Overview
Jane Wiseman ( Vaughan; died 1610) was an English recusant and priest harbourer. She narrowly avoided becoming a Catholic martyr after being sentenced to Peine forte et dure. Her daughter Mary Wiseman (born Jane) was the founding prioress of St Monica's Convent of Augustinian canonesses regular in Leuven (Louvain).
Life
Her parents are said to be the soldier Cuthbert Vaughan who was the second of the three husbands of Elizabeth Raydon or Roydon. Her mother was said to be related to Tudor royalty. Her father died in the 1560s and her mother on 19 August 1595. Jane was said to have had over thirty men who wanted to marry her before she settled on Thomas Wiseman. Their household, Braddocks, was known for allegiance to the Catholic religion. When her husband died, her eldest son William inherited the property. She consulted John Gerard who became the family's chaplain in 1591 and with little persuasion she created a new household, Bullocks, complete with chaplain. Her son was to work with Gerard, asking him for help in proofreading some of his writing. Gerard would go on to become a Catholic hero.
In order to secure sufficient evidence to convict her, Richard Topcliffe arranged for Jane to be entrapped through a minor Gatehouse official asking her to tend to the injuries of another prisoner; what Jane did not know was that this prisoner was, in fact, the Franciscan friar John Jones. For this, and for her earlier activities, she was charged with "receiving, comforting, helping and maintaining priests"; she refused to be tried by a jury, and thus to enter a plea. Jane was fully aware of the penalty of peine forte et dure, or being pressed to death, that was imposed on those who refused to plead but, reportedly being influenced by Margaret Clitherow's example, was prepared to become a martyr.
Private life
Jane and Thomas had eight children whose names are known but their birth dates are not clear. William was born in the 1550s, Jane in about 1570, John in 1571, and Thomas in 1572. The others were Robert, Anne, Barbara and Bridget. Jane would later become prioress of the Saint Monica's convent in 1609, by which point she was now known under the religious name of Mary Wiseman. As for their sons, John and Thomas intended to become Jesuit priests but died before they could be ordained, while Robert fought against Protestant factions during the Eighty Years' War, leaving William to protect the family's religious and material interests back in England.