Fox's Book of Martyrs

About this book

John Foxe tells the stories of Christians who died for their faith, from the martyrs of the Roman persecutions and the medieval reformers, such as John Wycliffe and Jan Hus, to the English Protestants burned at the stake under Queen Mary in the 1550s. Among the most famous scenes are the burning of the bishops Latimer and Ridley at Oxford, when Latimer told his friend to take comfort, for they would light such a candle in England as would never be put out, and the death of Archbishop Cranmer, who held his right hand in the flames first because it had signed his recantation.

Context and significance

Foxe (1516–1587) first published his huge Acts and Monuments in 1563, and it was placed in many English churches beside the Bible; it shaped English Protestant identity for centuries, though its view of Catholics is fiercely partisan. This popular edition is much shorter than the original. John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim's Progress, read it in prison.

About the author