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Thomas Plumtree (d. 1570) was a Roman Catholic priest and martyr who has been beatified in the Roman Calendar. Called the "Preacher of the Rebels" in old English ballads, he is mostly known for his execution and martyrdom on the command of Queen Elizabeth I for his participation in the 1569 Rising of the North, which aimed to overthrow Elizabeth and restore Catholic worship to Northern England.

Life
Born in Lincolnshire most likely during the late reign of Henry VIII, Plumtree began studies at Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1543. Ordained a priest in the Catholic Church under the reign of Queen Mary I, he was made rector of Stubton, in the very Catholic Lincolnshire in 1546 after graduating Oxford with a B.A.. He later resigned the benefice on the accession of the protestant Elizabeth I, rather than taking the oaths stemming from the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity that, in the eyes of many Catholics, called people to profess faith in the English monarchy over and above faith in the universal Church. Plumtree was later removed as a master in a Lincoln school for refusing to take the oaths. As a Catholic unwilling to acknowledge the Queen's supremacy over Church and state, Plumtree was unable to function as priest or teacher unless employed privately. Eventually he found the employment of Thomas Percy, the Catholic Earl of Northumberland, as a private chaplain and tutor.

Rising of the North and Martyrdom
In 1569, Plumtree became the leading Chaplain of a rebellion lead by Thomas Percy Earl of Northumberland and the Catholic Earl of Westmorland, Charles Neville. Known as the Rising of the North, the Earls organized with 600 knights at Raby Castle in County Durham with the purpose of liberating the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, and bringing Catholic worship back to Northern England. The North had a disproportionate number of recusant, or underground, Catholics, supported by the many noble families in the North who also remained Catholic. Northern England also had an ancient, district history, and a proud separate identity was only hardened by the religious schism that separated the catholic North from the growing Protestantism in the south of England and of the Monarchy. This separate identity was largely centered around Durham with its patron St. Cuthbert –whose legacy had left succeeding bishops of Durham as Prince-Bishops with their own currency and martial rights ruling over a sort of buffer-state between England and Scotland for centuries. Judging by the activity of the army lead by Northumberland and Westmorland, the Northern Rising seems to have largely been an armed reestablishment of Catholic worship as well as a demonstration of traditional catholic piety. Thomas proceeded with the Rebels Protestand service books were destroyed in dozens on Churches in county Durham and Yorkshire as Plumtree and other priests reistated the mass at numerous parish churches. The Rising lead to its climax on December 4th, 1569, when Plumtree celebrated mass at Durham Cathedral for a crowd of hundreds and with the preacher,, reconciled the people of Durham with the Catholic Church.