10 Facts About Hugh Faringdon

At the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII of England, Faringdon was accused of high treason and executed.

Hugh Faringdon was declared a martyr and beatified by the Catholic Church in 1895.

Hugh Faringdon is believed to have been educated within the abbey, and later served as the sub-cellarer of the abbey.

Hugh Faringdon was elected Abbot of Reading Abbey in 1520, upon the death of Abbot Thomas Worcester.

Hugh Faringdon seems to have taken the king's side during the divorce controversy.

Hugh Faringdon sat in Parliament from 1523 to 1539 and, in 1530, he signed, with other members of the House of Lords, a letter to the Pope pointing out the evils likely to result from delaying the divorce desired by the King; and, again in 1536, he signed the Articles of Faith drawn up in Convocation which virtually acknowledged the supremacy of the Crown over the Church.

In 1539, Hugh Faringdon was indicted for high treason after being accused of having assisted the Northern rebels with money.

Hugh Faringdon was tracked down at Bere Court, his manor at Pangbourne, and taken back to the Tower of London, where he spent two months.

Hugh Faringdon was declared a martyr of the Catholic Church and beatified by the Pope Leo XIII in 1895 and his feast day is 15 November.

Hugh Faringdon is depicted on The Martyrdom of Hugh Faringdon, last Abbot of Reading, painted by Harry Morley in 1917, and now in the collection of the Museum of Reading.