in the house of Fitzwilliam, earl of Southampton, who did not treat her with the consideration due to her station. She was never brought to trial as it was certain that any jury would acquit her. In 1539 she was removed to the Tower, where she was kept without the common comforts necessary to her age, and notwithstanding her great possessions, was not able to buy herself a warm garment to protect her from the extreme cold; Catherine Howard, the fourth of Henry VIII.'s queens, sent her a furred gown, some shoes and slippers and other comforts. It was generally supposed that the Countess would soon be released; but early on the morning of May 27 she was informed that she was to die that day. She walked with a firm stop to the grass plot still shown in the Tower, where Anne Boleyn, before her, and Catherine Howard, after her, were beheaded. When ordered to lay her head on the block she said, "Thus should traitors die, I am none I " and stood erect, her almost gigantic height towering above the guards and spectators; and so she was beheaded.
When Cardinal Pole was told of her death, he said that he had always thanked God for giving him a pious and excellent mother, but that it was an unexpected honour to be able to call himself the son of a martyr.
Margaret's portrait, with those of many other martyrs, was painted on the walls of the ancient church of the English college in Rome, with the sanction of Gregory XIII.
She is the only woman among the fifty-four English Martyrs, May 4, pronounced Blessed by Pope Leo XIII., Dec. 9, 1886. They were martyred by Protestants in England during the strnggle on account of the change in the national religion, between 1535 and 1681.
Dic. of Nat. Biog. Phillips, Life of Pole. Beeton, British Biography ; Nouvelle Biograghie Universelle. Thomas, Universal Dic. of Biography. Lingard, Hist, of England. Low and Pulling, Dic. of English History. Sanford, Hist. of the Royal Family of England. Keightley, Hist of England. Stanton, Menology of England and Wales.
B. Margaret (30) of Piazza in Sicily, or Margaret Calixabeta, March 7, May 12, Sept. 13, Dec. 28, -f 1560, 3rd O.S.F. Her father's name was Thomas Matthia ; her mother was Angela Negra. Various days and dates are assigned to her. She lived alone in a humble dwell- ing and took poor girls to teach and train. She is credited with miracles. Stadler. Hueber.
St. Margaret (31) delle Chiave, Sept. 8, June 13, + 1570. A Portu- guese widow, a nun, O.S.A., at Ponta Delgada in the Azores. She was ex- tremely ascetic and had wonderful spiritual gifts. She died Sept. 8, and was translated June 20. Her immediate canonization was confidently expected by the inhabitants of the island; they began at once to build a church in her honour, but as she was not canonized it was not permissible to dedicate it in her name, so St. Margaret (1) was chosen as its patron in 1587. Margaret (31 ) is called " Saint " by Torelli, Secdi. Cardoso, Agiologio Lusitano, Chevalier, Repertoire. AA.SS., June 23, Prseter. B. Margaret (32)1 Sept. 14, + 1574. Daughter of Francis I., king of France. Married, in 1550, to Emmanuel Phili- bert, duke of Savoy. Migne. Her sister Magdelaine married James V., king of Scotland. B, Margaret (33) AguUona; Dec. 9, 1536-1000, 3rd O.S.F.— erroneously called Margaret Angelona and 6. BuLLONA — was born at Xativa in Val- encia. In her childhood she was sur- rounded by a miraculous light, which moved about with her. At twenty, she became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis, and gave all she had to the poor. She lived by the work of her own hands, went about in ragged clothes, and begged at the gate of the friars. Her sanctity attracted the attention of St. Louis Bertran, Louis of Grenada and other persons eminent for learning and holiness. In her time, Mary, prioress of the Convent of the Annunciation in Lisbon, pretended to have the stigmata and deceived every one, even Pope Gregory XIII., who wrote her a letter. When she was found out, a great revulsion of feeling set in
