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Who was John Foxe
01:00 Mon 10th Dec 2001 | People & Places
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A.� A Protestant reformer who wrote Acts and Monuments of These Latter and Perilous Dayes, better known as the Book of Martyrs. It was an attack on the Roman Catholic church.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
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Q.� Background
A.� John Foxe was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1516, and was educated at Magdalen School and College, Oxford. He joined the more extreme Protestant reformers early in life and became tutor to the children of the recently beheaded Earl of Surrey. In Queen Mary's reign he fled to Germany and joined Protestant exiles at Frankfurt, then on to Basle in Switzerland where he worked for Oporinus, a Protestant printer.
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Q.� But I thought he was a churchman
A.� In 1539, he returned to England and entered the ministry, helped by his old pupil the Duke of Norfolk. He even accompanied him to the scaffold, when he was executed for conspiring with Mary Queen of Scots.
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Q.� What about his famous book
A.� Foxe began chronicling the story of how the reformers were persecuted, starting with Wycliffism (click here for a feature on John Wycliff). This started as a large Latin folio of 740 pages, which he then translated into English, adding more details on the way. The Acts and Monuments were published in l563, but almost instantly became known as the Book of Martyrs. A 'corrected' edition was made in 1570 and it was reprinted many times. Two modern editions are in eight volumes.
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Q.� What's in them
A.� The first volume besides an introduction contains the story of early Christian persecutions, a sketch of medieval church history and an account of the Wycliff movement in England and on the continent. The second volume deals with the reigns Henry VII and Edward VI and the third with Mary. Many official documents such as injunctions, articles of accusation and letters, are included. The book is illustrated throughout by woodcuts, most of them depicting the sufferings of the martyrs.
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Q.� Loved by the Protestants. Hated by the Catholics
A.� That's about the size of it. The Convocation of the English Church ordered in 1571 that copies should be kept for public inspection in all cathedrals, church houses and many parish churches. Its intense style and vivid writing made it very popular among Puritan and low church worshippers until the 19th Century.� The Catholic Encyclopaedia is understandably dismissive of Foxe's work: 'Even the fantastically partisan church history ... with its grotesque stories of popes and monks and its motley succession of witnesses to the truth ... was accepted among simple folk and must have contributed much to anti-Catholic prejudices in England. When Foxe treats of his own times, his work is of greater value as it contains many documents and is but largely based on the reports of eyewitnesses; but he sometimes dishonesty mutilates his documents and is quite untrustworthy in his treatment of evidence.'
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Q.� So not a scholarly work
A.� Oh yes - but remember that Foxe was a propagandist for his cause. He died in 1587.
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Steve Cunningham
