with the to winne thee from thine errors: yet thou and suche lyke haue and doo report, that I go about to seke thy bloud. &c. To whō þe said Thomas Browne aunswered agayne, yea, MarginaliaBoner charged to be a bloude sucker.my Lorde, sayeth he, in dede ye be a bloudsucker. And I woulde I had as muche bloude, as is water in the Sea, for you to sucke. Boner then proceading to the articles, when he had red them vnto hym againe, as he had done diuers tymes before, asketh him whether he was content and willing to relinquishe those his heresies and erronious opinions, as he called them, and returne agayn vnto the vnity of the Catholike fayth. whereunto he maketh answere agayne, saying: MarginaliaThe wordes of T. Browne to Boner.If they be Heresies, he would forsake them. They be Heresies (quod the Byshoppe.) howe wyll you proue it, sayde Browne? for I wyll not goe from mine aunsweres, excepte you can proue them to be Heresies, whiche ye shall neuer doo. for that whiche you call Heresy, is no Heresye. With that Boner not able to satisfy the part of a suffycient teacher, in prouing that whiche the other hadde denied, by good authoritie and doctrine of þe scripture, went about with woordes, and promise of pardon to allure him to renounce those his Heresies, as he them called, and to returne vnto the vnity of his mother Catholike Churche. &c. To whom the sayde Thomas inferreth againe, as followeth. Proue it (saieth he) to be Heresye, that I doe holde and maynetayn, and I will turne to you. But you condemne me, because I wil not confesse & beleue the bread in the sacrament of the altar (as you call it) to be the body of Christ, and therfore ye spill mine and suche lyke Innocentes bloud, being the Quenes true subiectes: for whiche you shall aunswer and that shortlye. After this being spoken, Boner as he had done to the other before, redde in writing the sentence diffinytiue against him, the copy and forme of whiche sentence wherwith the papistes were wont to condemne all the innocente Saynts of Christ, is aboue expressed, Pa. 1230. Col. 1. And so thys doone was committed vnto the Sheriffes to be hadde away, and burned the. xxvii. daye of the sayde moneth of Ianuarye,
The date of the execution of Whittle, Green and the others has been disputed. The normally reliable London diarist Henry Machyn states that it took place on 22 January (The Diary of Henry Machyn, ed. J. G. Nichols, Camden Society, original 42 [1848], p. 99). The chronicler Charles Wriothesley supports Foxe in stating that Whittle and the others were executed on 27 January. The dates of two of Green's letters further confirm the date of 27 January as that of his execution.
[Back to Top]Tudson's death was merely listed in the Rerum (p. 634). This account of his martyrdom was first printed in 1563 and remained substantially unchanged. It was based entirely on official records, now lost, of his trial.
MarginaliaIanuarye. 15.THe same daye and tyme, when Mayster Grene was condemned, as is aboue rehearsed, beyng the fiftene day of Ianuary, was also producted Iohn Tudson with the reste of the sayde companye, vnto the like condemnation. This Iohn Tudson was borne in Ipswich, in the Countie of Suffolk, after that apprētyse at London, dwelling with one George Goodyeare of the parishe of Sainct Mary Botulph, within the dioces of London, who being com-
[Back to Top]plained of to sir Richard Cholmley, and Doctoure Story, was by them sent vnto Boner Bishop of London, and was diuers tymes had before him in examination. The articles and interrogatories ministred vnto hym, as vnto the rest, before are specified, with his aunswers also to the same annexed. &c. After thys was brought vnto the open consistorye, where the sayde blessed and true seruaunte of the Lorde Iohn Tudson, appearing before the said bishop and his complices, was moued with sondrye perswasions (as theyr maner is) to goe from his opinion, whiche they named Heresye, and to persist in the vnitie of the Churche, which they were of. But he constantly persistyng in that whiche he had receuyed, by the Preachers in king Edwardes time, refused so to doe, saying there was no Heresy in his aunswers. for I (saide he) defye all Heresye. The Byshop yet not passing by his olde accustomed perswasyons to remoue hym, promising moreouer all his offenses and errours, as he called them, to be forgeuen him, if he would returne. &c. Then Tudson tell me (saieth he) wherein I haue offended, and I will returne. Then the Byshop, in your aunsweres, saide he: No, sayd Tudson again, I haue not therein offended, and ye, my Lorde pretende Charitie, MarginaliaBoner sheweth lyttle charitye in his works.but nothing thereof appeareth in your workes. Thus after a few wordes the Bishop doth promulgate sentence against him, which being red, the godlye and constant martyr was committed vnto the secular power, & so wt muche patience finished this life with the other aboue named, the. xxvii. day of Ianuary.
The date of the execution of Whittle, Green and the others has been disputed. The normally reliable London diarist Henry Machyn states that it took place on 22 January (The Diary of Henry Machyn, ed. J. G. Nichols, Camden Society, original 42 [1848], p. 99). The chronicler Charles Wriothesley supports Foxe in stating that Whittle and the others were executed on 27 January. The dates of two of Green's letters further confirm the date of 27 January as that of his execution.
[Back to Top]Went's death was merely listed in the Rerum (p. 634). This account was first printed in the 1563 edition and it remained substantially unchanged through subsequent editions. It was based entirely on official records of Went's trial.
MarginaliaIanuary. 15.IOhn Went born in Langham in Essex, wtin the dioces of London, of the age of. 27. and a shereman by occupation, fyrste was examined (as partly is touched before) by Doctor Storye vpon the sacrament of his popish altar, and because the poore man dyd not accorde with hym throughly in the reall presence of the body and bloude of Christe, the saide Story did send him vp to Boner bishoppe of London. Who likewise after diuers examinations vppon the articles aforesayde, in the consistory, attempted the like maner of perswasions with hym, as he did with the other to recant and retourne. To whom in few wordes the saide Went answered again, he would not, but that by the leaue of god, he would stand firme and constante in that he had said. And when the bishop yet notwithstanding did still urge and call vppon him with wordes and fayre gloses, to geue ouer hymselfe to theyr opinion, he could haue no other aunswere of hym but thys: No, I say as I haue sayde. &c. whereuppon being condemned by the Byshoppes sentence, was commytted vnto þe Sheriffes (whom þe shameles shauelyng at þt tyme abused for his seruile butchers)
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