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Richard Whiting
English abbot
BlessedResearchedUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Feast: 15 November (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
1460
Died
15 November 1539
verified
Beatified
13 May 1895
by Pope Leo XIII
Canonised
—
not yet
Who they were
Richard Whiting, a monk of Glastonbury and Cambridge doctor, was named abbot in 1525 and ruled his abbey carefully for ten peaceful years.
When the royal commissioners came in 1539, Glastonbury was the last monastery left in Somerset. He was examined, sent to the Tower, taken back to Somerset and, after a mock trial, hanged, drawn and quartered on the hill above Glastonbury on 15 November 1539 with two of his monks.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
The last Abbot of Glastonbury, who died rather than give up his monastery.
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Blessed Richard Whiting
- Wikidata Q3934900 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Richard Whiting (abbot) (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.