62 beatified on 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI The Douai Martyrs is a name applied by the Catholic Church to 158 Catholic priests from Great Britain who studied at the English College, Douai and were subsequently executed by the Kingdom of England between 1577 and 1680.
Act 1584 the presence of a Catholic priest within the realm was considered high treason.
Missionaries from Douai were looked upon as papal agents intent on overthrowing the state.
[4] Each time the news of another execution reached the College, a Solemn Mass of thanksgiving was sung.
A number of the "seminary priests" from Douai were executed at a three-sided gallows at Tyburn near the present-day Marble Arch.