A native of Avalon, Burgundy and a canon regular, at the age of twenty he joined the Carthusians. In 1175, he was invited by King Henry II to found the first English Charterhouse (Carthusian monastery) at Witham in Somerset, which he did in the face of obstacles of all kinds. In 1181, he was chosen to be bishop of Lincoln, and governed zealously and wisely; the present Lincoln cathedral was begun during his episcopate. He died, age sixty, deeply lamented, especially by the Jews, whom he had always defended and befriended. According to writer William of Newburgh, Hugh not only risked his life in anti-Jewish riots at Stamford in 1189, but also suppressed the cult of a false martyr there in the following year. The circumstances of the case have not survived, but it seems fair to say that the Jews had been held responsible for a crime they had not committed and that the man around whom a cult was starting had met his violent death through other causes quite unconnected with the Jews.
Hugh had also always been fearless in confronting King Henry II about his many interferences in exercise Church authority. Hugh is usually depicted with a swan which attached itself to him and would attack anyone who came near the bishop. At his magnificent funeral, the kings of England and Scotland helped to carry the bier. He was canonized in 1220. And the gorgeous shrine over his remains in Lincoln Cathedral was a major goal of pilgrimage for the north of England. Inventories of his shrine in 1520 and 1536 indicate that it was still laden down with treasures, “sapphires, gold images and crosses as well as pearls.” During the years of the Reformation, such riches attracted the covetous eyes of King Henry VIII. And in June, 1540, as part of a general attack on shrines, commissioners were sent to Lincoln to strip the feretory of St. Hugh and destroy it. So thorough was their work that no trace of the body, shrine or its contents can be discovered today. Itemized among other things looted were 2,621 ounces of gold and 4,285 ounces of silver. Hugh’s feast day is November 17th.
Alas, the Jews were right in lamenting Hugh’s death. The period that immediately followed saw a steady rise in anti-Semitism, culminating in the “ritual murder” libel against the Jews when the body of the eight year old “Little Hugh of Lincoln” was found in a well. It occasioned a big attack on the Jews of Lincoln and the enshrining of Little Hugh’s remains in the cathedral, where he was now honored as a martyr.
When King Henry VIII died in 1547, he was succeeded by his young son Edward VI, the first English monarch raised a Protestant. During Edward’s brief reign, under the influence of his uncles, he shifted the English church in a much more Protestant direction. This meant more destruction of images, paintings, frescoes, and stained glass in the churches. When Edward died in 1553, he was succeeded by his Catholic older sister, who became Queen Mary I. She tried to restore Catholicism in the country. Unfortunately, she did it too aggressively and vindictively. Among other things, she replaced all the bishops who had not been validly ordained in Catholic ceremonies. Thus, Thomas Watson became the last Catholic bishop of Lincoln. He was appointed on March 29, 1557 and deposed June 25, 1559, after which he was confined to the Tower of London and other such places for the next twenty-five years until his death.
Hugh had also always been fearless in confronting King Henry II about his many interferences in exercise Church authority. Hugh is usually depicted with a swan which attached itself to him and would attack anyone who came near the bishop. At his magnificent funeral, the kings of England and Scotland helped to carry the bier. He was canonized in 1220. And the gorgeous shrine over his remains in Lincoln Cathedral was a major goal of pilgrimage for the north of England. Inventories of his shrine in 1520 and 1536 indicate that it was still laden down with treasures, “sapphires, gold images and crosses as well as pearls.” During the years of the Reformation, such riches attracted the covetous eyes of King Henry VIII. And in June, 1540, as part of a general attack on shrines, commissioners were sent to Lincoln to strip the feretory of St. Hugh and destroy it. So thorough was their work that no trace of the body, shrine or its contents can be discovered today. Itemized among other things looted were 2,621 ounces of gold and 4,285 ounces of silver. Hugh’s feast day is November 17th.
Alas, the Jews were right in lamenting Hugh’s death. The period that immediately followed saw a steady rise in anti-Semitism, culminating in the “ritual murder” libel against the Jews when the body of the eight year old “Little Hugh of Lincoln” was found in a well. It occasioned a big attack on the Jews of Lincoln and the enshrining of Little Hugh’s remains in the cathedral, where he was now honored as a martyr.
When King Henry VIII died in 1547, he was succeeded by his young son Edward VI, the first English monarch raised a Protestant. During Edward’s brief reign, under the influence of his uncles, he shifted the English church in a much more Protestant direction. This meant more destruction of images, paintings, frescoes, and stained glass in the churches. When Edward died in 1553, he was succeeded by his Catholic older sister, who became Queen Mary I. She tried to restore Catholicism in the country. Unfortunately, she did it too aggressively and vindictively. Among other things, she replaced all the bishops who had not been validly ordained in Catholic ceremonies. Thus, Thomas Watson became the last Catholic bishop of Lincoln. He was appointed on March 29, 1557 and deposed June 25, 1559, after which he was confined to the Tower of London and other such places for the next twenty-five years until his death.
At the Shrine of All Saints, we have a theca (container), which contains fragments from the bones of St. Hugh of Lincoln and “Little Hugh”. The document of certification was signed by Bishop Annibale Albani of Porto-Santa Rufina on April 7, 1744. In it, he writes that the relics were originally sealed in the theca by Bishop Thomas Watson of Lincoln in 1558. These unique relics were preserved just in time. Queen Mary died at 7:00 in the morning on November 18, 1558 – the feast of St. Hugh in the Anglican calendar. Cardinal Reginald Pole, her Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, died twelve hours later. This marked the end of Catholicism as the official religion of England.
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