Richard Bradley, Jesuit, 1645 (died in prison) John Felton, priest, SJ, 1646 (died in prison) Thomas Blount, priest, probably 1646 (died in prison) Robert Cox, Benedictine, 1650 (died in prison) Laurence Hill, layman, 1679 (Was it due to odium fidei, or an unprejudiced error?) Robert Green, layman, 1679 (Was it due to odium fidei, or an unprejudiced error?) Thomas Jennison, Jesuit, 1679 (died in prison) William Lloyd, seminary priest, 1679 (died in prison) Placid Adelham, Benedictine, 1680 (died in prison) Richard Birkett, priest, 1680 (died in prison) Richard Lacey, Jesuit, 1680 (died in prison) William Atkins, Jesuit, 1681 (died in prison) Edward Turner, Jesuit, 1681 (died in prison) William Allison, priest, 1681 (died in prison) Benedict Constable, Benedictine, 1683 (died in prison) William Bentney (alias Bennet), Jesuit, 1692 (died in prison) Executed for their faith in England 1534–1680 1534–1547 During the reign of Henry VIII of England. John Allen, priest, 25 February 1538 John Collins, priest, 1538 George Croft, priest, 1538 Martin Condres, Augustinian monk, December 1538: Paul of Saint William, Augustinian monk, December 1538: Thomas Empson (or Epson), Benedictine, 4 August 1540: Robert Bird, layman; 4 August 1540: William Bird, priest, 4 August 1540: William Peterson, priest, Commissary of Calais, Calais, 10 August 1540: or 10 April 1540 Decrees of Elizabeth I During the reign of Mary I, papal authority was officially reinstated and under three hundred of the minority Protestant population were martyred. Upon Elizabeth I's accession to the throne, an Act of Supremacy denied papal authority over the English church; but only a decade later, in February 1570, did Pope Pius V excommunicate Elizabeth and any who obeyed her, issuing the bull Regnans in Excelsis, which purported to "release[ Elizabeth I's] subjects from their allegiance to her". In the words of the New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Without question it was Elizabeth I's intention to supplant the old religion with the new in a bloodless manner. It is significant that there were no martyrs in the first 12 years of her reign, and only five in the years 1570 to 1577." Of those five, Thomas Plumtree had been chaplain to the insurgents in the Rising of the North, John Felton had published Pope Pius V's Bull Regnans in Excelsis ("reigning on high"), excommunicating Queen Elizabeth, John Story was tried for high treason, for having supported the Rising of the North and encouraging the Duke of Alba to invade, Thomas