Protestants in England and Wales were executed under legislation that punished anyone judged guilty of heresy against the Roman Catholic+ faith. Although the standard penalty for those convicted of treason in England at the time was execution by being hanged, drawn and quartered+, this legislation adopted the punishment of burning the condemned. At least 300 people were recognised as martyred over the five years of Mary I's reign by contemporary sources.
''The following might not be a complete list:''
! Date of martyrdom
! Place of martyrdom
| |William Cowbridge
| Wantage+, Berkshire
| clergyman (purported) – 'exercised the office of a priest, in teaching and administering of the sacraments, but being no priest indeed'
| burnt after – probably shortly after – 22 July 1538
| Oxford+, Oxfordshire
| |John Lambert+
| The Stocks – a market for meat and fish in the City of London
| clergyman – priest, and teacher of Greek and Latin
| burnt 22 November 1538
| Smithfield, London+
| |Adam Damlip+ (also known as George Bucker)
| clergyman – former chaplain to Bishop John Fisher+
| hanged, drawn and quartered 22 May 1543
| . Exclassics.com. Retrieved on 2014-08-12.
| |John Simson+
| Wigborough+, Essex
| burnt 30 May 1555 (or 'about 10 June', according to Foxe)
| Rochford+, Essex+
| Thomas Bryce, "The Regester" in Edward Farr, ed., . 1845.. Exclassics.com. Retrieved on 2013-05-17.
| |George Catmer+ (or Painter)
| Hythe, Kent+
| burnt about 6 September 1555, according to Foxe (or 12 July 1555)
| Canterbury+, Kent
| . Granger.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-16.. Machadoink.com (1907-10-16). Retrieved on 2012-08-16.
| Richard Roth/Rooth
| burnt 17 September 1557
| Agnes Bongeor+/An Banger (also known as Bowmer's Wife), wife of Richard Bongeor -(similar name but different d.date)
| burnt 17 September (or unknown date July)
| Colchester+, Essex
| (or March 1558, Colchester+)
*John Fortune (or Cutler) (of Hintlesham+, Suffolk, blacksmith, either burnt or died in prison) Exclassics.com. Retrieved on 2013-05-26.
* John Warner of Bourne+
* Thomas Athoth, priest 'he may have died in prison, escaped or – less likely – been pardoned.'
* John Ashedon of Catsfield+
* John Tooley, poulterer, exhumed and burnt, 4 June 1555
* James Trevisam, died 3 July 1555 and summoned posthumously to appear before the bishop. Exclassics.com. Retrieved on 2013-05-17.
* Catherine+, wife of Peter Martyr Vermigli+, exhumed 1556, Cambridge Exclassics.com. Retrieved on 2013-05-26
* Martin Bucer+, Professor of Divinity, exhumed and burnt 6 February 1557, Cambridge+
* Paul Fagius+, Lecturer in Hebrew, exhumed and burnt 6 February 1557, Cambridge+
* Joan Seaman, early 1558, refused burial at Mendlesham+
* John Glover, gentleman, 'about the latter end of Queen Mary', ordered to be exhumed
* William Glover, September 1558, refused burial at Wem+, Shropshire
* Edward Burton, 15 January 1559, refused burial at Shrewsbury+
! Date of death
! Place of death
| |Matthew Hamont+
| Hethersett+, Norfolk
| 20 May 1579
| Norwich Castle+
"Hamont">Alexander Gordon, ‘Hamont, Matthew (d. 1579)’, rev. Stephen Wright, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
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 to Lady Jane Grey+, who held it for nine days before Edward's Catholic half-sister Mary deposed her and assumed the crown, as was stipulated by Henry VIII+ in his Third Succession Act+ but revoked by Edward VI.Loades D.+ ''Power in Tudor England''. New York: St Martin's Press, 1997.
The relationship between the Church of England and Rome was restored under Mary in 1553. She went on to reign for five years (1553–1558) until her death. Protestants opposed Mary's actions. Many people were exiled, and hundreds of dissenters were burned at the stake, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary". The number of people executed for their faith during the persecutions is thought to be at least 287.
