John Bradford

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John Bradford (1510 - 1555) was an English Protestant Reformer and martyr best remembered for his utterance, "There but for the grace of God go I." The words were uttered by Bradford while imprisoned in the Tower of London, when he saw a criminal going to execution for his crimes.

Born in 1510 to a financially stable family, Bradford received a good education from a Manchester grammar school. Talented with numbers and money, he later served under John Harrington, paymaster of the English army during the wars of Henry VIII of England. Later, he became a law student at the Inner Temple in London. Through the influence of a fellow student, he eventually converted to Protestantism, a change that caused him to abandon his legal studies and in 1548 take up theology at the Catharine Hall (now St Catharine's College) University of Cambridge and then a fellowship at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

There he was often referred to as "Holy Bradford," not dispargingly, but out of respect to his dedication to God. In 1550, during the reign of Protestant Edward VI of England, he was ordained by Bishop Nicholas Ridley as a roving chaplain, preaching mainly in Lancashire and Cheshire. At some time during his chaplainship, he witnessed a group of prisoners being led to their execution and remarked, "There but for the grace of God go I," the phrase for which he is best remembered. Following Edward VI's early death in 1553, the vehemently Roman Catholic Mary Tudor, known to many as "Bloody Mary", ascended to the throne. During her short reign, as many as three hundred so-called "heretics" were put to death.

In the first month of her reign, Bradford, who had become somewhat well known for his devotion to his religion, was arrested and imprisoned on a trivial charge of "trying to stir up a mob", when he had in fact been trying to save a Catholic preacher named Bourne from a Protestant mob. Confined to the Tower of London, he would never be a free man again. During his time in prison, he continued to write religious works and preach to all who would listen. At one point, he was put in a cell with three other reformers, Thomas Cranmer, Bishop Nicholas Ridley (the same Bishop who had ordained him), and Hugh Latimer. Their time was spent in careful study of the New Testament. All four were to become martyrs.

At last, on January 31, 1555, Bradford was brought to Newgate Prison to be burned at the stake. Though scheduled for four o'clock in the morning, the burning was delayed due to the large crowd of gathered admirers. He was chained to the stake with a young man, John Leaf. Before the fire was lit, he begged forgiveness of any he had wronged, and offered forgiveness to those who had wronged him. He subsequently turned to his fellow and said, "Be of good comfort brother; for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night!"

A writer of his period recorded that he endured the flame "as a fresh gale of wind in a hot summer's day, confirming by his death the truth of that doctrine he had so diligently and powerfully preached during his life."

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Persondata
NAME	Bradford, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	English Protestant Reformer and martyr
DATE OF BIRTH	1510
PLACE OF BIRTH	Manchester, England
DATE OF DEATH	1555
PLACE OF DEATH	London, England