Foxe's Book of Martyrs
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The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe (first published by John Day in 1563, with many subsequent editions, also by Day), is an apocalyptically oriented English Protestant account of the persecutions of Protestants, mainly in England, and other groups from former centuries who were seen by Foxe and others of his contemporaries, such as John Bale, to be forerunners of the Protestant Reformation through whom the lineage of the church of England could be traced. Though the work is commonly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, the full title is Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, touching Matters of the Church. The work was lavishly produced and illustrated with a large number of woodcuts.
The first part of the book covered early Christian martyrs, a brief history of the medieval church, including the Inquisitions, and a history of the Wycliffite of Lollard movement, as Wycliffe was viewed by men such as Foxe to be "the morning star" of the Reformation. The second part dealt with the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, and the third with the reign and persecutions of Mary.
Foxe's account of Mary's reign and the martyrdoms that took place during it became extremely influential in the formation of an English and Protestant national identity. Foxe's intention was to attack the Roman Catholic Church, centred primarily on the persecution under Mary Tudor, and to establish a historical justification for the foundation of the Church of England as the contemporary embodiment of the true and faithful church rather than a newly established Christian denomination.
The passionate intensity of the style and the vivid and picturesque dialogues made it very popular among Puritan and Low Church families down to the nineteenth century. The church history of the earlier portion of the book, with its grotesque stories of popes and monks contributed much to anti-Catholic thought in England as had the sufferings of those Protestants burnt at the stake by Mary and the notorious Bishop Bonner.
Foxe's account of the Marian years is based on Robert Crowley's 1559 extension of a 1549 chronicle history by Thomas Cooper, itself an extension of a work begun by Thomas Lanquet. (Cooper, who became a bishop under Elizabeth, stridently objected to Crowley's appropriation of his history and soon issued two new "correct" editions. It is interesting to note that Cooper, Crowley and Foxe were all students and fellows at the same time at Magdalen College in Oxford University; prior to his and Crowley's apparently pressured resignation for the college, Foxe objected in a letter to college president that all three were persecuted by some masters of the college for their evangelical beliefs.)
Some historians dispute the accuracy of Foxe's claims regarding martyrdoms under Queen Mary, centering primarily on the reasons for the executions themselves. Of the 273 people Foxe claimed were martyred by Mary, nearly 200 were listed by name and occupation only. With no corroborating documentation, and given Foxe's obvious anti-Catholicism, it cannot be assumed that these executions were carried out only for religious reasons. It is also probable that at least some of the victims were revolutionaries intent on removing Mary from the throne.1
Foxe continued to collect material and to expand the work throughout his life, producing three revised editions. After the completion of the second edition (1570), the Convocation ordered that every cathedral church should own a copy.
Foxe's work was enormous (the second edition filling two heavy folio volumes with a total of 2300 pages – estimated to be twice as long as Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) and its production by the printer John Day (who worked closely with Foxe) was the largest publishing project undertaken in England up to that time.
The Book of Martyrs it was the primary propaganda piece for English anti-Catholicism, and contributed to the continuing use of Mary Tudor's nickname "Bloody Mary". The Catholic Encyclopedia states that in less than four years during the reign of Mary Tudor 277 persons were burned to death (having first been judged by the Church to be "heretics").
[edit] See also
- 1. Hughes, Reformation in England (5th ed.), II, pp. 255-274, 288-293; Loades, Reign of Mary Tudor, pp. 273-288.
- Martyrology
- Martyrs Mirror (1660), by Thieleman J. van Braght
[edit] External links
- John Foxe. Acts and Monuments. The Variorum Edition. (hriOnline, Sheffield 2004).
- Foxe Digital Project (Ohio State University) Images of selected woodcuts and sections of text on the Book of Martyrs.
- Catholic Encyclopedia entry
- Text of the Book of martyrs (unabridged, but not yet complete) [1]
