1583 Edition | Book 8 | Page 1007 
Closeof Amersham, Bucks; wife of Thomas [Fines]; charged, abjured 1511; accused extensively 1521
Thomas Harding and his wife first abjured under William Smith in 1506, along with many others. Their penance was reduced in 1515, but continued to include an annual pilgrimage to Ashridge. In 1522 Alice failed to go. 1570, p. 1117; 1576, p. 956; 1583, p. 983.
Close(1494? - 1546) [ODNB]
Commendator of Arbroath (1517 - 46); cardinal (1544 - 46); archbishop of St Andrews (1539 - 46); assassinated
David Beaton was one of those who passed the sentence definitive on Patrick Hamilton in 1528. 1570, p. 1109; 1576, p. 948; 1583, p. 975.
In a message to King James V, Henry VIII said that he had heard that David Beaton had been created cardinal. He warned James against allowing any of his subjects to accept the office. 1570, p. 1219; 1576, p. 1044; 1583, p. 1071.
A summons was directed from David Beaton and George Crichton upon Thomas Forret, John Beveridge, John Kelowe, Duncan Sympson and Robert Foster, along with three or four others from Stirling. They were condemned for heresy without any opportunity to recant and burnt together on the castle hill in Edinburgh. 1570, p. 1442; 1576, p. 1230; 1583, p. 1266.
[Back to Top]David Beaton sat on the assize that condemned Sir John Borthwick for heresy. 1563, p. 575; 1583, p. 1259.
Beaton sat on the assize that judged heretics in Perth. 1570, p. 1443; 1576, p. 1230; 1583, p. 1267.
Beaton ordered John Winram to summon George Wishart to appear before the bishops at St Andrews. Beaton sent an armed guard to escort him. 1563, p. 648; 1570, p. 1444; 1576, p. 1231; 1583, p. 1268.
Soon after the execution of George Wishart, David Beaton was murdered by Norman Leslie and other lords. 1570, p. 1448; 1576, p. 1235; 1583, p. 1272.
Close(1473 - 1547) [ODNB]
Scholar, preacher; BTh Oxford by 1509; DTh by 1511; dean of Salisbury 1514
Bishop of Lincoln (1521 - 1547); royal confessor 1524
Thomas Wolsey, William Warham, Cuthbert Tunstall, John Fisher, Nicholas West, John Veysey, John Longland, John Clerk and Henry Standish took part in the examination of Thomas Bilney and Thomas Arthur in 1527-28. 1563, pp. 461-78; 1570, pp. 1134-46; 1576, pp. 971-81; 1583, pp. 998-1008.
Thomas Harding was brought before Bishop Longland to be examined. Longland condemned him as a relapse, and he was sentenced to be burnt. 1570, p. 1117; 1576, p. 956; 1583, p. 983.
John Longland took part in the examination of John Tewkesbury. 1563, p. 491; 1570, pp. 1165-66; 1576, p. 997; 1583, p. 1025.
John Frith was examined in London by the bishops of London, Winchester and Lincoln. Stokesley pronounced the sentence of condemnation. 1563, pp. 501-04; 1570, pp. 1176-78; 1576, pp. 1006-08; 1583, pp. 1034-35.
Andrew Hewett was examined by Stokesley, Gardiner and Longland. 1563, p. 506; 1570, p. 1180; 1576, p. 1009; 1583, p. 1036.
Other Lollards were brought before Longland to be examined, confess and abjure. 1570, pp. 1118-20; 1576, pp. 957-59; 1583, pp. 984-86.
The archbishop of Canterbury (Cranmer), along with the bishops of London (Stokesley), Winchester (Gardiner), Bath and Wells (Clerk) and Lincoln (Longland) and other clergy went to see Queen Catherine. She failed to attend when summoned over 15 days, and they pronounced that she and the king were divorced. 1570, p. 1200; 1576, p. 1027; 1583, p. 1055.
[Back to Top]Longland was one of the subscribers to the Bishops' Book. 1570, p. 1211; 1576, p. 1037; 1583, p. 1064.
Longland attended a synod in 1537 with other bishops and learned men and with Thomas Cromwell as vicar-general. Longland favoured retaining the seven sacraments. 1563, p. 594; 1570, p. 1351; 1576, p. 1153; 1583, p. 1182.
