Arthur Bell
English Franciscan martyr
Feast: 11 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Arthur Bell (in religion Francis) was born near Worcester on 13 January 1590, studied at St-Omer and in Spain, was ordained, and took the Franciscan habit at Segovia on 8 August 1618. He served at Douai as guardian and professor of Hebrew and in 1632 went to Scotland as its first Franciscan provincial.
Working in England from 1637, he was arrested as a spy at Stevenage in November 1643. Condemned to be drawn and quartered, he is said to have sung the Te Deum and thanked his judges for letting him die for Christ. He was executed in London on 11 December 1643.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle. The Catholic Encyclopedia records that his cause was introduced at Rome in 1900.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Franciscan friar who rejoiced to die for the Faith.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Ven. Arthur Bell
- Wikidata Q2312723 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Arthur Bell (martyr) (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.