Tag: heresy

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Anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth I and the end of burning of heretics November 17th

Black and white drawing of Queen Elizabeth I with a copy of her signature below it
Queen Elizabeth

The anniversary was celebrated in London with bonfires and bell-ringing. Lighted fire-barrels were rolled along Cheapside. It was, in a way, the precursor to Guy Fawkes Day (1605 onwards). Protestants celebrated it with such joy as it was the end of the reign of Elizabeth’s sister, Queen Mary I. ‘Bloody’ Mary, as she was named by Protestants, was the daughter of Katherine of Aragon. She had 287 Protestants burnt at the stake, mostly relatively ordinary people: clergy, apprentices, artisans, and agricultural workers.  60 were women; 67 were Londoners: the majority were of the younger generation, and most from the South East of England.

The executions were overwhelmingly unpopular, ghastly exhibitions of brutality, and in 1555 the weather was unusually wet, so the burnings were an even slower form of torture.  The savagery was blamed by the protestants on the old religion and particular the people who came over with Mary’s Spanish husband.  Ironically, Philip, in fact, urged caution. When Mary refused to be as lenient to religious dissidents as she was to political ones, he suggested the executions should, at least, be in private. She refused, as the immortal souls of the population were put at risk by Protestant dogma then the public nature of the deaths was a justifiable deterrent.

So, when, three years later, in 1558, in the early hours of the 17th November (6am) Queen Mary died, London rejoiced. An old regime, a foreign regime, a Catholic regime was swept away by a young Queen (Elizabeth was 25), with a young Court sworn to protect the new Protestant religion. 

More on the accession of Elizabeth I at ‘History Today, here.

Soon, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs outsold all other books printed except the Bible, and enthusiasm for religious reform morphed into anti-Catholic intolerance.

The Author’s copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

One of the martyrs in the book is Thomas Tomkins, a weaver and a Londoner from Shoreditch, a few hundred yards from where I live.

Tomkins was a humble but godly man who was kept imprisoned by Bishop Bonner, the Bishop of London, at his Palace at Fulham. Here he was beaten. The Bishop personally beat him around the face and ripped off part of his beard. The beatings continued for six months. Finally, exasperated at his failure to persuade the weaver of his error, Bonner burnt Tomkins hand with a lighted taper until ‘the veins shrunk and the sinews burst’. I assume Bonner would defend his action by saying he wanted to give the weaver Tomkins a foretaste not only of the burning he faced but of the very fires of Hell.

But nothing would avail; Tomkins, simple man that he was, would not accept that bread was made into flesh.  (Transubstantiation). He would not say that which he did not believe. So he met his end at Smithfield by fire with his bandaged hand in the reign of Queen Mary on 16th March 1555.

Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield. Black and white engraving
Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield.

First Published 17th November 2023, revised 2024.

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Douai Martyrs Saints Day October 29th

Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield. Black and white engraving
Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield.

Before we get to the Martyrs, here is the link to Thursday’s Halloween Virtual Tour. The email sent to subscribers seems not to have included the Eventbrite link. So if you are interested in joining me for my Halloween zoom, please click here to book.

Today, is the feast day of the 158 English Martyrs from the English School at Douai who were killed by the English state between 1577 and 1680. Catholics who chose exile upon the death of the Catholic Queen Mary I, and the accession of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I gathered in Douai where an English School was set up which was in essence a Catholic Oxford College in Exile. Its mission became to train priests to re-enter England and minister to the many Catholics who wanted to continue to practice their faith despite offical intoleration.

Catholic worshippers were fined if they did not attend Church of England services in their local churches, while Catholic Priests re-entering England could be charged with High Treason and, if found guilty, hanged, drawn and quartered, often at Tyburn (at the west end of Oxford Street in London).

