Picture: The Catholic Church of St. Mary Immaculate, Warwick · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
William Freeman
Beatified English priest
BlessedResearched
Feast: 13 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
1558
verified
Died
13 August 1595
verified
Beatified
—
not on record
Canonised
—
not yet
Who they were
William Freeman of Yorkshire, from a recusant family, conformed outwardly for a time. Moved by witnessing the martyrdom of Edward Stransham in 1586, he went to Reims and was ordained in 1587.
He worked for six years in Warwickshire. Arrested in 1595, he refused friendly offers to escape, not wishing to lose the chance of martyrdom, and was executed at Warwick on 13 August 1595.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A man moved by a martyr's death to follow him.
Connected on this site
- Edward Stransham Blessed“Moved by witnessing the martyrdom of Edward Stransham in 1586, he went to Reims and was ordained in 1587.” — this site's research
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - William Freeman
- Wikidata Q8009423 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — William Freeman (martyr) (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.