iiii. yeres before mentioned. Hauing drawen out briefly for euery yere certaine notable examples,. sufficient for the declaratiō of al the rest. Forsomuch as their opinions being nothinge different, their penaunce and punishment did also nothing differ, otherwise then by those perticuler examples may be plainlye seene

ANd now to proceade as we haue begon with our former stories generallye, we finde in Fabians chronicles, that in the same yeare of our Lorde 1431. Thomas Bagely a priest vicar of Malden, beinge a valiant disciple and adherēt of Wyckleffe, was condemned by the bishops of heresy at Lōdon about the middest of Lēt, was disgraded and burned in Smithfield.

¶ Paule Craws a Bohemian.  

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Paul Craw and Thomas of Rennes

Between his account of the persecution of Lollards in the diocese of Norwich in 1428-31 and his account of the council of Basel, Foxe gives the accounts of several diverse individuals punished for heresy during the second and third decades of the fifteenth century. All of Foxe's information on these martyrs came from John Bale in one form or another. Foxe first printed the accounts of Thomas Bagley, Paul Kr?var (or Craw) and Thomas of Rennes in his Commentarii (fos. 83r-90r) and reprinted this material without change in the Rerum (pp. 72-5). Apart from a Latin poem praising Thomas of Rennes, which was dropped, this material was translated and reprinted in every edition of the Acts and Monuments. Each of these accounts was taken, virtually word-for-word, from John Bale's notes in Bodley MS e Musaeo, fos. 63r-v and 293r-v. The list of martyrs burned in German territories in the 1420s was added in the 1570 edition and it was taken entirely from John Bale's Catalogus (p. 564). The brief note on Eugenius IV was also added in 1570 and it was also taken from Bale's Catalogus (p. 548). These brief accounts were of use to Foxe in two respects. In the first place, they served to underline a point dear to Foxe's heart: that the faithful members of the True Church existed throughout Christendom. And, secondly, it allowed Foxe to picture the persecution of these faithful as continuing without let-up through the final centuries of the world.

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Thomas S. Freeman
University of Sheffield

THe same yere also was Paul Craws a Bohemian taken at s. Andrews by the bishop Henry, and deliuered ouer to þ^e seculer power to be burnt, for holdyng contrary opinions vnto the church of Rome, touching the sacrament of the Lords supper. The worshipping of sainctes, auriculer confessyon, with other of Wyckleffes opinions.

Commentary on the Woodcuts     Close

Foxe's account of the French Carmelite, Thomas of Rennes, who was burned in Rome in 1436, was taken from Crespin. In the first edition the woodcut used to illustrate his story was a repeat of that used for William Sawtry, with the words in the banderole changed to 'Lord help me'. When this block was used again for Sawtry in 1570, it had the original inscription ('Jesu have mercy') replaced at the same time that the woodblock was cut back on either side. Meanwhile from 1570 onwards one of the new single-column woodcuts was used for Thomas of Rennes. CUL copy: this martyr is dressed in white and his beard is coloured grey. His hair is brown but, on top, the thinning hair is grey. There is close attention to detail in his features, including liver spots in his bald patch. WREN: in this copy the martyr's hair and beard are greying also, although there is no additional detail of liver spots on his head.

Marginalia1436WE haue declared before, howe this cruel storme of persecution which first began with vs in England, after it had long raged heare againste manye good and godly men, it brake out and passed into Boheme. And after within a short time the fire of this persecution increasyng by litle and litle, it inuaded Scotlād and from thence now with greater force and violence, this furious deuouring flame hathe entred Italy, and suffreth not any part of the world to be fre from the murther and slaughter of most good and godly men. It happened about this time, that one Thomas Rhedon a frier of that sect, whiche take their name of the mount Carmelus, by chaunce came wyth the venetian ambassadors into Italye. Thys man althoughe he was of that sort and sect, which in steade of Christians are called Carmelites, yet was he of a farre other religion, and vnderstode the word of god, iudging that God oughte not to be worshipped, neither in that mount, nor at Ierusalem onlye, but in spirit and truth. Thys man being a true carmelit, and sauoring with his whole hart that new sweete muste of Iesu Christe, with earnest study and desyre, sekinge after a christian integrity of life, he prepared him self fyrste to go into Italy, trusting that he shoulde fynde there, or els in no place, some by whose good life and liuing he might be edified and instructed. For where ought more aboundaunce of vertue and good liuinge to be, then in that place, whiche is counted to be the forte and fountain of al religion? For how could it otherwise be, that wheras so great holynes is professed, whervpon al mennes eies are bent as vpon a stage, wheras S. Peters seat is, & is thought to be the ruler & gouerner of al þ^e church, but that al thinges should florish and abound worthy so great expectatyon in that place? This holy man hauing these things before his eies, and consideringe the same wyth him self, forsoke his owne country and city, & went vnto Rome, cōceiuing a fyrme and sure hope, that by the example of so many notable & worthy men, he shuld greatly profit in godlines and learning, but the successe of the matter did vtterlye frustrate his hoope. For all thinges were cleane contrarye. Whatsoeuer he saw, was nothing els but mere dissimulation and hipocrisy. In stead of gold, he found nothing but coles, and for to say the truth, he found nothing els there but gold and siluer. In stead of heauenly giftes, there raigned amonges them the pompe and pryde of the world. In place of godlines, riot. In steade of learning and studye, slouthfulnes and superstition. Tiranny & hautines of mynde, hadde possessed the place of Apostolike symplicity.