In the short reign of Mary I, nicknamed ‘Bloody Mary’ over 250 protestants were burned at the stake for heresy. In the long reign of her sister, Elizabeth I, over 300 Catholics were executed for Treason by being Hanged, Drawn and Quartered. Elizabeth is known as ‘Good Queen Bess’. There is no value in balancing evil, but pro-rata Mary’s reign was much more bloody. Elizabeth would probably also suggest that she did not execute Catholics because of their belief, but because the policy of the Catholic Church was to destroy Elizabeth’s regime, and the Priests were not executed for heresy but for treason. However, this is a fine distinction to be made, in such horrendous blood-letting.

The number of martyrdoms from one institution shows incredible bravery in the fact of intolerance, and the Douai Martyrs were a remarkable group of people. Most have been beatified by the church, some have been made ‘venerable’, twenty have been canonised. A few remain simply as ‘martyrs’

In London in Ely Place is St Etheldreda’s Church, which has memorials to Catholic Martyrs, and no mention of Protestant Martyrs. A few hundred yards away in Smithfield is a plaque to the Protestant Martyrs under Queen Mary and no mention of the Catholic Martyrs. Personally, I think it is about time the two traditions made it clear that both groups of martyrs are worthy of equal distinction, and the authorities who allowed such toxic intolerance to triumph deserve our contempt.

Two examples of martyrs in Smithfield:

John Forest a Francisan Monk was burnt at the stake at Smithfield and commemorated in St Etheldreda’s Church. He was Catherine of Aragon’s Confessor, and refused to accept King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England.

John Rogers was a scholar and worked to continue William Tyndale’s work in translating the bible into English, He was the Vicar of the Holy Sepulchre Church, which is halfway between Smithfield and St Etheldreda. He was the first person to be burned during Queen Mary I’s reign, and mentioned on the memorial in Smithfield.

I will add more images when I return to my desk and apologise for a Protestant Martyr heading up a feature on Catholic Martyrs! And thanks to my friend Derek, who suggested I cover this topic. His children went to a school in London named after the 158 English Martyrs,

For a longer look at the Protestant Martyrs at Smithfield have a look at my post which deals with the martyrdom of Thomas Thompkins a simple honest man burnt at the stake.

Anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth I and the end of burning of heretics November 17th
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St Germanus Day & Original Sin July 31st

St Germanus of Auxerre, Window in St Paul’s parish church, Morton, Lincolnshire, made by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris in 1914. Photo by Jenny of Jules & Jenny from Lincoln, UK (CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Photo by Jenny of Jules & Jenny from Lincoln, UK)

St Germanus is the source of one of the few contemporary references to Britain in the 5th Century (the Dark Ages). One of his followers wrote his life story. The Saint, a Bishop in France, was sent to Britain because the Pelagian Heresy was endangering the Catholic version of Christianity. Pelagius was a highly educated British (or possibly Irish) priest who moved to Rome in the late 4th Century. He lived by a strict moral code, attacking Catholic laxity and opposing St Augustine of Hippo’s theory of Divine Grace. By contrast, Pelagius promoted human choice in salvation and denied the doctrine of original sin. Wikipedia tells us that he:

considered it an insult to God that humans could be born inherently sinful or biased towards sin, and Pelagius believed that the soul was created by God at conception, and therefore could not be imbued with sin as it was solely the product of God’s creative agency.

17th Century print of Pelagius

Germanus was sent to Britain, where he confronted Pelagian converts in a public debate which is thought to have taken place in a disused Roman amphitheatre. The author is not interested in Britain, per se, so does not tell us which town it was, but, it is mostly assumed to be St Albans, although London is possible.

In the stadium, the Saint and his acolytes confound the heretics and, so, convert the town’s people sitting watching the debate. St Germanus goes to a nearby shrine of St Alban to thank God, falls asleep in a hut, and is miraculously saved from a fire. He then comes across a man called a Tribune, and helps defeat a Saxon army in the ‘Alleluia’ victory. The importance of all this is that it, in about 429AD, gives us a few glimpses of Britain two decades after the Romans have left, and that Britain stayed in the Catholic fold.

