Picture: Matthaus Greuter · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Alexander Briant
Jesuit martyr
SaintResearchedKingdom of EnglandSociety of JesusPre-congregation
Feast: 1 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
1556
verified
Died
1 December 1581
verified
Beatified
—
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began
Who they were
Alexander Briant was born in Somerset of a yeoman family about 1556 and at Oxford, called 'the beautiful youth', became a pupil of Robert Persons and was converted. He went to the English College at Reims and was ordained on 29 March 1578.
Sent to England in 1579, he worked with great zeal in Somerset and reconciled Persons's father to the faith. Arrested in the persecution, he became a Jesuit and was executed at Tyburn on 1 December 1581.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A young Jesuit priest who died a martyr at Tyburn.
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Alexander Briant
- Wikidata Q961817 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Alexander Briant (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.