Longland preached a sermon against the pope's supremacy in front of the king at Greenwich on Good Friday in 1538. 1570, pp. 1250-54; 1576, pp. 1071-74; 1583, pp. 1097-1100.
Mark Cowbridge went mad, was condemned by John Longland and burnt in Oxford. 1563, p. 574; 1570, p. 1292; 1576, p. 1105; 1583, p. 1131.
Longland and Anthony Draycot were active in enforcing the Six Articles within the diocese of Lincoln. 1570, p. 1382; 1576, p. 1179; 1583, p. 1207.
CloseMA Oxford 1505 [Emden; Fasti] vicar of High Wycombe 1512; canon of Lincoln, prebendary of St Botolph (1513 - 46); one of the chief agents of Wolsey for building Cardinal College 1526
Roland Messenger was put in charge of the convicted Thomas Harding and his burning. Messenger preached a sermon in Chesham church, forcing Harding to stand before him throughout. He and his fellow clergy rejoiced after the burning. 1570, pp. 1117-18; 1576, pp. 956-57; 1583, p. 983.
Close(d. 1532) [Thomson; Fines]
of Amersham and Chesham, Buckinghamshire; made to bear a faggot at the burning of William Tilsworth in Amersham in 1511; accused extensively in 1521; charged when 60 years old; burnt at Chesham
Thomas Harding and his wife first abjured under William Smith in 1506, along with many others. Their penance was reduced in 1515, but continued to include an obligation to detect others. In 1522 he was found to have failed this obligation and was forced to wear a badge in the shape of a fagot for life. In 1532 he was reported for reading an English book of prayers in the woods. He was brought before Bishop Longland to be examined. Longland condemned him as a relapse, and he was sentenced to be burnt. 1570, p. 1117; 1576, p. 956; 1583, p. 983.
[Back to Top]
Close(d. 1514) [ODNB]
BCnL Oxford by 1476; BCL by 1492; dean of Wimborne, Dorset 1485
Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield (1492 - 95); chancellor of Oxford University 1500; bishop of Lincoln (1495 - 1514; installed 1500); a founder of Brasenose College, Oxford
Thomas Hardy and his wife first abjured under William Smith in 1506, along with many others. They were punished in a variety of ways. 1570, p. 1117; 1576, p. 956; 1583, p. 983.
Close(d. 1511) [Thomson]
Martyr whose daughter was compelled to set fire to him [Thomson finds no evidence for this] in Amersham in 1511
Thomas Harding was sentenced to carry a faggot at the burning of William Tilsworth. 1570, p. 1117; 1576, p. 956; 1583, p. 983.
CloseBorough and parish in the Hundred of Burnham, Buckinghamshire. 26.75 miles west-north-west of London. A rectory in the archdeaconry of Buckingham, diocese of Lincoln.
Lewis, Samuel,A Topographical Dictionary of England (S. Lewis & Co: London, 1831
Close[Asherige]
Buckinghamshire
OS grid ref: SP 935 045
College of Bonhommes at Asheridge, founded 1283, possessed a phial of Precious Blood; place of pilgrimage [VCH: Buckinghamshire, vol 1 (1905) pp. 386-90]
CloseBuckinghamshire
OS grid ref: SP 985 025
CloseBuckinghamshire
OS grid ref: SP 965 015
Close[Edenborough; Edenburgh]
Scotland
OS grid ref: NT 275 735
Cathedral city; capital of Scotland since 1437
Close[Wicombe; Great Wickam]
Buckinghamshire
OS grid ref: SU 865 935
CloseFirth of Forth, Scotland
OS grid ref: NT 275 765
Close[Wendouer]
Buckinghamshire
OS grid ref: SP 865 085
The rood cross in Wendover church was a place of pilgrimage [VCH: Buckinghamshire, vol 3 (1925) pp. 20-31]
Close[Wooburne; Woborne; Owborne]
Buckinghamshire
OS grid ref: SP 945 335
| Persecutors. | Martyrs. | The Causes. |
| on the greene side, betweene Leith and Edenburgh, | ||
| to the entent that the inhabitants of Fiffe, seeing the | ||
| fire, might be stricken with terrour and feare, not to | ||
| fall into the lyke. Ex eodem Scripto. | ||
| ¶ And thus muche touching those Martyrs of | ||
| Scotland, which suffered vnder Iames Beton, | ||
