Saint John Fisher was born on October 19, 1469 in Beverley, Yorkshire, England. He died, executed under England's King Henry VIII, on June 22, 1535, at Tower Hill, London, England. John Fisher was a Roman Catholic Bishop, Cardinal, martyr, and Scholastic. St. John Fisher shares his feast day with St. Thomas More (also executed by Henry VIII) on June 22 in the Roman Catholic Church's calendar of saints and on July 6 in the Anglican Church's calendar of saints.

Fisher was a chief supporter of Catherine of Aragon during the time Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Catherine annulled. John Fisher was executed during the English Protestant Reformation because he refused to accept Henry VIII as Head of the Church of England and because he upheld the Roman Catholic Church's dogma of papal primacy.