Edmund Campion
Edmund Campion ( born January 25, 1540 in London, † December 1st 1581 at Tyburn ) was a priest in the Society of Jesus and is a martyr of the Catholic Church.
Life
Campion was born in London. He was a fellow at St John 's College, Oxford, where he quickly by his outstanding scientific achievements made his name. In 1569 he received the appointment as deacon of the Anglican Church of England. Although he swore the oath of supremacy, but remained Catholic in his thinking and feeling. In 1570 he went at the invitation of Richard Stani Hurst to Ireland. It is unclear if he was already converted internally at this time and felt safe there, or whether the conversion only took place in Ireland. Several opponents put upon him so much that he fled to Flanders, where he studied theology at the English College at Douai. 1573 Edmund Campion joined in Rome by the Jesuits. The novitiate he graduated in Brno, then he worked as a teacher of rhetoric at the Jesuit school in Prague, where he received the sacrament of Holy Orders in 1578. A short time later he got together with Robert Persons instructed to set up a mission of the Jesuits in England. Despite the great danger of the men on the quest. They traveled in disguise for England and worked there from 1580 in the underground. Edmund Campion worked as a writer for the Catholic faith and traveled through large parts of England, where he made prisoner visits to imprisoned Catholics and the Sacraments donated. Through its activities, the insecure and persecuted Catholics gained new courage. On July 27, 1581 he was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Four days were spent in Little Ease. Then he was offered protection if he abjure the Catholic faith, but Campion remained steadfast despite severe torture. On December 1, 1581 he was executed with great interest of the population.
Edmund Campion was established in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. canonized.
Works
His most important work is in English wrote "Two bokes of the histories of Ireland " (1571 ). It was first printed in 1633 in James Wares Ancient Irish Histories. The first book deals with the history of the Irish to the conquest by the Normans under Strongbow, the second book of the events after the Norman conquest. As Campion spoke no Irish, he was able to use the Irish chronicles and the influential Lebor Gabála Érenn only indirectly. Overall, the presentation is mainly based on Giraldus Cambrensis and William Camden, but is less negative towards the Irish. Campion justifies the work of the English rule over Ireland. He already emphasized earlier submission to England, for example, to pay tribute Irish kings to Arthur and the offer of the Milesian kings Éber and Eremon to submit to the King of England Gurguntius, who had sent them to Ireland (which he refuses, of course, since he no means of control sees ). He holds the Irish language for the Spanish closely related.
As future works, he wrote Latin writings on theology, which are only a little known today.