Second, innocent souls might be corrupted and lost if heretics were not silenced. Heresy was seen as a social disease, and those who were irredeemably infected with it were carriers and must be destroyed. There were other, non-doctrinal, reasons for religious persecution. In Spain, for instance, Catholicism became synonymous with national identity in the s and s.
Purity of Christian ancestry became a requisite for office or any position of trust. Conversely, suspect religious practices were synonymous with disaffection or even treason.
To Queen Mary and Cardinal Pole, then, the imprisonment and burning of Protestants was not a policy but a duty. They consequently ignored all evidence that indicated they were failing to have the desired effect.
He was no more tolerant of dissent than the queen, and initially he shared her contempt for the Reformers. Instead of being cowed and discrediting themselves by surrender, the likes of John Rogers and John Hooper were dying with courage and exploiting their sufferings in a disconcerting manner.
But by the time Gardiner died in November , it was clear he had failed. For the remainder of her reign, Mary continued her persecutions, inadvertently gaining more sympathy for Protestantism. Even Thomas Cranmer, the most loyal of subjects, was driven to defy his lawful sovereign.
Distraught that his faith was considered treasonable, the fallen archbishop recanted, and then, fearing the fires of hell more than the wrath of princes, withdrew his recantation and died a martyr. By making a hero out of this unheroic man, the queen and the cardinal unintentionally demonstrated the limitations of persecution.
Such violence could be effective against small, dissident minorities, especially if they were unpopular. The Spanish Inquisition was successful not because of its exceptional ferocity or ruthless efficiency but because it commanded the overwhelming support of the aristocracy and people of Spain. Although the work covered the early Christian martyrs, the medieval Inquisition, and the suppressed Lollard heresy, it was the persecutions under Mary I that got, and still receive, the most attention.
This was partly due to the custom-made, highly detailed woodcuts depicting the gruesome torture and burning of Protestant martyrs, surrounded by flames. In the first, edition, 30 out of the 57 illustrations depict executions under Mary's reign. Whether his sources were accurate or not and many believe they were not always entirely accurate , it is hard to not feel emotion at this typical account of some of the early Marian martyrs, the bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley:.
Ridleyes feete. To whom M. Ridley, and play the man: we shall this day lyght such a candle by Gods grace in England, as I trust shall neuer be put out. I say none harm, I think none harm, but wish everybody good. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith I long not to live. A shocked public blamed Queen Anne for his death, and it was partly for this reason that news of the stillbirth of her child was suppressed as people might have seen this as a sign of God's will.
Anne herself suffered pangs of conscience on the day of Fisher's execution and attended a mass for the "repose of his soul". The trial was held in Westminster Hall.
More denied that he had ever said that the King was not Head of the Church, but claimed that he had always refused to answer the question, and that silence could never constitute an act of high treason. The prosecution cited the statement that he had made to Thomas Cromwell on 3rd June, where he argued that the Act of Supremacy was like a two-edged sword in requiring a man either to swear against his conscience or to suffer death for high treason.
The verdict was never in doubt and Thomas More was convicted of treason. Lord Chancellor Thomas Audley "passed sentence of death - the full sentence required by law, that More was to be hanged, cut down while still living, castrated, his entrails cut out and burned before his eyes, and then beheaded. Henry VIII commuted the sentence to death by the headsman's axe. With the death of Sir Thomas More , government figures sympathetic to Protestantism became more powerful.
Thomas Cromwell , now invited leading reformers such as Robert Barnes , who were living in exile, to return to England. As Carl R. Trueman has pointed out: "From now on Barnes's career would be inextricably intertwined with the fortunes of Cromwellian domestic and foreign policy. Once established in his diocese he embarked upon a programme of dismantling images and promoting new standards of preaching.
He stripped the statue of the Virgin that stood in Worcester Cathedral. He also removed the renowned relic of Christ's blood from Hailes Abbey. This included Nicholas Shaxton and Nicholas Ridley. During this period no Protestants were executed for being heretics. In the whole history of the religious persecutions in Tudor England, Forest was the only Roman Catholic who was accused of this crime.
