Richard Bere

Who they were

Richard Bere was a choir monk and priest of the London Charterhouse. On 18 May 1537 the monks and lay brothers left in the London Charterhouse were ordered to take the Oath of Supremacy, acknowledging the king as head of the Church. Ten refused. On 29 May they were sent to Newgate prison, chained standing to posts with their hands tied behind them, and left to starve. Margaret Clement, who had grown up in St. Thomas More's household, bribed the gaoler and, dressed as a milkmaid, brought them food, until the gaoler grew afraid and stopped her.

While most of his brethren died in June, Bere lived on, probably because food was then allowed so that the survivors might be kept for execution; he died on 9 August 1537. All ten Carthusians were beatified by Leo XIII in December 1886.

The miracles

As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.

Why that counted as sanctity

A London Carthusian priest who died in Newgate for refusing the Oath of Supremacy.

Connected on this site

• Thomas More Saint
  “Thomas More's household, bribed the gaoler and, dressed as a milkmaid, brought them food, until the gaoler grew afraid and stopped her.” — this site's research