Campion Hall, home of the Lynch School of Education, is named after St. Edmund Campion, who was born in England in 1540. Campion became a Catholic martyr in 1581, and he, called the "Pope's Champion," was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.
Campion was born into a Catholic family and was educated at Oxford, where he earned the reputation as a great orator.
He impressed Queen Elizabeth during her visit to the university and was offered a deaconship within the Church of England.
Campion took the Oath of Supremacy, but he did not live comfortably with his conversion. When his proctorship ended, he fled to Dublin to nurture his Catholic beliefs.
His Catholic tendencies exposed Campion to the dangers of persecution from leaders faithful to the Church of England.
With a clearer sense of his vocation, Campion traveled to Rome where he joined the Society of Jesus.
He was assigned a post in Prague, and there he was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1578.
Campion eventually returned to London to join in the campaign to keep the faith of wavering Catholic Londoners alive.
He worked to uplift Catholics who were suffering under the pressure of the Anglican government. His actions had a deep impact, both on the Catholics to whom he was reaching out and on the defendants of the Church of England.
Sensing danger, Campion spent the next three years moving around the English countryside evading his prosecutors and writing religious tracts to inspire his fellow Catholics.
During this time, he wrote his most famous work, the Decem Rationes ("10 Reasons"), a tract against the Church of England.
His pamphlet was secretly printed at Oxford the year of his death.
He was eventually tracked down by a spy named George Eliot in 1581 and was brought back to London for punishment.
Campion was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where it is said Queen Elizabeth herself offered him his freedom, on the condition that he denounce Catholicism and the pope and pledge allegiance once again to the Church of England.
When he refused, he was brought back to his cell in the tower and was tortured on the rack to extract the names of those who had supported and harbored him during his three years on the run.
It was reported that he confessed the names of those who were sympathetic to Catholics and arrests were made.
Campion denied that he had divulged any information and demanded a public disputation.
Campion was put on trial to defend himself and those he had supposedly denounced and entered a plea of innocence.
Nevertheless, he was found guilty and a death sentence was entered.
On Dec. 1, 1581, Campion was hanged, drawn, and quartered for his allegiance to the pope, along with two other prisoners.
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