The Martyrs of Gorkum

These were a group of nineteen Dutch religious, including Franciscans, Dominicans Premonstratensian Canons and diocesan priests, who were executed by militant Dutch Calvinists at Briel in 1572, during the war of independence with Spain.

After imprisonments and tortures, a mob hauled them before the fanatical pirate Admiral Lumey. William of Orange ordered their release and the local authorities deplored the arrest but to no avail. When the group refused to deny Catholic teaching on the Eucharist and the Papacy, they were tortured and hanged at a deserted monastery near Briel.

A shrub bearing 19 white flowers is said to have sprung up at the site of the martyrdom. Many miracles have been attributed to the intercession of the Gorkum martyrs, especially the curing of hernias.

The beatification of the martyrs took place on 14 November 1675, and their canonization on 29 June 1865. For many years the place of their martyrdom in Brielle has been the scene of numerous pilgrimages and processions. The reliquary of their remains is now enshrined in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Brussels, Belgium.