John Forest (1471–1538)

Biography

He was born in Oxford, England, and very young. He still entered the Franciscan order. He studied theology at Oxford. He was chaplain and confessor of Queen Catherine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII; The latter, in 1534, suppressed the Franciscan convents of the observance. John was taken to Newgate Prison, but was eventually released. Arrested again by order of the king, he was sentenced to death. The execution took place at Smithfield. They martyred him over a slow fire.