The British Bishops were led in their heresy by someone called Agricola. The writer describes these bishops as ‘conspicuous for riches, brilliant in dress and surrounded by a fawning multitude’. The use of the title ‘Tribune’ in the story suggests Roman administrative titles are still in use 19 years after the date of the ‘formal’ end of Roman Britain, 410AD. The Alleluia victory over the Saxons also gives us an early date for Saxon presence in the country as an enemy.

St Albans is the favoured choice for the location of the event because, Bede tells us St Albans was born, martyred and commemorated in Verulamium, now called St Albans. Archaeology shows possible post Roman occupation of the town. And it has a famous Amphitheatre.

However, Gildas, who is writing 200 years or more before Bede, tells us St Alban was born in Verulamium but martyred in London, which makes sense as London was the late Roman Capital and more likely to be the site of a martyrdom. There is also a church dedicated to St Albans close to the Roman Amphitheatre, where Gildas tells us the execution took place. The Church cannot, unfortunately, be, archaeologically dated back to 429AD.

Bede’s account of the martyrdom of St Albans is also somewhat farcical, as God divides the waters of the River Ver for Alban to get to his martyrdom more quickly. The bridge was said to be full of people walking to witness Alban’s execution, and blocking Albans path to Heaven. But the Ver is but a piddle, and it would be easy to walk over without needing wellington boats, let along a miracle to get to the otherside. This story is much more impressive,in Gildas’ version who has the miraculous crossing over the River Thames.

Had Pelegius won and the Roman Church had a more optimistic view of the human spirit, would it have made any difference? It’s a big question, but maybe it would have left less room for pessimism and guilt?

Frances Marsden on Quora wrote:

What were the effects of original sin? …. it damaged our relationship with God. He seemed distant, we became mistrustful. We lost sanctifying grace. The weakening of the will, making us more prone to temptation. The darkening of the intellect. Increased vulnerability to sickness and disease. Spiritual death.

Germanus died in Ravenna.

For more on Nick Fuentes and his theories on St Germanus, St Patrick and King Arthur click here:

For St Germanus and St Genevieve click here:

First written in January 2023, copied to its own page in July 2024.

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St. Genevieve’s Day January 3rd

priant pour arrêter la pluie lors des moissons, réalisé au XIXe siècle par Alfred Gérente pour orner le corridor de la nouvelle sacristie de Notre-Dame de Paris.
Saint Geneviève praying for the end of the rain. 19th Century by Alfred Gérente Notre-Dame de Paris.

St Genevieve of Nanterre has her feast day today. Nanterre is an ancient settlement swallowed up by modern Paris. Genevieve is a most remarkable woman who met St Germanus of Auxerre on his way to Britain and became a ‘consecrated virgin’ at the age of 15.

St Germanus is significant for post Roman studies because his life, written in the 5th Century, is one of the few written records of life in post-Roman Britain. He was sent to Britain because the Pelagian Heresy was endangering the Catholic version of Christianity.

17th Century print of Pelagius

Germanus was sent to Britain, where he confronted Pelagian converts in a public debate which took place in a disused Roman amphitheatre. if the River is the Thames.

For more about Germanus and his visit to Britain click here:

As for Geneviève, she went on to lead an aesthetic life of fasting and prayer. In 451, she led the Parisians in prayer on the approach of the Huns led by Attila, and is credited with his decision not to attack the City. She lived to 89.

Incidently, Nanterre has an interesting prehistory. The name in Celtic means ‘enduring sacred site’, and a big cemetery found there makes it possibly the original site of Paris, or at least an important early site. Julius Caesar attended an assembly with local Gallic leaders in the area. The topography of Nanterre fits as well for the story as the Île de la Cité some argue.

Caesar went on to write a book about his experiences in Gaul and Britain, so some credence can be given to what he says about the Druids. This is an excerpt photographed from my book.

‘In Their Own Words – A Literary Companion To The Origins Of London‘ D A Horizons, 2009.  Kevin Flude

To buy the Kindle version, click here.  To buy a paperback (£7.00 including P&P) click on the PayPal link below or  email kpflude AT anddidthosefeet.org.uk

Cover of Kevin Flude's 'In their Own Words'

First written in January 2023, revised and republished January 2024.