William Greenwood
Feast: 6 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
William Greenwood was a lay brother of the London Charterhouse. On 18 May 1537 the monks and lay brothers left in the London Charterhouse were ordered to take the Oath of Supremacy, acknowledging the king as head of the Church. Ten refused. On 29 May they were sent to Newgate prison, chained standing to posts with their hands tied behind them, and left to starve. Margaret Clement, who had grown up in St. Thomas More's household, bribed the gaoler and, dressed as a milkmaid, brought them food, until the gaoler grew afraid and stopped her.
Greenwood was the first to die, on 6 June 1537. All ten Carthusians were beatified by Leo XIII in December 1886.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Carthusian lay brother starved to death in Newgate for refusing the Oath of Supremacy.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
Connected on this site
- Thomas More Saint“Thomas More's household, bribed the gaoler and, dressed as a milkmaid, brought them food, until the gaoler grew afraid and stopped her.” — this site's research
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Bl. Thomas Johnson
- Roman Martyrology, 6 June (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q130889503 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.