John Roberts (martyr)

Saint John Roberts (1575/1576 - 10 December 1610) was a Benedictine monk and priest, and was the first Prior of St. Gregory's, Douai, France (now Downside Abbey). Returning to England as a missionary priest during the period of recusancy, he was martyred at Tyburn.

Early life and conversion to Catholicism

He was the son of John and Anna Roberts of Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, in Northern Wales. He matriculated at St. John's College, Oxford, in February, 1595–96, but left after two years without taking a degree and entered as a law student at one of the Inns of Court. In 1598 he travelled on the continent and in Paris. Through the influence of a Catholic fellow- countryman he was converted. By the advice of John Cecil, an English priest who afterwards became a Government spy, he decided to enter the English College, Douai, then located at Valladolid, where he was admitted on 18 October 1598.

Benedictine missionary

The following year Roberts left the college for the Abbey of St. Benedict, Valladolid, and from there he was sent to make his novitiate at San Martín Pinario, Santiago de Compostela, where he made his profession towards the end of 1600. Having completed his studies he was ordained, and set out for England on 26 December 1602. Although observed by a Government spy, Roberts and his companions succeeded in entering the country in April 1603; but he was arrested and banished on 13 May.

He reached Douai on 24...
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