He was sentenced to be both hanged for treason and burnt for heresy. Bishop Latimer agreed to preach the sermon at Forest's execution on 22nd May His sermon lasted for three hours while he waited for death. Latimer told Cromwell that he made it a long sermon to increase Forest's suffering. When the flames reached his feet, he drew them up, then bravely lowered them into the fire, and remained there till he burned to death. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer , was also sympathetic to the ideas of people such as Martin Luther.
He joined forces with Cromwell, Latimer, Ridley and Shaxton to introduce religious reforms. They wanted the Bible to be available in English. This was a controversial issue as William Tyndale had been denounced as a heretic and ordered to be burnt at the stake by Henry VIII eleven years before, for producing such a Bible.
The edition they wanted to use was that of Miles Coverdale , that was a reworking of the one produced by Tyndale. Cranmer approved the Coverdale version on 4th August , and asked Cromwell to present it to the king in the hope of securing royal authority for it to be available in England. Henry agreed to the proposal on 30th September. Every parish had to purchase and display a copy of the Coverdale Bible in the nave of their church for everybody who was literate to read it.
Although the word "transubstantiation" was not used, the real presence of Christ's very body and blood in the bread and wine was endorsed. So also was the idea of purgatory. The six articles presented a serious problem for Latimer and other religious reformers. Latimer had argued against transubstantiation and purgatory for many years. Latimer now faced a choice between obeying the king as supreme head of the church and standing by the doctrine he had had a key role in developing and promoting for the past decade.
Thomas Cromwell was unable to come to their aid and in July they were both forced to resign their bishoprics. For a time it was thought that Henry would order their execution as heretics. He eventually decided against this measure and instead they were ordered to retire from preaching. Thomas Howard , the Duke of Norfolk, shouted out, "Cromwell! Do not sit there! That is no place for you! Traitors do not sit among gentlemen. Norfolk went over and ripped the chains of authority from his neck, "relishing the opportunity to restore this low-born man to his former status".
Cromwell was led out through a side door which opened down onto the river and taken by boat the short journey from Westminster to the Tower of London. Thomas Cromwell was convicted by Parliament of treason and heresy on 29th June and sentenced him to be hung, drawn and quartered. He finished the letter with the plea, "Most gracious prince I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy. On 22nd July, , Robert Barnes , Thomas Garrard and William Jerome , were attainted as heretics, a procedure which denied them the chance to defend themselves in court, and sentenced to death; their heresies were not specified.
At the stake, on 30th July, Garrard and his fellows maintained that they did not know why they were being burnt, and that they died guiltless. Richard Hilles , who observed the executions, commented that the men "remained in the fire without crying out, but were as quiet and patient as though they felt no pain".
The men were burnt at the same time that three Catholics, Thomas Abell, Edward Powell, and Richard Fetherstone, were hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason. David Loades , the author of Thomas Cromwell , has argued: "None of these men was guilty of the radical heresies with which they were charged, but it was deemed necessary as part of the campaign against Cromwell to represent him as the controlling force behind a dangerous heretical conspiracy - and these were the other conspirators, or some of them.
Like him they were condemned by Act of Attainder, and Barnes at least proclaimed his innocence in his last speech to the crowd. He had never preached sedition or disobedience, and had used his learning against the Anabaptists. He did not know why he was condemned to die, but the true answer lay not in his own doings or beliefs, but in his association with Thomas Cromwell.
In his speech from the scaffold he denied that he had aided heretics, but acknowledged the judgment of the law. He then prayed for a short while before placing his head on the block. The executioner bungled his work, and took two strokes to sever the neck of Cromwell. He suffered a particularly gruesome execution before what was left of his head was set upon a pike on London Bridge. Bishop Stephen Gardiner now attempted to remove Lutherism from England. One of his first targets was Anne Askew.