| Archbishop of S. Andrewes. After whom succeeded | ||
| Dauid Beton in the same Archbyshoprike, vnder | ||
| whom diuers other were also martired as hereafter | ||
| (God willing) in their order shall appeare. |
| Thom. Harding dwel- | ||
| ling at Chesham, in the | ||
| Countie of Buckingham, | ||
| with Alice his wife, was | ||
| firste abiured by William | ||
| Smith, Byshop of Lin- | ||
| Thomas | colne, an. 1506. with dy- | |
| Harding | uers other moe, which the | |
| an aged | same time for speaking a- | |
| father, | gaynst Idolatrie and su- | |
| Iohn Lōg- | dwelling | perstition, were taken and |
| land By- | at Chesham | compelled, some to beare |
| shop of | in Buc- | fagots, some were burned |
| Lincolne. | kingham- | in the cheeke with hote i- |
| shire. | rons, some condemned to | |
| perpetuall prison, some | ||
| thrust into Monasteries, | ||
| and spoyled cleane of all | ||
| theyr goodes, some com- | ||
| pelled to make pilgrimage | ||
| to the great blocke, other- | ||
| wise called, our Lady of | ||
| Lincolne, some to Walsin- | ||
| gam, some to Saint Ro- | ||
| Rowland | muld of Buckingham, | |
| Vicare of | some to the roode of Wen- | |
| great Wic- | At Ches- | douer, some to S. Iohn |
| kam, the | sham in | Shorne, &c. of whōe men- |
| Byshops | Bucking- | tion is made in the Table |
| Chaplen. | ham. | before, beginning pag 821. |
| MarginaliaTho. Harding martir.Of this Thomas Har- | ||
| An. 1532.
Close Lincolnshire martyrs This section is a somewhat miscellaneous collection of the persecution of various Lollards and evangelicals in the years 1520-32 in the dioceses of Lincoln and London. One of these cases, that of Thomas Harding, a veteran Lollard with local influence (listed among those who had abjured in 1511), resulted in an execution for heresy. Alice Doyly or Cottismere was apparently neither forced to abjure nor punished despite being previously investigated for heresy in the previous decade; undoubtedly she was protected by her wealth and family connections. She had married three times; first to a John Wilmot, the second time to William Cottesmere, a member of an important gentry family and the third time to Thomas Doyly, the head of one of Oxfordshire's most ancient gentry families. By the time of her third marriage her moveable goods alone were estimated at £1000 (Andrew Hope, 'Lollardy: The Stone the Builders Rejected?' in Protestantism and the National Church in Sixteenth Century England, ed., Peter Lake and Maria Dowling [Beckenham, 1987], pp. 8-10). [Back to Top]Many of the other cases described in this section concern a conventicle held in the house of John Taylor in Speen, Hertfordshire, in 1530. This conventicle was led by evangelicals who had travelled to Germany and met with Luther. Foxe's objectives in printing this material are rather different than those when he printed earlier descriptions of the persecution of heretics. Then he was trying to show that there was a True Church before Luther. Now his concern was to emphasize the innocuous, if not godly, nature of the offences for which people were persecuted, in particular, the reading of the Bible, or religious books, in English. [Back to Top]Foxe's sources for this material vary. For Thomas Harding, Foxe apparently drew on material sent to him by an informant. For Robert West, Foxe relied on a now lost courtbook of Bishop Cuthbert Tunstal. There is, however, independent corroboration for these episodes (Lincolnshire Archives Office, Register 26, fos. 180v and 205v for Harding and London Metropolitan Archive, DL/C/330, fo. 175v for West). For other cases, Foxe was apparently drawing on a now lost courtbook of Bishop John Longland of Lincoln. As will be seen from various references it is fairly clear that Foxe did not consult Bishop Longaland's register. [Back to Top]Thomas S. Freeman | ding much rehearsall hath | |
