After more than a year of incarceration in the Tower of London, Bishop of Rochester John Fisher was beheaded on June 22, 1535. His head was displayed on London Bridge for several days. His body was left on the scaffold then “thrown naked on a rough grave of All Hollows by the Tower”.
He feared not royal anger
A friend of royalty, he preached during the funeral of King Henry VII. When King Henry VIII wanted to divorce Queen Catherine Aragon to marry Ann Boleyn, Fisher appeared on behalf of the queen in the legate’s court, surprised the audience with the directness of his language that divorce is against the teachings of the church.
The king, so enraged with his moral stand, never forgave him.
“Like Saint John the Baptist, he was ready to die on behalf of the indissolubility of marriage,” wrote Thomas Edward Bridgett, on the Life of Blessed John Fisher.
A court of 17, which arraigned him at Westminster Hall on June 17, 1935, for treason as a commoner pronounced him guilty and was ordered to be “hanged, drawn or quartered at Tyburn”.
Since the king’s patronal feast day was June 24, the nativity of Saint John the Baptist, in order to avoid public outcry and sympathy, Fisher’s punishment was commuted to beheading to be accomplished before June 23.
Fisher’s execution on June 22, 1535, created a parallel effect since it is the feast day of Saint Alban, the first British Christian martyr.
A deeply religious man, Fisher opened his New Testament Bible for the last time, and his eyes read the Gospel of Saint John, 17:3-5: “Eternal life is this: to know You, the only true God, and Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ. I have given You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do. Do you now, Father, give me glory at your side.”
Great soul
John Fisher was born on October 19, 1469, in Beverley, Yorkshire, England. He went to Cambridge University at 14 and received a Master of Arts degree. He was ordained priest at 22 on December 17, 1491, with papal dispensation, being under canonical age.
He distinguished himself academically, finished his doctorate degree in Sacred Theology in 1501 and was assigned Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University. In 1504 he was elected chancellor, a post he held until his death.
King Henry VIII nominated him bishop of Rochestor in 1504, a post he held with great devotion and strict austerity. To equal the challenges of his pastoral duties, he limited his sleep to finish all tasks.
A brilliant, austere and unrelenting preacher, he places a human skull on the altar during Mass and at the table during meals, according to Desmond Steward in The Wars of the Roses.
Erasmus, who considered him as the most “learned man in the nation” and the holiest among the bishops, wrote: “He is the one man of this time who is incomparable for uprightness of life, for learning and for greatness of soul.”
Prince Henry, the future King Henry VIII, was entrusted to him for tutorship. In 1505 the presidency of Queen’s College was added to his responsibilities.
God above king
Bishop Fisher was commissioned to study the issue of divorce. He ruled that marriage is insoluble according to the rules of the church, which angered King Henry VIII when he “led the opposition in the House of the Lords on bills passed by the House of Commons”.
In 1534 the king appointed himself head of the church of England and had the subservient parliament pass the Succession Act, which acknowledged Henry and Anne Boleyn as legitimate heirs to the throne. All who were called to acknowledge the First Succession Act had to sign. Bishop Fisher refused.
In jail, he was questioned repeatedly about succession. Always, his answer was the same: “The king was not, nor could be, by law of God, supreme head of the church.”
In May 1535 the newly elected Pope Paul III assigned Fisher as cardinal priest of San Vitale, hoping the king will treat him better. However, King Henry VIII even forbade the delivery of the cardinal’s red hat.
After more than a year, he was summarily condemned to die.
The Decree of Beatification on December 29, 1886, by Pope Leo XIII, included 54 English martyrs, the greatest of them, John Fisher.
He was canonized on May 19, 1935, by Pope Pius XI.
***Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education-National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna and Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.