T.S. Baker Books
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The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest
John GerardT·S·Baker·Books

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The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest

Our edition · 1609 · 395 pages

The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest

by John Gerard

English Jesuit John Gerard wrote this gripping memoir of his underground mission in Elizabethan England. Captured and held in the Tower of London, he was tortured by being suspended by the wrists from manacles, nearly crippling his hands — yet refused to betray his fellow priests. On the night of 4 October 1597 he escaped the Tower hand-over-hand by rope across the moat, and having befriended his jailer, arranged for the man to escape too so he would not be punished. (Originally written in Latin c. 1609; the standard English edition is Philip Caraman's translation, first published 1951.)

The changed life

Hunted, racked, and imprisoned, Gerard would not break — and so loved the jailer who guarded him that he carried the man to freedom along with himself.

A note on the text. The Autobiography of a Hunted Priestis in the public domain. What you're buying is our edition — the careful typesetting and design. The original text is also available free here.