Wednesday, April 09, 2008

"Theirs is not a particularly heroic story... "

Prat.

Edmund Plowden gets a mention in the Catholic Encyclopedia for his refusal, at great risk, to renounce his Catholic Faith.

But of course Mr. Paxman isn't impressed with real heroism.

Prat.

He successfully defended Bishop Horne, and helped Catholics by his legal knowledge. On one occasion he was defending a gentleman charged with hearing Mass, and detected that the service had been performed by a layman for the purpose of informing against those who were present, whereon he exclaimed, "The case is altered; no priest, no Mass", and thus secured an acquittal. This incident gave rise to the common legal proverb, "The case is altered, quoth Plowden". He himself was required to give bond in 1569 to be of good behaviour in religious matters for he was delated to the Privy Council for refusing to attend the Anglican service, though no measures seem to have been taken against him.

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