After the accession of Queen Mary I to the English throne in 1553, and her repeal+ of all religious legislation passed under Edward VI, Protestants faced a choice: exile, reconciliation/conversion, or punishment.Richards, Judith M. ''Mary Tudor,'' Routledge 2009 ISBN 0415327210 While the so-called "Marian Persecutions" began with four clergymen,
However bloody the end, the trials of Protestant heretics were judicial affairs, presided by Bishops (most notably Bishop Bonner+) adhering to a strict legal protocol under the privy council+, with Parliament's blessing. During the session that restored the realm to "papal obedience" parliament reinstated the heresy laws. 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. 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 or their supporters.
*Canterbury Cathedral c.600 AD
*Carlisle Cathedral (in various forms) 1092 AD
*Chester Cathedral (in various forms) 875 AD
*Chichester Cathedral 1080 AD
*Durham Cathedral 997 AD
*Ely Cathedral 1109 AD
*Exeter Cathedral 1050 AD
*Gloucester Cathedral 1541 AD
*Hereford Cathedral 676 AD
*Lichfield Cathedral 669-803, 1048 AD
*Lincoln Cathedral 1070 AD
*Norwich Cathedral 1094 AD (31 victims of Michael Dunning+, the "bloody chancellor" of Norwich died from 1555 to 1558)
*Oxford Cathedral (in various forms) 727 AD
*Rochester Cathedral (in various forms) 604 AD
*Salisbury Cathedral 1227 AD
*Southwark Cathedral (in various forms) 1106 AD
*Wells Cathedral 1239 AD
*Westminster Abbey ''(The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster)'' 1080 AD
*Winchester Cathedral 650 AD
*Worcester Cathedral 743 AD
*York Minster 300 AD
*Bangor Cathedral – Church of St Deiniol, (in various forms) 1092 AD
*Brecon Cathedral – Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist, (in various forms) 1093/1110-1538 AD
*Llandaff Cathedral – Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul (in various forms) 550 AD
*St Asaph Cathedral (in various forms) 553 AD
*St Davids Cathedral (in various forms) 580 AD
Before Mary's ascent to the throne, John Foxe+, 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 of Kent+, a female Anabaptist who was sentenced to burning in 1550. Later, after Mary I came to power and converted England to Catholicism, John Rogers spoke quite vehemently against the new order and was burnt as a heretic.
The figure of 300 victims of the Marian Persecutions was listed by Foxe and later by Thomas Brice+ in his poem, "The Regester".
Throughout the course of the persecutions, Foxe lists 312 individuals who were burnt or hanged for their faith, or died or sickened in prison. Lists of these names are available and . Three of these people are commemorated with a gothic memorial in Oxford, England but there are many other memorials across England. They are known locally as the "Marian Martyrs".
Reflist|group="n"|colwidth=35em|refs= Foxe describes him as being 'mad ... ravished of his wits ... beside his wits'. Foxe describes him as being 'mad and beside his right senses ... and destitute of sense and reason'. The Critical Apparatus to Foxe's Book of Martyrs lists a number of unorthodox beliefs which he held.
The 1563 edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs records that William Dighel was burned at about the same time as Nicholas Sheterden. However, this information is not repeated in subsequent editions of Foxe's work. "Was his omission in subsequent editions due to an accident in the print shop or did Foxe come to doubt his information on Dighel?"
