William Hart

Who they were

William Hart of Wells, an Oxford scholar, followed his rector to Douai, took the oath at the English College in Rome and was ordained. From 1581 he worked in Yorkshire, once escaping capture by standing up to his chin in the muddy moat of York Castle.

Betrayed on Christmas Day 1582, he was thrown into an underground dungeon in double irons, tried at the Lent assizes and executed at York on 15 March 1583.

The miracles

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

Why that counted as sanctity

A young priest who served Yorkshire's Catholics at the risk of his life.