Claire | October 17, 2022
On this day in history, 17th October 1560, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Walter Marsh was baptised at St Stephen’s Church in London. Marsh came to an awful end in Rome. He was burnt to death in the Campo dei Fiori after having his tongue cut out, his hand cut off and being […]
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 | July 16, 2011
On the 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. Those of you who read my article “18 June 1546 – Anne Askew Sentenced to Death” will know that Anne was illegally racked in the Tower of […]
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 | July 30, 2010
Yes, you read the title correctly! Did you realise that Anne Boleyn “used her sexual stranglehold over Henry VIII to pursue the idea of religious reform” and “deployed her sexual power to become a ‘conspirator for Christ’ “? – aaaggghh, bump, bump – me banging my head on my desk and the stone wall behind […]
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, […]
