St. Margaret Clitherow Middleton Research Paper

St. Margaret Clitherow Middleton is the patron saint of businesswomen. Being a patron saint means they hold a special protection over a group of people. She was raised as a protestant and converted to Roman Catholicism a few years after marriage. The moments leading up to her conversion were because she did not find truth or comfort in the doctrine of the new church. Her husband owned a successful butcher shop in which she helped run. Margaret was put in prison multiple times for harboring priests, and holding catholic celebrations in her home. She is generally looked to for her courage and faith. Margaret was born in York, Yorkshire, England in 1556. Her parents, Thomas and Jane MIddleton also had four other children. Thomas and Jane took part in the protestant religion as did their children. Her father was …show more content…
A few years later, 1574, she converted to Roman Catholicism. John was fully supportive of her conversion being that his brother was a priest. He even paid the fines she received for not attending the church services. They had three kids Anne, Henry and William, and lived in The Shambles. Since being a Catholic was not an option at this time, there weren't any priests or churches in the city. In order to follow through with her religion, Margaret harbored priests in her home in York, and another home she rented a distance from the city. Because of this, she was imprisoned on multiple occasions. She sent her oldest son, Henry, to the English college in Reims to study priesthood and her husband was questioned as to why their son was sent abroad. Afterwards, their house was searched and the "priest hole" was found. In order to prevent a trial that would put her kids in harm's way, she refused to plead and was executed on March 3, 1586. After the execution, Queen Elizabeth I, wrote a letter to the people informing them that executing her was wrong because she was a