John Bodey was a 16th-century English academic, jurist, and theologian born in Wells. After studying at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, he was expelled from his fellowship in 1576 due to his religious convictions. Following studies in civil law at Douay College, he returned to England to work as a schoolmaster. His refusal to acknowledge the Royal Supremacy led to his arrest and subsequent legal trials, resulting in his martyrdom in Andover in 1583.
Life and martyrdom
After being stripped of his academic position at Oxford, Bodey pursued legal studies in Douay. Upon returning to England, he served as a teacher in Hampshire. In 1580, he was imprisoned in Winchester, where he faced charges of high treason for denying the Queen's supremacy over the Church. Despite a perceived illegality in his first sentence, he was retried in Andover and executed by hanging, drawing, and quartering on 2 November 1583.
Veneration
The Catholic Church recognizes Bodey as a blessed. He is commemorated annually on 2 November. His writings from prison, which expressed a desire for spiritual perseverance through suffering, remain part of his historical record.