking the [[religious name]] ''Francis''. After the completion of his [[novitiate]] and the ordination to priesthood,he was called from Spain to labour in the restoration of the English province of the Franciscans. He was one of the first members of the Franciscan community at [[Douai]], where he subsequently taught as a professor of Hebrew and fulfilled the office of the guardian (superior of a convent).<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Bell, William (fl.1599)}}</ref> He was well-versed in Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Spanish, French, Flemish and English. Among his students was [[Henry Heath (martyr)|Henry Heath]].

While there, Bell published an octavo volume containing his fathers will of 1587, a statement of his theological opinions, and his pedigree.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=2030|title=Bell, William}}</ref> He also served as chaplain to the Poor Clares at [[Gravelines]]. He was then transferred to Brussels. By then, he was already known to the English authorities.

In 1632 Bell was sent to Scotland as first provincial of the Franciscan province there; but his efforts to restore the order in Scotland were unsuccessful.

In 1634 he returned to England,<ref>[https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/11199/Bienheureux-Arthur-Bell.html ''Bienheureux Arthur Bell'', Nominis]</ref> where he laboured until November 1643, when he was apprehended by the parliamentary troops at [[Stevenage]] in Hertfordshire on suspicion of being a spy.{{sfn|Donovan|1913}} A search of his papers provided evidence that he was a Roman Catholic priest, and on that basis he was committed to the [[Newgate prison]].{{sfn|Challoner|1839|p=142}}

He was condemned as a priest on the evidence of [[James Wadsworth (Spanish scholar and pursuivant)|James Wadsworth]], Thomas Mayhew or Mayo, and [[Thomas Gage (clergyman)|Thomas Gage]].{{sfn|Challoner|1839|p=143}} The circumstances of his trial show Bell's devotedness to the cause of the Catholic faith and his willingness to suffer for the faith. When condemned to be [[hanged, drawn and quartered]] it is said that he broke forth into a solemn ''Te Deum'' and thanked his judges profusely for the favour they were conferring upon him in allowing him to die for Christ.{{sfn|Donovan|1913}}

* [[Thomas Bullaker]]

* [[Walter Colman]]

==Footnotes==

==References==

{{refbegin}}

*{{cite book |last1=Challoner |first1=Richard |title=Memoirs of Missionary Priests |date=1839 |location=Philadelphia}}

*{{cite book |last1=Donovan |first1=Stephen |title=Ven. Arthur Bell |date=1907 |publisher=The Catholic Encyclopedia |location=New York |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02410b.htm}}

**Thaddeus, ''The Franciscans in England'' (London, 1898), V 35, 36; VI, 39; VII, 47, 49, 50; IX, 62, 66–68; XV, 200–202;

{{refend}}

*[http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw131555/Francis-Bell Portrait] at the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]], London.

[[Category:17th-century English Roman Catholic priests]]

[[Category:Executed Roman Catholic priests]]