Nicholas Owen

Saint Nicholas Owen Historical Figure Nationality: England Year of Death: 1606 Cause of Death: Disemboweled during torture Religion: Catholicism Occupation: Catholic priest Fictional Appearances: 1632 series POD: May, 1631 Appearance(s): Grantville Gazette VII Type of Appearance: Posthumous reference Saint Nicholas Owen (died 1606) was a Jesuit lay-brother and English Catholic martyr who built numerous priest holes in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI on 25 October 1970. His feast day, along with that of the other thirty-nine martyrs, is on 25 October. Nicholas Owen in 1632 Nicholas Owen was known in Catholic English history and was not canonized until 1970. Father Lawrence Mazzare interviewed Father Nicholas Smithson and asked the latter if he is named after Saint Nicholas Owen. Smithson was surprised to learn of his namesake's canonization, and answered that he is named after the now considered Saint by his father James Smithson, who insisted that Nicholas Owen "did the work of three normal men and was a great champion of God". Smithson's mother, on the other hand, viewed Owen as a 'dwarf'.