Edmund Campion and Robert Parsons

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Edmund Campion and Robert Parsons

by Friedrich van Hulsen
line engraving, published in George Carleton's 'A Thankful Remembrance of God's Mercy' 1627
2 7/8 in. x 4 1/4 in. (74 mm x 107 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D25307

Sittersback to top

  • Edmund Campion (1540-1581), Jesuit; taught in Prague. Sitter in 8 portraits.
  • Robert Parsons (1546-1610), Jesuit Missionary. Sitter in 9 portraits.

Artistback to top

Events of 1627back to top

Current affairs

The Five Knights Case. Judge, Sir John Bramston represents two of the 'knights', Sir Thomas Darnell and Sir John Havingham who refused to pay the forced loan imposed by Charles I. Bramston's application for a writ of habeas corpus was unsuccessful and the defendants remained imprisoned without trial.

Art and science

The tragicomedy, The Great Duke of Florence by playwright Philip Massinger, is licensed by Sir Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels, to be performed by the queen's company at the Cockpit Theatre. The play is considered one of Massinger's best dramas.

International

Charles I sends forces commanded by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, to assist starving Huguenots rebels of La Rochelle, besieged by French king, Louis XIII's army. Villiers attempts to capture the French Atlantic fort of Île de Rhé, near Rochelle, but is forced to evacuate the island after three months.

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admin

27 May 2016, 12:58

Dear Father Joseph

Thank you for the information on the artist and publication date of this print. Our print is a loose impression, detached from its original setting in Carleton's book, so we are pleased to be able to add this information. We are grateful also for the source and translation of the Latin line above the image of Campion's execution.

Paul Cox

Fr Peter Joseph

04 December 2015, 09:26

from Father Peter Joseph, parish priest of St Dominic's church, Flemington, Sydney, Australia, biographer of St Edmund Campion: The image above was made in the 17th century by Frederic van Hulsen (1580-1665), who copied & enlarged a little the original by Cornelius Danckerts (c. 1603-1656). The 17th century drawing appears in "A Thankful Remembrance of God's Mercy" by George Carlton, 3rd edition, 1627, pp. 54-55, first printed in 1582, an anti-Catholic work opposed to the seminaries of Douay etc. In the drawing, the two priests named are depicted at Douay, plotting rebellion. St Edmund Campion, hanged at Tyburn tree, London, in 1581, is also pictured on the far left, in the background, and the first 3 words underneath are from Horace, Carmina, book 3, ode 2: "Raro antecedentem scelestum / Deseruit pede poena claudo." ("Seldom has punishment with lame foot left the criminal going on ahead" - i.e., one's just deserts will come sooner or later.)