Margaret Clitherow was a 16th-century English Catholic housewife from York who became a prominent figure for her religious convictions. Living during a period of intense persecution, she provided refuge to fugitive priests in her home and a separate rented property to allow for the celebration of Mass. In 1586, she was arrested for harboring clergy and refused to enter a plea to avoid implicating her children. As a result, she was executed by being crushed under heavy weights, a method intended to compel a plea.