Marian Persecutions
Encyclopedia
The Marian Persecutions were carried out against religious reformers, Protestants, and other dissenter
Dissenter
The term dissenter , labels one who disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England and Wales, however, it refers particularly to a member of a religious body who has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church.Originally, the term...

s for their heretical beliefs during the reign of Mary I of England
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

. The excesses of this period were mythologized in the historical record of Foxe's Book of Martyrs
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, more accurately Acts and Monuments, is an account from a Protestant point of view of Christian church history and martyrology...

. English Protestants developed a lasting hatred of the queen they called "Bloody Mary", as well as Bishop Edmund Bonner
Edmund Bonner
Edmund Bonner , Bishop of London, was an English bishop. Initially an instrumental figure in the schism of Henry VIII from Rome, he was antagonized by the Protestant reforms introduced by Somerset and reconciled himself to Roman Catholicism...

, the Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...

, for their involvement in the persecution. Heresy was a crime against the crown of England, and like the Elizabethean hangings of thousands of Catholics, the monarch did not administer the executions. Rather they were conducted by the queens' privy councils as matters of state.

Historical context

The English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....

 resulted in the end of Roman ecclesiastical governance in England, the assertion of royal control over the Church, the elimination of Catholic institutions such as monasteries and chantries
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...

, the prohibition of Catholic worship and the institution of Church of England services and clergy. During the Reformation in England, many people were caught in the middle of a political war between Catholic and Protestant ascendancy. What distinguished the Henrician Reformation in England from the Protestant Reformation in mainland Europe (notably the Holy Roman Empire) was that in England, it was a political reformation that took control of land and wealth out of the hands of the popular Catholic clergy and transferred it to large lay landowners.
An important year in the English Reformation was 1547, when Protestantism became a new force under the child-king Edward VI, England's first Protestant ruler. Edward died at age 15 in 1553 leaving the throne against Parliament's will to Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...

 who held it for nine days before Edward's Catholic half-sister Mary deposed her and assumed the crown as Henry VIII stipulated in his Act of Accession. Mary reigned for just five years before dying, 1553-1558. During her reign, she repaired the severed relationship with Rome and returned England to Catholicism. Protestants opposed Mary's actions. Many people were exiled, and hundreds of dissenters were burned at the stake, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary". It is true that popular non-Catholic propaganda of the day has persisted to this day, and it makes no mention of Queen Elizabeth I's (in her 45 years reign) exponentially greater persecution and hanging of Catholic laypeople
Laypeople
Laypeople may refer to:* laity, members of a church who are not clergy* layman, someone who is not an expert in a particular field of study...

and clergy (and some 100 or so Protestant clergy as well).

Troubles for Protestants

After the accession of Queen Mary I to the English throne in 1553, and Mary's subsequent decree of Catholicism, Protestants faced a choice: exile, reconciliation/conversion, or punishment. Several of those who remained in England to profess and defend their Protestant beliefs would be executed, burned alive by being restrained over open flames, and thus their supporters considered them martyrs. Mary's privy council had some 284 Protestants burned at the stake; the victims of her campaign were disproportionately male (only 56 of the condemned were women). 30 died in prison. While the so-called “Marian Persecutions” began with four clergymen, relics of Edwardian England’s Protestantism, the tendentious record of events Foxe’s Book of Martyrs offers an interesting account of the executions, which branched well beyond the anticipated targets – high-level clergy. Tradesmen were also burned, as well as married men and women, sometimes in unison; at least one couple was burned alive with their daughter.

Judicial Process

However bloody the end, the trials of Protestant heretics were judicial affairs, adhering to a strict legal protocol under the privy council, with Parliament's blessing. During the session which restored the realm to "papal obedience" parliament reinstated the heresy laws. From 20 January 1555, England could legally punish those judged guilty of heresy against the Catholic faith. Thus it became a matter of establishing the guilt or innocence of an accused heretic in open court – a process which the lay authorities employed to reclaim "straying sheep" and to set a precedent for authentic Catholic teaching. Problem was, there was no formalized canon law within the Catholic Church at this time, though it had been forming since the Church invented jurisprudence in the 12th Century. Also, there were no seminaries and few standardized requirements for Catholic clergy until after the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...