| bene made before, as in the | ||
| pages 821. 822. 823. | ||
| First this Thomas Harding with Alice his wife, | ||
| being abiured, and enioyned penance, with diuers | ||
| other moe
Close A Thomas Harding and his wife were listed among those who had abjured in 1511. In 1532, Thomas Harding will be burned for heresy | ||
| afterward by the sayd Byshop was released againe | ||
| in the yeare of our Lorde 1515. of all such penaunce | ||
| as was enioyned him and his wife at their abiura- | ||
| tion, except these three Articles following, and were | ||
| discharged of their badges or signes of their fagots, | ||
| &c. Only this penaunce folowing, the Byshop con- | ||
| tinued, Sub pœpan relapsus. | ||
| First, that neyther of them during their life, should dwell | ||
| out of the parish of Amersham. | ||
| MarginaliaIt was happy that they were not put to taste bread and water.Item, that eyther of them during their life, shoulde fast | ||
| bread and ale euery Corpus Christi euen. | ||
| Item, that eyther of them should, during theyr liues vp- | ||
| pon Corpus Christi day, euery yeare, go in pilgrimage to | ||
| Asherige, and there make theyr offerings, as other people | ||
| did, but not to do open penaunce. Also they were licen- | ||
| ced by the sayd Byshop to do theyr pilgrimage at Asherige, | ||
| vpon Corpus Christi euen, or Corpus Christi day, or some | ||
| other, vpon any cause reasonable. | ||
| This penance being to them enioyned ann. 1515. | ||
| they obserued to the yeare 1522. saue only in the last | ||
| yere, the foresayd Alice his wife omitted her pilgri- | ||
| mage going to Asherige vpon Corpus Christi daye. | ||
| Also the sayd Tho. Harding, being put to his othe, | ||
| to detect other, because he contrary to his othe dis- | ||
| sembled, and did not disclose them, was therefore en- | ||
| ioyned in penaunce, for his periury, to beare vpō his | ||
| right sleue, both before and behinde, a badge or patch | ||
| of greene cloth or silke embrodered light a fagot, du- | ||
| ring his whole life, vnlesse he shoulde otherwise be | ||
| dispensed withall. And thus continued he from the | ||
| yeare 1522. till the yeare 1532. | ||
| At last the said Harding in the yeare abouesayd 1532. | ||
| about Easter holydayes, when the other people wēt | ||
| to the church, to commit their wonted idolatry, toke | ||
| his way into the woods, there solitarily to worship | ||
| the true liuing God, in spirit and truth. Where, as | ||
| he was occupied in a booke of English prayers, lea- | ||
| ning or sitting vppon a style by the woods side,MarginaliaThe taking of Thomas Harding. it | ||
| chanced that one did espie hym where he was, and | ||
| Persecuters. | Martyrs. | The Causes. |
| came in great haste to the officers of the towne, de- | ||
| claryng that he had sene Harding in the woodes
Close The following account of Harding's arrest is too detailed and too discursive to have come from official records. It was probably sent to Foxe by an informant, probably by the same informant or informants who supplied with informa-tion on other heretics from the Chilterns (Robert Cosin, William Scrivener, Nicholas Collins, Thomas Man, William Tilesworth and Thomas Chase). Bishop Longland's register confirms that Thomas Harding was excommunicated and turned over to the secular authorities as a relapsed heretic (Lincolnshire Archives Office, Register 26, fos. 180v and 205v). [Back to Top] | ||
| kyng on a booke. Wherupō immediatly a rude rable | ||
| of them, like mad mē, ranne desperatly to his house, | ||
| to search for bookes, & in searching went so nigh, that | ||
| vnder the bordes of his flore, they foūd certain Eng- | ||
| lish bookes of holy Scripture.
