A new display invites visitors to discover new research on St Margaret Clitherow and the mystery behind how the Bar Convent became custodians of her relic.

Using unseen documents from the Bar Convent’s archives, students from York St John University have been investigating the unsolved questions: How did the relic come into the convent’s possession? When was it taken there? Why is it there?

This research will be shared alongside archive material that has never been on display before, as well as a new interpretation of the significance of St Margaret Clitherow to York, Catholicism and women’s history.

Special collections manager Dr Hannah Thomas said: “St Margaret Clitherow, also known as the Pearl of York, is one of the most significant martyrs, particularly in terms of the nature of her execution.
“Her death was seen as so brutal by her contemporaries that Queen Elizabeth I is said to have written to the city officials to condemn their actions, and a sentence of this nature was never passed again as punishment for Catholics in this country. 

“We receive many questions from visitors about why St Margaret Clitherow’s relic is housed at the convent, and how it came to be here. 

“York St John University students Jessica Diamond, Benjamin Stringer and Mia Skinner, who are second-year history students, were given access to our archives and have carried out research into these questions for the first time.

“They have been working with material that has never been made public before, including a pocket-sized engraving depicting her execution, several books about martyrs compiled by the English Catholic community and probably read by the earliest members of the Bar Convent community, and a very rare handwritten biography of Margaret Clitherow.
“All were made in the 17th century, and designed for covert circulation among the hidden Catholic community in York, and will go on public display for the first time in the Bar Convent exhibition.”

The new interpretation will also explore St Margaret Clitherow’s fellow women of the Catholic underground and other influential women who have contributed to the Bar Convent story.

Relics are physical objects which have a direct association with the saints or with Christ. The word comes from the Latin terms for “remains” and “to leave behind”. Catholic scripture teaches that God acts through relics, especially in terms of healing.
The display continues until July 1.