Walter Colman
Friar Minor and
English martyr:
date of birth uncertain; died in
London, 1645. He came of noble and
wealthy parents and when quite young left
England to study at the English College at
Douai. In 1625 he entered the
Franciscan Order at
Douai, receiving in religion the name of Christopher of St. Clare, by which he is more generally known. having completed his year of
novitiate, he returned to
England at the call of the
provincial,
Father John Jennings, but was immediately
imprisoned because he refused to take the
Oath of Allegiance. Released through the efforts of his friends, he went to
London, where he was employed in the
duties of the sacred ministry and where, during his leisure moments, he composed "The Duel of Death" (London, 1632 or 1633), an elegant metrical treatise on death, which be
dedicated to Queen Henrietta Maria, consort of Charles I. When the
persecution broke out anew in 1641, Colman returned to
England from
Douai, whither he had gone to regain his health. On 8 Dec. of the same year he was brought to trial, together with six other
priests, two of whom were
Benedictines and four members of the
secular clergy. They were all condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered on 13 Dec., but through the interposition of the French ambassador the execution was stayed indefinitely. Colman lingered on in Newgate for several years until he died, exhausted by starvation and the hardships of the dungeon where he was confined.
Sources
THADDEUS, The Franciscans in England (London, 1898), 62, 72, 106; COOPER in Dict. Nat. Bioq., s. v. Colman; HOPE, Franciscan Martyrs in England (London, 1878), xi, 123 sqq; MASON, Certamen Seraphicum (Quaracchi, 1885), 211, 228; LEO, Lives of the Saints and Blessed of the Three Orders of St. Francis (Taunton, 1887), IV, 368.
About this page
APA citation. Donovan, S. (1908). Walter Colman. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04115h.htm
MLA citation. Donovan, Stephen. "Walter Colman." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04115h.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.
