 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2024) |
During the English Reformation, a number of believers were executed at Lancaster in England as a consequence of their Catholic faith. They are commonly referred to as the Lancaster Martyrs and are commemorated locally by the Lancaster Martyrs Memorial Stone which may be found close to the centre of Lancaster city.
Law at the time, such as the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584, made it treason to be a Catholic priest in England and therefore Catholic priests were typically hanged, drawn and quartered. Laymen convicted of assisting priests were usually sentenced to the lesser punishment of execution by hanging.