, and the Catholic Church was besieged by men of political bent infiltrating the clergy to gain control of land and wealth throughout Western Europe. Not even the papacy was safe from these kinds of "secular" influence until after the Council of Trent.

If found guilty, the accused were first excommunicated, then handed over to the secular authorities for execution. The official records of the trials are limited to formal accusations, sentences, and so forth; the documents to which historians look for context and detail are those written by the accused.

The First Four Martyrs

  • John Rogers, preacher, biblical translator, lecturer at St. Paul’s Cathedral – burned at Smithfield, 4 February 1555.
  • Lawrence Saunders, preacher, rector of London church of All Hallows – burned at Coventry, 8 February 1555.
  • John Hooper
    John Hooper
    John Hooper, Johan Hoper, was an English churchman, Anglican Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester. A Protestant Reformer, he was killed during the Marian Persecutions.-Biography:...

    , King Edward-era bishop of Gloucester and Worcester – burned in Gloucester, 9 February 1555.
  • Rowland Taylor
    Rowland Taylor
    Rowland Taylor was an English Protestant martyr during the Marian Persecutions....

    , rector of Hadleigh in Suffolk – burned at Aldham Common, 9 February 1555.

Notable Martyrs of the Persecution (1555-1558)

This is not a complete list

1555
  • William Hunter
    William Hunter (Protestant martyr)
    William Hunter was a Marian martyr burnt to death in Brentwood at the age of 19 on March 27, 1555 on Ingrave Road. He had lost his job in London as a silk-weaver because he refused to attend the Catholic mass, despite an order that everyone in the City of London had to attend, and had come to live...

    , burnt 27 March, Brentwood
  • Robert Ferrar
    Robert Ferrar
    Robert Ferrar was a Bishop of St David's in Wales.He was prior of Nostell Priory, embraced the English Reformation, and was made Bishop of St. David's by Edward VI...

    , burnt 30 March, Carmarthen
    Carmarthen
    Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....

  • Rawlins White, burnt, Cardiff
    Cardiff
    Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

  • George Marsh
    George Marsh (martyr)
    George Marsh was a Protestant Martyr who was born in the parish of Deane, near Bolton in 1515. He died in Boughton, Chester on 24 April 1555 as a result of the Marian Persecutions which were carried out against religious reformers, Protestants, and other dissenters for their beliefs during the...

    , burnt 24 April, Chester
    Chester
    Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

  • John Schofield, burnt 24 April, Chester
    Chester
    Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

  • William Flower
    William Flower (martyr)
    William Flower of Snowhill, Cambridgeshire was a 16th century English Protestant martyr. His story is recorded in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. He was burnt to death on 24 April 1555 at St. Margaret's churchyard, Westminster, London.-References:*...

    , burnt 24 April, Westminster
    Westminster
    Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

  • John Cardmaker, burnt 30 May, Smithfield
    Smithfield, London
    Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...

  • John Warne, burnt 30 May, Smithfield
    Smithfield, London
    Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...

  • John Simpson, burnt 30 May, Rochford
    Rochford
    Rochford is a small town in the Rochford district of Essex in the East of England. It is sited about 43 miles from Central London and approximately 21 miles from the Essex county town, Chelmsford...

  • John Ardeley, burnt 30 May, Rayleigh
    Rayleigh, Essex
    Rayleigh is a market town and civil parish in the District of Rochford in Essex, England, located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea. It lies to the east of central London. It has a population of 30,196, having expanded rapidly in the 1960s.-Toponymy:...

  • Thomas Harland of Woodmancote, burnt 6 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • John Oswald of Woodmancote, burnt 6 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Thomas Avington of Ardingly
    Ardingly
    Ardingly is a village and civil parish in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about north of Haywards Heath in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is about south of London, south-south-west of East Grinstead, southeast of Crawley, north of Brighton and ...

    , burnt 6 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Thomas Reed of Ardingly
    Ardingly
    Ardingly is a village and civil parish in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about north of Haywards Heath in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is about south of London, south-south-west of East Grinstead, southeast of Crawley, north of Brighton and ...

