Why We Need the Martyrs of Eyam

 Recently, I was researching for another post I was working on, and I came across a story that I had heard in college, but forgotten.  The story is of the village of Eyam in Derbyshire, England.  In 1665, the last major outbreak of the Black Plague occurred in England.  This small village, by the guidance of their new parish priest William Mompesson, decided to quarantine to keep the plague from spreading to their neighbors.  The outbreak lasted fourteen months, and by November of 1666, when the outbreak subsided somewhere between half to two-thirds of the villagers had died.  

At the time of the plague, most nobles, including King Charles II, fled populated areas to avoid illness.  This movement, of course, at times ended up spreading the disease.  The consensus of the entire village to stay in place, sacrificing their lives was inspired by their religious devotion and care for others.  The story is an example of Christian witness in times of terror.  However, to my surprise, these martyrs who sacrificed their lives for their faith are not commemorated anywhere in the Anglican Communion, outside of the village of Eyam itself.  

There are many parts of this story that carry deep connection to our context today, and I would like to make a case for The Martyrs of Eyam to be commemorated as Saints in The Episcopal Church.  The parallels are quite strong and can give us hope in our own time and place as we wrestle with contemporary challenges.

Plague

The obvious parallel to our time is that we have been living through our own time of plague.  The 1665-66 outbreak was the final outbreak of a disease that had ravaged Europe for centuries.  The fourteenth century outbreak was far more devastating than the seventeenth century one, but the earlier firestorms of disease and death would have been in people's cultural memories.  

The village of Eyam endured this outbreak for fourteen months.  This is a much shorter time than the pandemic of our own time that has now gone on for two years, killing nearly six million people worldwide, and a million in the United States alone.  While the recent pandemic has been devastating on many levels, the scale is nothing like that which was endured in that small village in the seventeenth century.  They had little medical treatment and were left so vulnerable that the village was nearly wiped out.  It must have been a horribly frightening time, as well as traumatizing for those people who had to buy their entire family, and see their friends disappear.  It must have been incredibly stressful, not knowing if they or their loved ones would be the next to succumb.  

And yet, through it all, driven by their faith and the hope of eternal salvation, they endured.  Not a single person left the marked village boundary, even at the peak of the plague.  In exchange for their sacrifice, local nobles and neighboring villagers left supplies at the boundary to support the villagers of Eyam as they weathered the horrors of this fourteen month outbreak.

Political Strife

Another interesting parallel is that the backdrop of this time was when the dust was settling from an era of political turmoil.  The previous twenty years had seen a civil war, a complete change in the political system with the Republic, and another time of upheaval with the Restoration.  In our own time we have seen political polarization, which has led to challenges with our ability to respond to our own time's pandemic.  

The village of Eyam was not immune from this time of turmoil, either.  During the Republic, the Church of England became Puritan and the previous Rector in Eyam was Thomas Stanley, a staunch Calvinist.  After the Restoration, Stanley was removed as Rector and replaced by Mompesson.  This arranged marriage of priest and parish made Mompesson very unpopular from the beginning.  It is this fact, which makes his story even more amazing.  

When the plague outbreak reached Eyam in September of 1665, Fr. Mompesson knew that the Christian response would be to protect those in surrounding towns and villages by isolating themselves.  The villagers were reasonably skeptical.  Just as in our time, many people found themselves wrestling with putting self at risk versus putting neighbor at risk.  

The way that Fr. Mompesson was able to persuade the villagers was by reaching out to his predecessor, Stanley.  Although, it is hard to say how they personally felt about one another, it is hard to imagine that there would not have been some suspicion between the two clerics.  Yet, by bridging a political gap and collaborating, these two people of faith inspired the village to the deepest call of Christian witness.

It is in our own time that we need such an example of collaboration.  We need to see places where those who were once enemies can join together in a time of crisis to inspire Christian witness.  Our time has a deep religious-political divide and where we too can do the most godly work is when we work together, despite differences.

Faith

We need this story, not just because it is a story of disease and politics, but because ultimately it is a story of faith.  Thomas Stanley and William Mompesson were on opposite ends of the political and religious spectrum, and yet they came together when called by God.  The villagers continued to worship during this time, holding services outdoors, while keeping distance from one another to not spread the disease.  

The most remarkable part about the Eyam story is the story of endurance.  In our own time of pandemic, in which we have medical technology that would have been unimaginable four hundred years ago, we see a great pandemic fatigue.  People in our time have refused to cooperate with abating the pestilence which we have seen.  As the last two years have rolled on, we have seen fewer masks, less social distancing and more vaccine resistance.  

One would imagine that in a time when everyone around you is dying agonizing deaths and the easy answer would be to leave, that people would just do that.  After a year of terror, one would certainly lose hope or just become exhausted by the entire thing.  It is true that many villagers of Eyam were skeptical of Mompesson's quarantine plan.  And yet, not a single villager left.  The people endured, serving one another as they were dying and staying in place to accept their fate.  The only explanation for how they did this is because they were driven by their deep faith and the hope of the resurrection.  

Commemoration

It is my proposal that now more than ever, we need this story.  As Anglicans, the story of Eyam is part of our religious history.  These are martyrs of our own tradition who paid the ultimate price for their faith.  In our own time of plague, and religious and political turmoil, we need an example of steady and enduring faith.  

To this day, in the village of Eyam, the last Sunday of August is a day which commemorates their ancestors' sacrifice.  The date coincides with when the plague entered the village.  As it turns out, August 26 is a feria in The Episcopal Church's calendar.  That would be an ideal day to commemorate these Christians who laid down their lives for the love of Christ and their neighbors.

Almighty God, whose most dear Son Jesus Christ laid down his life so that we might live: We give you thanks for the Martyrs of Eyam, by whose steady and enduring faith and sacrifice, others were saved; may we, by our own faith see their example as a witness to the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns, now and forever.  Amen.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-35064071

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyam

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Why-Is-Eyam-Significant/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War