Fisher

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House Colour: Purple

Feast day: 22nd June

Fisher was born around 1469. He was the son of a merchant and was educated at Cambridge University. He was later appointed a Chancellor – a post he held up to 1535. Fisher was a stout defender of the doctrine of the Catholic Church and in April 1534 he refused to take the oath required by the Succession Act.

This required Fisher to take an oath that repudiated the Pope and validated the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Several attempts were made to get Fisher to swear the oath, but he refused. Under the newly passed Treason Act, his refusal was construed as treason and Fisher was put on trial, charged with a crime that carried the death sentence. It was at this time that Pope Paul III made Fisher a Cardinal – a move that infuriated Henry and almost certainly condemned him to death (if he had not been already). John Fisher was put on trial on 17th June 1535, found guilty of treason and executed on 22nd June 1535, at Tower Hill.