    , burnt 6 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Thomas Haukes, burnt 6 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Thomas Watts
  • Nicholas Chamberlain, burnt 14 June, Colchester
    Colchester
    Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...

  • Thomas Ormond, burnt June 15, 1555, Manningtree
    Manningtree
    Manningtree is a town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England, which lies on the River Stour. It adjoins built-up areas of Lawford to the west and Mistley to the east and the three parishes together are sometimes referred to as "Manningtree".Manningtree is a claimant for the...

    , Buried in St. Micheals & All Angels Marble placed in 1748
  • William Bamford, burnt 15 June, Harwich
    Harwich
    Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...

  • Dirick Carver
    Dirick Carver
    Dirick Carver was a Marian Martyr from Brighton who was burnt to death at Lewes on 22 July 1554.-References:...

     of Brighton
    Brighton
    Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

    , burnt 22 July, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • John Launder of Godstone, burnt 23 July, Steyning
    Steyning
    Steyning is a small town and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles north of Shoreham-by-Sea...

  • Robert Samuel
    Robert Samuel
    Robert Samuel was an English priest of East Bergholt in Suffolk, England who was imprisoned, tortured and burnt to death as a judicial execution under the Marian persecutions, and is commemorated as one of the Ipswich Martyrs...

    , burnt 31 August, Ipswich
    Ipswich
    Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

  • John Newman, burnt August 31, Saffron Walden
  • James Abbes Shoemaker, of Stoke by Nayland burnt at Bury St Edmunds August 1555
  • William Allen, Labourer of Somerton
    Somerton
    Somerton is a small town and civil parish in the South Somerset district of the English county of Somerset. It gave its name to the county of Somerset, was briefly, around the start of the 14th century, the county town, and around 900 AD was possibly the capital of Wessex...

     burnt at Walsingham
    Walsingham
    Walsingham is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village is famed for its religious shrines in honour of the Virgin Mary and as a major pilgrimage centre...

     September 1555
  • Robert Glover, burnt 20 September at Coventry
    Coventry
    Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

  • Cornelius Bongey (or Bungey), burnt 20 September at Coventry
    Coventry
    Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

  • Nicholas Ridley
    Nicholas Ridley (martyr)
    Nicholas Ridley was an English Bishop of London. Ridley was burned at the stake, as one of the Oxford Martyrs, during the Marian Persecutions, for his teachings and his support of Lady Jane Grey...

    , burnt 16 October outside Balliol College, Oxford
    Balliol College, Oxford
    Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

  • Hugh Latimer
    Hugh Latimer
    Hugh Latimer was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, Bishop of Worcester before the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555, under Queen Mary, he was burnt at the stake, becoming one of the three Oxford Martyrs of Anglicanism.-Life:Latimer was born into a...

    , burnt 16 October outside Balliol College, Oxford
    Balliol College, Oxford
    Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

  • William Wolsey, one of the Wisbech Martyrs, burnt 16 October on the Cathedral Green, Ely
  • Robert Pygot (martyr) of Wisbech, burnt 16 October on the Cathedral Green, Ely
  • John Philpot, burnt


1556
  • Agnes Potten, burnt 19 February, Ipswich
    Ipswich
    Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

    , Cornhill
  • Joan Trunchfield, burnt 19 February, Ipswich
    Ipswich
    Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

    , Cornhill
  • Thomas Cranmer
    Thomas Cranmer
    Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...

    , burnt 21 March, outside Balliol College, Oxford
    Balliol College, Oxford
    Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

  • Thomas Hood of Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

    , burnt about 20 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Thomas Miles of Hellingly
    Hellingly
    Hellingly is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is located 1.5 miles north of Hailsham.The nearby village of Lower Dicker is located within the parish.-History:...

    , burnt about 20 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • John Tudson of Ipswich
    Ipswich
    Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

    , burnt at London
  • Thomas Spicer of Beccles
    Beccles
    Beccles is a market town and civil parish in the Waveney District of the English county of Suffolk. The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 Blythburgh and A12 road, northeast of London as the crow flies, southeast of Norwich, and north northeast of the county town of...

    , burnt there 21 May
  • John Deny of Beccles
    Beccles
    Beccles is a market town and civil parish in the Waveney District of the English county of Suffolk. The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 Blythburgh and A12 road, northeast of London as the crow flies, southeast of Norwich, and north northeast of the county town of...

