Edward Arden
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Edward Arden (1542?-1583) was an English nobleman who became a Catholic martyr.
Arden lived in Park Hall, an estate near modern-day Birmingham. He was a recusant Catholic and kept a priest, Hugh Hall, at his house disguised as a gardener. Arden's son-in-law, John Somerville, hatched a plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, but was arrested long before he could attempt it. A purge of Arden's household ensued, and Arden, who may not have known of Somerville's plan, was executed and decapitated.
Arden may have been distantly related to Mary Arden, the mother of William Shakespeare.
[edit] References
- Greenblatt, Stephen. Will in the World. New York: Norton, 2004, pp. 157-8.
[edit] External links
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