When she was fifteen her family forced her to marry Thomas Kyme. Anne rebelled against her husband by refusing to adopt his surname. The couple also argued about religion. Anne was a supporter of Martin Luther , while her husband was a Roman Catholic. From her reading of the Bible she believed that she had the right to divorce her husband.
For example, she quoted St Paul: "If a faithful woman have an unbelieving husband, which will not tarry with her she may leave him"? Askew was well connected. One of her brothers, Edward Askew, was cup-bearer to the king, and her half-brother Christopher, was gentleman of the privy chamber. She was also friendly with John Lascelles , another important figure in the reform movement.
Alison Plowden has argued that "Anne Askew is an interesting example often educated, highly intelligent, passionate woman destined to become the victim of the society in which she lived - a woman who could not accept her circumstances but fought an angry, hopeless battle against them. This was denied and documents show that a spy was assigned to keep a close watch on her behaviour. She made contact with Joan Bocher , a leading figure in the Anabaptists.
One spy who had lodgings opposite her own reported that "at midnight she beginneth to pray, and ceaseth not in many hours after. In March she was arrested on suspicion of heresy. She was interviewed by Edmund Bonner , the Bishop of London who had obtained the nickname of "Bloody Bonner" because of his ruthless persecution of heretics.
After a great deal of debate Anne Askew was persuaded to sign a confession which amounted to an only slightly qualified statement of orthodox belief.
With the help of her friend, Edward Hall , the Under-Sheriff of London, she was released after twelve days in prison. Askew's biographer, Diane Watt , argues: "It would appear that at this stage Bonner was concerned more about the heterodoxy of Askew's beliefs than with her connections and contacts, and that he principally wanted to rid himself of a woman whom he found obstinate and vexatious.
Her treatment during her first examination suggests, therefore, that Askew's opponents did not yet view her as particularly influential or important. However, when she arrived back to Lincolnshire she went to live with her brother, Sir Francis Askew.
In February conservatives in the Church of England, led by Stephen Gardiner , bishop of Winchester, began plotting to destroy the radical Protestants.
As Alison Weir has pointed out: "Henry himself had never approved of Lutheranism. In spite of all he had done to reform the church of England, he was still Catholic in his ways and determined for the present to keep England that way. Protestant heresies would not be tolerated, and he would make that very clear to his subjects. This included Anne Askew. Gardiner selected Askew because he believed she was associated with Henry's sixth wife, Catherine Parr.
The Act for the Advancement of the True Religion stated that "no women nor artificers, journeymen, serving men of the degree of yeomen or under husbandmen nor labourers" could in future read the Bible "privately or openly".
Later, a clause was added that did allow any noble or gentlewoman to read the Bible, this activity must take place "to themselves alone and not to others". Catherine ignored this "by holding study among her ladies for the scriptures and listening to sermons of an evangelical nature".
Gardiner believed the Queen was deliberately undermining the stability of the state. Gardiner tried his charm on Askew, begging her to believe he was her friend, concerned only with her soul's health, she retorted that that was just the attitude adopted by Judas "when he unfriendly betrayed Christ". On 28th June she flatly rejected the existence of any priestly miracle in the eucharist. For a more proof thereof Gardiner instructed Sir Anthony Kingston , the Constable of the Tower of London , to torture Askew in an attempt to force her to name Catherine Parr and other leading Protestants as heretics.
Kingston complained about having to torture a woman it was in fact illegal to torture a woman at the time and the Lord Chancellor Thomas Wriothesley and his assistant, Richard Rich took over operating the rack. Despite suffering a long period on the rack, Askew refused to name those who shared her religious views. According to Askew: "Then they did put me on the rack, because I confessed no ladies or gentlemen, to be of my opinion I fainted After that I sat two long hours arguing with the Lord Chancellor, upon the bare floor With many flattering words, he tried to persuade me to leave my opinion I said that I would rather die than break my faith.
