Robert Southwell (Jesuit) - On The English Mission

On The English Mission

Southwell, at his own request, was sent to England in 1586 as a Jesuit missionary with Henry Garnet. He went from one Catholic family to another. The Jesuit William Weston had previously made his way to England; but he was arrested and sent to Wisbech Castle in 1587. The Garnet–Southwell Jesuit English mission is considered the third; the first such mission was that of Robert Parsons and Edmund Campion of 1580–1.

A spy reported to Sir Francis Walsingham the Jesuits' landing on the east coast in July, but they arrived without molestation at the house at Hackney of William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden. In 1588 Southwell and Garnet were joined by John Gerard and Edward Oldcorne. Southwell was from the outset closely watched; he mixed furtively in Protestant society under the assumed name of Cotton. He studied the terms of sport, and used them in conversation. For the most part in London, he made occasional excursions to Sussex and the north.

In 1589 Southwell became domestic chaplain to Ann Howard, whose husband, the first earl of Arundel, was in prison convicted of treason. Arundel had been confined to the Tower of London since 1585; but his execution was postponed, and he remained in prison till his death in 1596. Southwell took up his residence with the countess at Arundel House in The Strand, London. During 1591 he occupied most of his time in writing; although Southwell's name was not publicly associated with any of his works, his literary activity was suspected by the government.