Buried in St. Michaels and All Angels Marble placed in 1748
May be the same as ... Butter, burnt (day unknown) June 1555, Location unknown (the Regester)
The same as Jone Polley, burnt (day unknown) July 1555, Location unknown (the Regester)
which calls him 'Sir Franke'
husband of Elizabeth Warne, burnt in August 1555
widow of John Warne, burnt in May 1555 which says that 'Joan Lashford ... was the daughter of one Robert Lashford ..., and of ... Elizabeth, who afterward was married to John Warne' may be the same as Jone Painter (the Regester) which refers to 'two women in Ippeswiche towne' which refers to 'two brethren more' which refers to 'two at Glocester' which refers to 'two men and a syster dere' the same as 'A merchant's servant burned at Leicester' and the same as 'the yong man at Lecester' may be the same as John Milles which refers to "two women" her husband then married Christian George, mentioned below may be the same as William Ailewarde (the Regester) Richard Smith is said to have died in prison (day unknown) September, Lowlar's Tower/Lollard's Tower, Lambeth Palace, London in 'the Regester', but is described as 'non-existent' in may be the same as Thomas Leyes of Thorpe+, Essex, sickened in Lollard's Tower, died (day unknown) September, Location unknown which refers to 'two at Wye' which refers to 'two at Asheforde'. A number of Kentish people of Ashford Area are recorded as having been burnt 16 January 1556 at Ashford, Kent+ in . However, at this time the civil or legal year in England began on 25 March, so the date now known as 16 January 1557 would then have been recorded as 16 January 1556. may be the same as Jhon Lothesby, burnt at Smithfield, April 1557 (the Regester) may be the same as Annis Hide, burnt at Smithfield, April 1557 (the Regester) which records an 'other' burnt with Morant and Grathwick 'The Regester' states that a person called 'Milwright' was burnt along with Harland, Oswald, Reed and Avington. However, this person is not mentioned in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, although he does appear in 'The Regester' states that a person called 'Hayne' was burnt along with Cuthbert Symion. However, this person is not mentioned in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. May be an error for Edward Horne, burnt at Newent+, Gloucestershire in September 1558. Foxe states that a woman was burnt with Horne. However, the Critical Apparatus quotes a letter from Foxe's papers stating that 'Edward Horne's wife was condemned with him but she recanted and her life was spared' 'The Regester' gives the name of the woman burnt with Alexander Gooch as Elizabeth Launson. May be the same as Christian Grover of the archdeaconry of Lewes+ 'Foxe has a terse report in the Rerum of an old man of Buckingham- shire being executed in 1531 for eating pork during Lent (Rerum, p. 126). Foxe's source for this episode is unknown; Bale does not mention this old man in any of his works. Perhaps Laurence Humphrey, who was Foxe's friend, a native of Buckinghamshire, and who was with Foxe in Basel, was the source for this story. In any case, the Rerum account was translated word-for-word in the 1563 edition. The story was dropped from all subsequent editions, possibly because Foxe grew unsure of this individual's existence or at least of his ability to prove it.' Six months before the execution of Robert Harvey for treason in Spring 1541 'within the space of a year, or thereabout, after' the previous man That list does not include John Wade, the three members of the Dangerfield family or the three who died in Chichester Castle – numbers 7 and 19 to 24 in the list of prisoners above. It appears to conflate Thomas Ravensdale and the shoemaker who was burnt with him – numbers 158 and 160 in the list of prisoners above. In other words, eight people appear above, but not in that list. On the other hand, numbers 212 and 213 in that list (two people burned in Suffolk on 18 June 1557) do not seem to appear elsewhere, and are not shown above. As a result, there are six fewer names in that list of 312 people than the totals above of those executed (284) and those who sickened or died in prison (34) – a grand total of 318. That list does not include the following eight people mentioned above – (34) Margery Polley, (49) Roger Hues, (154) Rose Pencell, (175) William Carman, (212) George Egles – as he was hanged, drawn and quartered, as opposed to being burnt, (225) Robert Stevenson, (227) the woman at Rochester, (243) ... Lawton. On the other hand, that list duplicates (38) Richard Hook, (127) Thomas Milles/John Milles (128) Thomas Moor and (209) Mary Groves/Christian Grover. It counts (147) Perotine Massey's infant son separately. It includes John Warner and Thomas Athoth who are shown above as 'Also mentioned by Foxe'. It includes a woman said to have been burnt with (164) John Horne of Wotton-under-Edge. In other words, eight people appear in that list but not above. As a result, that list contains the same number of people as the list of martyrs above – 284. An Anabaptist A Unitarian An Arian William Carman burnt unknown month 1557 and Thomas Carman burnt 19 May 1558 were brothers Foxe erred in stating that Polley came from Pepenbury; see PRO C/85/144/33r.