Marginalia4Item, concerning the Sacramēt of thaltar, he beleueth, that it is a very idoll, and detestable before God, as it is nowe ministred: for he beleueth, that in the saide sacrament of the altar, there is not (after the wordes of consecration) the very true and naturall body of Christ really and trulie cōteined, and none other substaunce remaining therein, sauing the substāce of Christes body: but he beleueth, that after þe sayde wordes, there is none other substaunce but only the substaunce of material bread and materiall wyne.
[Back to Top]Marginalia5Item, he beleueth that the masse is nought, and not of the institution of Christe, but that it is of mans inuention: and demaunded whether any thing vsed in the masse bee good, he saieth that he will aunswere no further.
Marginalia6Item, he sayth, that he hath not receiued the sacrament of the altar, since it hath been ministred as nowe it is in Englande, and he was not cōfessed at any time, within this vii. yeres, nor he hath not harde masse by the same space.
Marginalia7Item, he aunswereth and beleueth, that auricular confession is not necessary to be made to a priest, for that he cannot forgeue him his sinnes, nor absolue him from sinnes, for he saieth, he beleueth it to be superstitious, superfluous and vayne, to be cōfessed of a priest, and to receiue absolution of him.
[Back to Top]Marginalia8Item, concerning the sacramēt of baptisme, that it is a signe and token of Christ, as circūcision was, and none otherwyse, and he beleueth that his sinnes are not washed awaye thereby, but his body onely washed: for his sinnes be washed away onely by Christes bloud.
Note that Foxe printed a statement regarding baptism by Iveson but seems to have deleted unorthodox statements on the subject by Carver and Launder.
Marginalia9Item, he beleueth, that there be in the catholike church of Christe, only two sacramentes, that is to say, the sacrament of baptisme, and the sacrament of the supper of the Lorde, and no more, whiche are not rightlye vsed at this present time in England, and therefore be vnprofitable.
Marginalia10Item, he beleueth, that all the ceremonies nowe vsed in this churche of Englande, are vayn, superfluous, superstitious, and naught.
All that there is on these three martyrs in the Rerum is a note stating thatJohn [sic] Wade was executed at Dartford in July, that John [sic] Polley was executed at Tunbridge in July and that Nicholas Hall was executed at Rochester in the same month. This information was essentially repeated in the 1563 edition. But in the 1570 edition Foxe added all the material he would ever have on the examinations of these martyrs. Foxe stated that this material came from the Rochester diocesan records. Foxe's account of these examinations remained unchanged in subsequent editions.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaNycolas Haul burnt at Rochester.NIcholas Haule, the same moneth of Iuly, about this daye, also suffered martyrdom, for the same cause of his religion and professiō, and was burned in the towne of Rochester.
There is a note in the Rerum that William Aylward died in prison in Reading on 1 August 1555 (p. 510). In the 1563 edition, Foxe corrected his name to John Aleworth but removed the specific date of his death. In the 1570 edition, Foxe added a defensive comment insisting that Aleworth should be considered a martyr even though he died of natural causes. This was a response to Nicholas Harpsfield's criticism of Foxe, in 1566, for praising as martyrs those who were not killed.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaIohn Alworth died in pryson.JN the later end of this moneth of Iuly, Iohn Aleworth died in prison, at the town of Reading, being there in bondes for the cause and testimonie of the truthe of the Lordes Gospell.
The Rerum contained a note that James Abbes was burned at Bury St Edmunds on 2 August 1555 (p. 510). The entire account of Abbes appeared in the 1563 edition and it was based partly on copies of official documents (which survive) and on personal testimony. There were no changes to this account in the subsequent editions.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaIames Abbes. MarginaliaAugust. 2AMong many that traueiled in these troublesome dayes, to kepe a good conscience, there was one Iames Abbes, a yong manne, whiche through compultion of the tyrannye then vsed, was enforced to haue his part with his brethren in wandrynge and goynge from place to place, to auoyde the peryll of apprehēding: whiche when time came, that the Lorde hadde an other worke to dooe for him, he was caught in to the handes of wicked menne, and brought before the Byshop of Norwyche, Doctor Hopton. Who examining him of his Religion, and charging him therewith very sore, bothe with threates and fayre speache, at the last the sayde poore Iames did yelde, and relēted to their naughtie perswasiōs, although his conscience consented not therto.
A denunciation of Abbes and others for heretical beliefs, copied from Norwich records which are no longer extant, survives among Foxe's papers (BL, Harley 421, fo. 186v). A copy of an interrogation of Abbes on 10 March 1554 is BL, Harley 421, fos. 216v-217r. A copy of a sentence against Abbes is on BL, Harley 421, fos. 199r-200r. Abbes must have abjured after this sentence.
[Back to Top]From here until the end of the account of Abbes, Foxe is relying on personal testimony or testimonies, not official documents.
The Rerum has a note that Denley, exaggeratedly described as being of noble family ('genere nobilis'), was burned at Uxbridge on 2 August 1555 (p. 510). There is also a version of the articles objected against Denley and Newman together with their answers (pp. 510-13). This is followed by a reiterated mention of Denley's death at Uxbridge and a statement that Newman was burned in September (actually it was 31 August 1555) in Saffron Walden (p. 513). Finally, Foxe stated that he would later print Newman's confession of faith (p. 513). He would print this confession offaith in the 1563 edition but not in the Rerum.
[Back to Top]In the 1563 edition, all of the material Foxe would ever have on Denley and Patingham was present, badly arranged. Tyrrell's letter, Newman's confession of faith and a letter from Denley to Simpson and Ardley were now printed, along with a somewhat different, and more complete, version of the articles and answers of Denley and Newman (these last almost certainly taken from official records). The desciption of the final examination of the three martyrs, first printed in this edition, may have come from either official records or personal testimony, but the account of Denley's execution was certainly based on personal testimony.
[Back to Top]In the 1570 edition all these materials were re-arranged, but Newman's confession of faith and Denley's letter to Simpson and Ardley were dropped. On the other hand, Newman's account of his examinations in Canterbury was added to this edition, together with Foxe's 'notes' breaking Newman's arguments into syllogisms. Foxe must have received this material while the 1570 edition was being printed, as he inserted it in the text over four hundred pages after the account of Newman's martyrdom (1570, pp. 2135-37). No changes were made to this material in the 1576 edition, and Newman's Canterbury examinations were still printed hundreds of pages out of chronological order (1576, pp. 1856-58). In the 1583 edition, Newman's confession of faith was restored. His Canterbury examinations were integrated with the account of his martyrdom. But, through an oversight, these examinations were also reprinted in their old location hundreds of pages later (1583, pp. 1950-51); consequently these examinations were printed twice in the 1583 edition.
[Back to Top]IN the middest of this tempestious rage of Antichristes whelpes,
Notice how this passage was toned down in the 1570 edition; this is another example of Foxe moderating his language in the second edition.
This was was 'pharasitical' in the 1563 and 1570 editions. It was changed to 'parasitical' in the 1576 edition, undoubtedly as a printer's error. This mistake was reprinted in the 1583 edition.