Close Foxe's account should be treated with caution at this point, particularly since there is no corroboration of the charges against Harding or of the circumstances that led to his arrest. Possession of the Bible in English was not a crime, although under certain circumstances it could arouse or confirm suspicion. It is possible that Harding's activities and/or books were less innocuous than his narrative describes. [Back to Top] | ||
| father with his bookes, was brought before Iohn | ||
| Longlād, Bish. of Lincolne, thē lying at Wooburne. | ||
| Who with his Chapleins, calling father Harding to | ||
| examination, begā to reason with him, proceedyng | ||
| rather with checkes & rebukes, then with any sound | ||
| arguments. Thom. Hardyng seyng their folly, and | ||
| rude behauiour, gaue thē but few wordes, but fixing | ||
| his trust and care in the Lord, did let them say what | ||
| they would. Thus at last they sent him to the Bysh. | ||
| prison called litle ease,MarginaliaTho. Harding put in little ease the Bishops prison. where he did lye with hūger | ||
| & payne enough, for a certaine space: MarginaliaTho. Harding condemned.till at lēgth the | ||
| Bish. sitting in his tribunall seat like a potestate, cō- | ||
| dēned him for relapse, to be burned to ashes, cōmit- | ||
| tyng the charge & ouersight of his Martyrdome to | ||
| Roulād Messenger, vicare of great Wickhā. Which | ||
| Roulād the day appointed, with a rable of other like | ||
| to himselfe, brought father Hardyng to Chesham a- | ||
| gayne. Where the next day after his returne, the sayd | ||
| Roulād made a Sermō in Cheshā Church, causing | ||
| Tho. Hardyng to stād before him all the preachyng | ||
| tyme: which Sermō was nothing els but the main- | ||
| teinyng of þe iurisdiction of the Bysh. of Rome, & the | ||
| state of his Apostolicall sea, wt the idolatry, fantasies | ||
| & traditions belōgyng to the same. Whē the Sermō | ||
| was ended, Roulād tooke him vp to the high aulter, | ||
| & asked whether he beleued that in þe bread after the | ||
| consecratiō there remained any other substaūce then | ||
| the substaunce of Christes naturall body borne of the | ||
| virgin Mary. To this Tho. Harding aūswered: MarginaliaThe faith and confession of Tho. Harding.the | ||
| Articles of our belief do teach vs, that our Sauiour | ||
| Christ was borne of the virgin Mary, & that he suf- | ||
| fred death vnder Pilate, and rose frō death the thyrd | ||
| day: that he then ascended into heauen and sitteth on | ||
| the right hand of God, in the glory of his father. | ||
| Then was he brought into a mans house in the | ||
| towne, where he remained all night in prayer, and | ||
| godly meditations. So the next mornyng came the | ||
| foresayd Roulād agayne, about x. of the clocke, with | ||
| a company of bils and staues, to lead this godly fa- | ||
| ther to his burnyng. Whom a great number both of | ||
| men and womē did folow. Of whom many beway- | ||
| led his death: & cōtrary the wicked reioyced thereat. | ||
| He was brought forth, hauyng thrust in his handes | ||
| a little crosse of wood, but no idoll vpon it. MarginaliaThe pacient death and martirdome of Tho. Harding.Then he | ||
| was cheyned to the stake, desiring the people to pray | ||
| for him, and forgiuyng all his enemyes and persecu- | ||
| ters, he commended his spirite to God, and tooke his | ||
| death most paciently & quietly, liftyng vp his hands | ||
| to heauen, saying: Iesus receaue my spirite. | ||
| Whē they had set fire on him, there was one that | ||
| threw a byllet at him, & dashed out his braynes. Of | ||
| what purpose he so did, it is not knowen, but as it | ||
| was supposed, that he might haue xl. dayes of pardō | ||
| as the proclamatiō was made at þe burnyng of Wil- | ||
| liā Tilseworth aboue mentioned pag. 774. whereas | ||
| proclamation was made the same tyme, that whoso- | ||
| euer did bring a fagot or a stake to the burnyng of an | ||
| hereticke, should haue xl. dayes of pardon.Marginalia40. dayes of pardon for bringing fagots to burne good men. Whereby | ||
| many ignoraūt people caused their children to beare | ||
| byllets and fagottes to their burnyng. | ||
| In fine, when the sacrifice and burnt offeryng of | ||
| this godly Martyr was finished, and he brent to a- | ||
| shes, in the Dell, goyng to Botley, at the North end | ||
| of the Towne of Chesham, Rouland their Ruler of | ||
| the rost, commaundyng silence and thinking to send | ||
| the people away, with an Ite missa est, with aloude | ||
| voyce sayd to the people these wordes, not aduising | ||
| belyke what his tongue dyd speake: Good people, | ||
| whē ye come home, do not say that you haue bene at | ||
| the burnyng of an hereticke, but of a good true Chri- | ||
| stian man, and so they departed to dyner. Rouland | ||
| with þe rable of other Priestes much reioysing at the | ||
| bnrnyng of this good man. After dyner they went to | ||
| Church to Euensong, because it was Corpus Christi | ||
| euen
Close I.e., 1520. Foxe was misled by the fact that the Coventry annals dated events by mayoral years which commenced in Easter. | ||
| ryngyng, and pypyng of the Organes. Well was he | ||
| that could reache the hyest note: So much dyd they | ||
| reioyce at this good mans burnyng. He should haue | ||
| bene burned on the Ascention euen, but the matter |