Claire | July 16, 2013
On this day in history, 16th July 1546, the Protestant martyrs, Anne Askew, John Lascelles, John Adams and Nicholas Belenian, were burned at the stake at Smithfield in London for heresy. You can read more about them and also the Newbury Martyrs, who were burned on this day in 1556, in my article 16 July […]
Claire | June 18, 2013
On 18th June 1546, Anne Askew, a young woman from Lincolnshire who we know now as a Protestant martyr and poet, was arraigned for heresy at London’s Guildhall along with Nicholas Shaxton, Nicholas White and John Hadlam (Adlams or Adams). They were all found guilty and condemned to death. Chronicler and Windsor Herald Charles Wriothesley […]
Claire | June 7, 2013
Having studied the history of Christianity at university, I was really looking forward to watching this programme on Bible translator and condemned heretic William Tyndale. As Melvyn Bragg stated, Tyndale is one of the greatest men in English history, yet not many people have even heard of him. This programme set out to put that […]
Claire | June 18, 2011
On this day in history, 18th June 1546, a young woman in her twenties from Lincolnshire was found guilty of heresy and sentenced to burning at the stake. Antonia Fraser writes of how she had already been cross-examined for heresy the year before and “had responded to her accusers with vigour”1 and survived to fight […]
Claire | June 18, 2010
On this day in history, 18th June 1546, the Protestant martyr and poet, Anne Askew, was found guilty of heresy and condemned to be burned at the stake at Smithfield. Anne Askew’s Background Anne Askew was born in 1520 (some say 1521) in Lincolnshire. She was a noblewoman, being the daughter of Sir William Askew, […]
Claire | March 21, 2010
Continued from “The Life of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer” to commemorate the execution of Cranmer on this day in history, the 21st March 1556. Treason and Death: On the 13th November 1553, Thomas Cranmer was found guilty of treason and condemned to death. He was then moved to Oxford’s Bocardo Prison in March 1554, along with […]
Claire | June 10, 2009
[audio:anne_boleyn_the_witch.mp3] Over the next couple of weeks, I will be exploring three very different opinions of Anne Boleyn – the Witch, the Whore and the Martyr – and trying to understand why people have these incredibly different views of her. We’ll start today with the view that Anne Boleyn was a witch and that that […]