    , burnt there 21 May
  • Edmund Poole of Beccles
    Beccles
    Beccles is a market town and civil parish in the Waveney District of the English county of Suffolk. The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 Blythburgh and A12 road, northeast of London as the crow flies, southeast of Norwich, and north northeast of the county town of...

    , burnt there 21 May
  • Joan Waste
    Joan Waste
    Joan Waste was a blind woman who was burned in Derby for refusing to renounce her Protestant faith.-Biography:Waste was born blind in 1534, with her twin brother Roger, to a Derby barber, William Waste and his wife, Joan...

    , 1 August, burnt at Derby


1557
  • William Morant, burnt at end of May, St. George's Field, Southwark
    Southwark
    Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

  • Stephen Gratwick, burnt at end of May, St. George's Field, Southwark
    Southwark
    Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

  • (unknown) King, burnt at end of May, St. George's Field, Southwark
    Southwark
    Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

  • Richard Sharpe, burnt 7 May, Cotham, Bristol
    Cotham, Bristol
    Cotham is the name of both a council ward of the city of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and a suburb of the city that falls within that ward. The ward comprises the Cotham suburb, and a small portion of Redland, which is another Bristol suburb.-Cotham:...

  • William and Katherine Allin of Frittenden
    Frittenden
    Frittenden is a village and civil parish in the Tunbridge Wells District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the flood plain of one of the tributaries of the River Medway, 15 miles to the east of Tunbridge Wells: the village is three miles south of Headcorn. It is in a very rural...

     and five others, burnt 18 June at Maidstone
    Maidstone
    Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...

  • Richard Woodman
    Richard Woodman (martyr)
    Richard Woodman was a Protestant martyr, who was born in Buxted and lived in nearby Warbleton in East Sussex. He was burnt during the Marian Persecutions in 1557 in Lewes...

     of Warbleton
    Warbleton
    Warbleton is a civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. Within its bounds are four settlements, one of which gives its name to the parish. It is located south-east of Heathfield on the slopes of the Weald.-History:...

    , burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • George Stevens of Warbleton
    Warbleton
    Warbleton is a civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. Within its bounds are four settlements, one of which gives its name to the parish. It is located south-east of Heathfield on the slopes of the Weald.-History:...

    , burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Alexander Hosman of Mayfield, burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • William Mainard of Mayfield, burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Thomasina Wood of Mayfield, burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Margery Morris of Heathfield
    Heathfield, East Sussex
    Heathfield is a small market town, and the principal settlement in the civil parish of Heathfield and Waldron in the Wealden District of East Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, England.-Location:...

    , burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • James Morris, her son, of Heathfield
    Heathfield, East Sussex
    Heathfield is a small market town, and the principal settlement in the civil parish of Heathfield and Waldron in the Wealden District of East Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, England.-Location:...

    , burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Denis Burges of Buxted
    Buxted
    Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundaries...

    , burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Ann Ashton of Rotherfield
    Rotherfield
    Rotherfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark Cross, and Eridge.-Etymology:...

    , burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • Mary Groves of Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

    , burnt 22 June, Lewes
    Lewes
    Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

  • John Noyes
    John Noyes
    John Noyes was a Vermont politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives.He was born in Atkinson, New Hampshire and attended private schools. Noyes graduated from Dartmouth College in 1795...

     of Laxfield
    Laxfield
    Laxfield is a small ancient village in northern Suffolk, England. It is located at a distinct bend in today's B1117 road.-History:Laxfield arose in Saxon times as it is known that an early church was there and the village itself appears in the Domesday Book...

    , Suffolk
    Suffolk
    Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

    , burnt 22 September
  • Joyce Lewis of Mancetter
    Mancetter
    Mancetter is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of Atherstone in North Warwickshire, at the crossing of Watling Street over the River Anker.-History:...

    , burnt at Lichfield
    Lichfield
    Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...

     on 18 December.


