When King James I became the king of England, Catholics had reason to hope that they would be better treated than in previous reigns. However, the Gunpowder Plot (an assassination attempt on the king’s life by a group of Catholics which failed) changed all that. While James did tolerate the presence of some Catholics to remain Catholics, as long as they swore their allegiance to him and kept quiet about their faith, he was not so tolerant toward an essential aspect of the Church: priests.
Blessed Richard Newport and Blessed William Scott were Englishmen who had been ordained as priests outside England so that they could return and serve English Catholics secretly. Both men had been arrested and exiled from England more than once for the crime of being Catholic priests. But their luck ran out. On this date in 1612, they were hanged, drawn, and quartered in London, dying as martyrs for their faith.
Holy Martyrs, show me how to help my priests.