Askew was removed to a private house to recover and once more offered the opportunity to recant. When she refused she was taken to Newgate Prison to await her execution. On 16th July , Agnew "still horribly crippled by her tortures" was carried to execution in Smithfield in a chair as she could not walk and every movement caused her severe pain.
Chains were used to bind her body firmly to the stake at the ankles, knees, waist, chest and neck. Anne Askew's executioner helped her die quickly by hanging a bag of gunpowder around her neck. The elements both declared wherein the high displeasure of God for so tyrannous a murder of innocents. Henry, who was in great pain with his ulcerated leg and at first he was not interested in Gardiner's complaints.
However, eventually Gardiner got Henry's agreement to arrest Catherine Parr and her three leading ladies-in-waiting, "Herbert, Lane and Tyrwhit" who had been involved in reading and discussing the Bible. Henry then went to see Catherine to discuss the subject of religion.
Probably, aware what was happening, she replied that "in this, and all other cases, to your Majesty's wisdom, as my only anchor, Supreme Head and Governor here in earth, next under God". He reminded her that in the past she had discussed these matters.
She had disputed with Henry in religion, she said, principally to divert his mind from the pain of his leg but also to profit from her husband's own excellent learning as displayed in his replies. And tended your arguments to no worse end?
Then perfect friends we are now again, as ever at any time heretofore. The next day Chancellor Thomas Wriothesley arrived with a detachment of soldiers to arrest Catherine.
Henry told him he had changed his mind and sent the men away. During his year reign he had ordered the execution of eighty-one people for heresy. His son Edward was only nine years old and was too young to rule.
In his will, Henry had nominated a Council of Regency, made up of 16 nobles and churchman to assist Edward VI in governing his new realm. It was not long before his uncle, Edward Seymour , Duke of Somerset, emerged as the leading figure in the government and was given the title Lord Protector.
Seymour had been a secret Protestant for several years and brought an end to the prosecution of heretics. In May Bishop Stephen Gardiner wrote to the Duke of Somerset complaining about incidents of image-breaking and the circulation of protestant books. Gardiner urged Somerset to resist religious innovation during the royal minority. Somerset replied accusing Gardiner of scaremongering and warning him about his future behaviour.
According to his biographer, C. Armstrong : "Gardiner had tried to counter religious innovation with four arguments: first, he warned of the inadvisability of change during a royal minority; second, he argued that innovation was contrary to Henry's express wishes; third, he raised technical and legal objections; and finally he offered theological objections. On 25th September Gardiner was summoned to appear before the Privy Council. Unhappy with his answers he was sent to Fleet Prison. Gardiner himself believed that he had been imprisoned in order to keep him away from the parliament that proceeded to repeal the Henrician religious legislation such as Act for the Advancement of the True Religion.
He was released in January , after the closure of parliament. During this period the Duke of Somerset rejected proposals for the execution of leading Roman Catholics. Although Edward's government was tolerant towards Protestants they disliked the more radical Anabaptists. It has been pointed out: "The Anabaptists not only objected to infant baptism, but also denied the divinity of Christ or said that he was not born to the Virgin Mary. They advocated a primitive form of Communism, denouncing private property and urging that all goods should be owned by the people in common.
Joan Bocher had held Anabaptist views for many years. Edward VI had two radical Protestant Anabaptists burned at the stake during his six-year reign; in , he sanctioned the suppression of the Prayer Book Rebellion , resulting in the deaths of up to 5, Catholics. And what did Mary do that was so different from not only other Tudor monarchs, but kings and queens across early modern Europe?
These questions are complex and predictably fraught. But several recurring themes persist. Historian Lucy Wooding says descriptions of Mary tend to have misogynistic undertones. The book was enormously popular during the Elizabethan era, with copies even placed in local churches alongside the Bible.
She was stubborn, inflexible and undoubtedly flawed, but she was also the product of her time, as incomprehensible to modern minds as our world would be to hers. Mary burned Protestants, [and] Elizabeth disemboweled Catholics.
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