1558
  • Roger Holland, burnt at Smithfield
    Smithfield, London
    Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...

     with seven others
  • William Pikes
    William Pikes
    William Pikes was a tanner in Ipswich, Suffolk who was arrested in Islington during the Marian persecutions as a member of a group studying the Bible in English, and was burnt at the stake in Brentford...

     or Pickesse of Ipswich
    Ipswich
    Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

    , burnt 14 July, Brentford
    Brentford
    Brentford is a suburban town in west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent, west-southwest of Charing Cross. Its former ceremonial county was Middlesex.-Toponymy:...

     with five others
  • Alexander Gooch of Melton, Suffolk
    Melton, Suffolk
    Melton is a village in Suffolk, England, located approximately one mile north east of Woodbridge. The 2001 census recorded a population of 3718. The village is served by Melton railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line....

    , burnt 4 November, Ipswich
    Ipswich
    Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

     Cornhill
  • Alice Driver of Grundisburgh
    Grundisburgh
    Grundisburgh is a village of more than 1,530 residents situated in the English county of Suffolk. It is in the Suffolk Coastal district, six miles north-east from Ipswich and four miles north-west of Woodbridge located on the B1079. Flowing through the village are the rivers Lark and Gull...

     burnt 4 November, Ipswich
    Ipswich
    Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

     Cornhill
  • P Humphrey, burnt November, Bury St Edmunds
  • J. David, burnt November, Bury St Edmunds
  • H. David, burnt November, Bury St Edmunds
  • Colchester Martyrs
    Colchester Martyrs
    The Colchester Martyrs were William Bongeor, Thomas Benhote, William Purchase, Agnes Silverside, Helen Ewring, Elizabeth Folk, William Munt, John Johnson, Alice Munt and Rose Allen...

    , burnt 2 August, Colchester
    Colchester
    Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...


Irony of John Rogers' Execution

Before Mary's ascent to the throne, John Foxe
John Foxe
John Foxe was an English historian and martyrologist, the author of what is popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, , an account of Christian martyrs throughout Western history but emphasizing the sufferings of English Protestants and proto-Protestants from the fourteenth century through the...

, one of the few clerics of his day who was against the burning of even obstinate heretics, had approached John Rogers to intervene on behalf of Joan Butcher, an Anabaptist who was sentenced with burning. Rogers, a Protestant preacher and royal chaplain, refused to help, as he supported the burning of heretics. Rogers claimed that the method of execution was “sufficiently mild” for a crime as grave as heresy. Later, after Mary I came to power and converted England to Catholicism, John Rogers spoke quite vehemently against the new order and was burned as a heretic.

Legacy

Throughout the course of the Persecutions, Foxe contends that 300 individuals were burned for their faith. However, no complete list of these names has ever been documented. These people are commemorated with an elaborate gothic memorial in Oxford, England. They are known as the "Marian Martyrs".

See also

  • Marian exiles
    Marian exiles
    The Marian Exiles were English Calvinist Protestants who fled to the continent during the reign of Queen Mary I.-Exile communities:According to English historian John Strype, more than 800 Protestants fled to the continent, mainly to the Low Countries, Germany, Switzerland, and France, and joined...

  • Martyrs' Memorial
    Martyrs' Memorial
    The Martyrs' Memorial is a stone monument positioned at the intersection of St Giles', Magdalen Street and Beaumont Street in Oxford, England just outside Balliol College...

  • Foxe's Book of Martyrs
    Foxe's Book of Martyrs
    The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, more accurately Acts and Monuments, is an account from a Protestant point of view of Christian church history and martyrology...

  • Religion in the United Kingdom
    Religion in the United Kingdom
    Religion in the United Kingdom and the states that pre-dated the UK, was dominated by forms of Christianity for over 1,400 years. Although a majority of citizens still identify with Christianity in many surveys, regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the middle of the 20th century,...

  • Oxford Martyrs
    Oxford Martyrs
    The Oxford Martyrs were tried for heresy in 1555 and subsequently burnt at the stake in Oxford, England, for their religious beliefs and teachings....

  • List of people executed in Smithfield
  • The Coventry Martyrs
    The Coventry Martyrs
    The Coventry Martyrs were a disparate group of Protestant Christians executed in the city between 1512 – 1522 and in 1555...

  • List of Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation
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