maunded to appeare agayne at afternoone in the same place, which cōmaundement obeyed, the Byshop fyrst called for Losebye, and after his accustomed maner wylled his articles and aunsweres to be redde: and in redyng thereof, when mention was made of the Sacrament of the altar, the Byshop with his Colleages put of their cappes, whereat Loseby sayde: my Lorde, seing you put of your cappe, I will put on my cap, and therwithal did put on his cap, and after, the Byshop continuyng in his accustomable perswasions, Losebye agayne sayde vnto hym: my Lorde, I truste I haue the spirit of truthe, which you deteste and abhorre. for the wysdome of God is foolyshnes to you: whereupon the Byshop pronounced the sentence of condemnation against hym, and delyueryng hym vnto the Sherife, called for Margaret Hyde, with whome he vsed the lyke order of exhortations. To whome notwithstanding she sayde: I wyll not departe from my sayinges tyll I be burned: and my Lord (quod she) I woulde see you instructe me with some part of Goddes worde, and not to geue me instructions of holy bread and holy water. for it is no part of the scripture. But he being neyther him selfe, nor any of his, able ryghtly to accomplyshe her request, to make short worke, vsed his fynal reason of conuincement, whiche was the sentence of condemnation. And therfore leauing her of, called for an other, vz: Agnes Stanley, who vpon the Byshops lyke perswasions made this aunswer. My Lorde, wher you saye I am an heretique, I am none: yet I wyl not beleue you, nor any man that is wyse wyll beleue as you do. And as for these that ye saye be burnt for heresie, I beleue are true martyrs before God: therfore I wyll not goe from my opinion and fayth, as longe as I lyue. Her talke thus ended, she receiued the lyke rewarde that the other had hadde. And the Byshop then turning his tale and maner of intisement vnto Thomas Thyrtel, receiued of him lykewyse this fynall aunswere. My Lorde, I wyll not holde with youre idolatrous wayes, as you doe. for I saie the masse is idolatrie and wyll sticke to my fayth and beliefe so longe as the breath is in my body. Vpon which wordes he was also condemned as an heretique. Laste of all, was Henry Ramsey demaunded if he woulde (as the rest,) stand vnto his answers, or els recanting the same, come home agayne, and be a member of their churche. Whereunto he aunswered: I wyll not go from my religion and beliefe as longe as I lyue: and my Lorde (quod he) your doctrine is naught. for it is not agreable to Gods worde. After these woordes, the Byshop (to conclude) pronouncing the sentence of condemnation against him, and the rest, as ye haue heard, charged the Sherife of London with them. who being therunto com-
[Back to Top]maunded, the xii. daye of the same moneth of Apryll, brought them into Smithfield, where al together in one fyre, moste ioyfully and constantly they ended theyr temporall lyues, receiuing therfore the lyfe eternall.
There is only a note about these martyrs in the 1563 edition; this complete account first appears in the 1570 edition. The entire account is based on Gratwick's account of his examinations.
AFter these, moreouer in the moneth of May, MarginaliaMartyrs.there were three that suffered in saint Georges fielde in Southwarke, Wylliam Norant, Steuen Gratwyck.
The mentions of King in this account - and it is significant that Foxe does not know his first name - is all that we know of King.
In the 1563 edition, Foxe simply had the names of the martyrs, the date of their executions and he had apparently seen the records of their trial in the consistory court of Canterbury. (Their condemnation remains among Foxe's papers as BL, Harley MS 590, fos. 78v-79r). In 1570, Foxe added an account of Allin's return from exile in Calais, his execution and then, in a flashback, Foxe described Allin's earlier arrest. (As Foxe notes, his informants for this were Richard Fletcher and John Webbe). Foxe also had copy of Allin's informal examination by Sir John Baker, which he printed in this edition. And, in the same edition, he printed an account which he obtained from Roger Hall, the brother of the martyr Alice Benden, of Edmund Allin's escape from Baker and his flight overseas (see Thomas S. Freeman, 'Notes on a Source for John Foxe's Account of the Marian Persecution in Kent and Sussex' Historical Journal 67 (1994), pp. 203-11). This last account was deleted, probably accidentally, from the 1583 edition; otherwise the narrative of these martyrs remained unchanged.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaIune. 18.I Shewed a litle before, how after the vnmercifull proclamation was sent and sette foorth by the Kyng and Queene, in the moneth of February last, the storm of persecution began in al places to ryse (wherof some part also is declared before) but yet in no place more then in the countrey and dioces of Caunterbury, by reason of certen thaforesayde Inquisitours, beyng nowe armed with autoritie, but especially by reason of MarginaliaR. Thorntō Nicholas HarspfieldRychard Thornton suffragan of Douer, and Nicholas Harpsfield Archedeacon of Caunterbury, who of their owne nature were so furious and firy against the harmeles flock of Christe, that there was no neade of anye proclamation to styrre vp þe coales of their burnyng crueltie, by reason of which their crueltie this history hath declareth before many a Godly saincte to lye slayne vnder the altar: as in the places of this booke well maye appeare. And now to return to the sayde dioces of Caunterbury agayne, in the next moneth following,
I.e., the month following the execution of Gratwick - June, 1557.
'Bradbridge's widow', also of Staplehurst, was burned at Canterbury the day after Joan Bradbridge was burned at Maidstone; presumably they were relatives. For an account of Bradbridge's death which Foxe did not print see Freeman, 'Notes on a Source', pp. 203-11).
Concerning the generall articles commonly obiected to them, and the order of their condemnatiō, partly is expressed before, Pag. 1229. neither did their aunsweres in effect much differ from the other that suffred vnder the same