John Gerard (4 October 1564 – 27 July 1637)[1] was apriest of theSociety of Jesus who operated a secret ministry of the undergroundCatholic Church in England during theElizabethan era.
He was born into theEnglish nobility as the second son of Sir Thomas Gerard at OldBryn Hall, nearAshton-in-Makerfield,Lancashire. After attending seminary and being ordained abroad, Gerard returned to England covertly shortly after the 1588 defeat of theSpanish Armada. Gerard not only successfully hid from the English authorities for eight years before his capture but also endured extensive torture, escaped from theTower of London, recovered and continued with his covert mission until the exposure of theGunpowder Plot made it impossible to continue.
After his escape toCatholic Europe, Gerard was instructed by his Jesuitsuperiors to write a book about his life inLatin.[2] AnEnglish translation by Philip Caraman was published in 1951 asThe Autobiography of a Hunted Priest by John Gerard and is a rare first-hand account of the dangerous cloak-and-dagger world of a Catholic priest in Elizabethan England.[3]Ignatius Press published a second edition in 2012 under the titleThe Autobiography of a Hunted Priest: John Gerard, S.J..
John Gerard was born 4 October 1564, the second son of Sir Thomas Gerard ofBryn Hall, and Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Port ofDerbyshire. In 1569, when John Gerard was five years old, his father was imprisoned for plotting the rescue ofMary, Queen of Scots, fromTutbury Castle. His release in 1571 may have been influenced by his cousin SirGilbert Gerard who wasAttorney General at that time. During that time John and his brother were placed with Protestant relatives, but his father obtained for them a Catholic tutor.[citation needed]
In August 1577, at age 12, he was sent to theEnglish College at Douai, which relocated the following March toRheims. At the age of 15 he spent a year atExeter College, Oxford, which was followed by about a year of home-study ofKoine Greek andEcclesiastical Latin under a tutor, a Mr Leutner (Edmund Lewkenor, brother of SirLewes Lewknor Master of the Ceremonies toKing James I). He then went to the JesuitClermont College inParis. After some months there, followed by an illness and convalescence, in the latter part of 1581 he went toRouen to see Jesuit priestRobert Persons.[1]
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As Gerard had left for Clermont without the requisite travel permit, upon his return to England, he was arrested by customs officials upon landing at Dover. While his companions were sent to London, he was released in the custody of a Protestant in-law. But after three months, having still not attended Anglican services, he was remanded to theMarshalsea prison. He spent a little over a year there in company withWilliam Hartley,Stephen Rowsham,John Adams, andWilliam Bishop. In the spring of 1585,Anthony Babington, who was later executed for treason for his involvement in a plot to free the CatholicMary, Queen of Scots, posted bond to secure Gerard's release.[1]
Gerard then went to Rome and was given another mission on behalf of the Jesuits to England. In November 1588, three months after the defeat of theSpanish Armada, Gerard andEdward Oldcorne landed inNorfolk to begin their task of sustaining Catholics among theEnglish people. Having made his way toNorwich he met there theLord of the Manor ofGrimston, aRecusant called Edward Yelverton. After a two days’ journey on horseback, Gerard—now Mr. Thompson—settled down quietly in the Manor House at Grimston, 8 miles East ofKing's Lynn, as an honoured guest. He was in great danger, but his retreat was believed as safe as any south of the Humber.[citation needed]Gerard was no ordinary man. He had indeed strange powers of attraction and fascination. He was introduced to the chief families of the neighbourhood,Walpoles and Woodhouses among others, and though only twenty-four he had extraordinary influence among them. His stay in Grimston lasted seven or eight months. After that he lived for some time atLawshall, nearBury St Edmunds. Eventually, Gerard was taken to the leader of the English Jesuits, FatherHenry Garnet. Gerard soon became a very popular figure in the Catholic underground. To stay above suspicion, Gerard cultivated a respectable public image.[4] By way of disguises, he appeared very secular, being versed in gambling and wearing fashionable clothes. Gerard wrote of many escapes from the law and of occasions when he hid inpriest holes, which could often be as small as 1 meter tall and half a meter wide. In 1591 Gerard became the chaplain to the Wiseman household, Braddocks, led by William and Jane Wiseman. The household includedJane Wiseman who was William's widowed mother. Gerard persuaded her to create a new home for herself and a chaplain at the Wisemans' dower-house of Bullocks (not to be confused with their main house which was called Braddocks) which would become as additional centre for Catholicism and priest harbouring.[5]
Gerard was finally captured in London on 23 April 1594, together withNicholas Owen. He was tried, found guilty and sent to theCompter in the Poultry. Later he was moved tothe Clink prison where he was able to meet regularly with other imprisoned EnglishCatholics. Due to his continuation of this work, he was sent to theSalt Tower in theTower of London, where he was further questioned and tortured by being repeatedly suspended from chains on the dungeon wall.[4] The main aim of Gerard's torturers was to find out the London lodgings ofHenry Garnet, so that they could arrest him. However, Gerard refused to answer any questions that involved others, or to name them. He later insisted that he never broke down, a fact borne out by the files of the Tower.[citation needed]
Henry Garnet wrote about Gerard:
Gerard's most famous exploit is believed to have been masterminded byNicholas Owen. With help from other members of the Catholic underground, Gerard, along withJohn Arden, escaped on a rope strung across the Tower moat during the night of 4 October 1597. Despite the fact that his hands were still mangled from the tortures he had undergone, he succeeded in climbing down. He even arranged for the escape of his gaoler (jailer), with whom he had become friendly, and who he knew would be held responsible for the jailbreak. It is speculated that he befriended the jailer so that if circumstance favoured an escape, it could be turned to his advantage. Immediately following his escape, he joinedHenry Garnet andRobert Catesby inUxbridge. Later, Gerard moved to the house of DowagerElizabeth Vaux[7] atHarrowden, nearWellingborough, Northamptonshire. From this base of operations, he continued his priestly ministry, and reconciled many to the Catholic Church, including SirEverard Digby (one of the future conspirators in theGunpowder Plot).
For the next eight years he continued his ministry among the English people before he was recalled to the continent to train Jesuits for the English Mission.[4] He was accused byRobert Catesby's servantThomas Bates of complicity in the Gunpowder Plot. While on the run, Gerard stayed at Harrowden again. While hiding in apriest hole during a nine-day search of the house, he wrote a refutation of Bates' charges, and arranged to have it printed and scattered about the streets in London.[8] He eventually escaped from there to London. He left the country with financial aid from Elizabeth Vaux, slipping away disguised as a footman in the retinue of the Spanish Ambassador,[9] on the very day ofHenry Garnet's execution. Gerard continued the work of the Jesuits in Europe, where he wrote his autobiography on the orders of his superiors. He died in 1637, aged 73, at theEnglish College, Rome, a seminary.
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