Death of John Foxe, Author of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, April 18, 1587
he Bible is replete with commands to chronicle and remember the great deeds of our Lord and the acts of His humble instruments—the saints throughout time. Their heroic acts of faith are separated from us only by their ordained place in the continuum of time and our short lifespans, and that separation is a small drop in the bucket of the everlasting fellowship we will share together in heaven. From the Apostle Paul’s account of the “great cloud of witnesses” in the book of Hebrews to God’s own command in Genesis to Moses after the defeat of Amalek to “write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua”, we are assured of two things: He is faithful and we are forgetful.
Joshua fighting Amalek
At the height of the Protestant Reformation in Europe, one Englishman named John Foxe found himself an exile from his mother country, forced to shelter in neutral Switzerland as his friends, mentors, and fellow congregants were put to death back home for their Protestant faith. Oxford educated and accustomed to earning his living by the printing trade, an idea formed in Foxe’s mind that soon engrossed all his energies: he would compile a record of the persecution of God’s people throughout the ages.
John Foxe (1516/1517-1587)
Before having to flee England for his life and welfare, Foxe himself had cast in his lot with the fledgling Nonconformists, thereby lost his position at Oxford (under King Henry VI), and his family had disowned him as a heretic. Adrift in Switzerland, he had found a strong community of other Protestant refugees, one of them being Scotland’s famous John Knox who encouraged him in his vision. Foxe published his first volume in Latin—the universal language of scholars—and its themes dealt none too subtly with persecutions in previous centuries in England, highlighting the Reforming movements of John Wycliff and his followers, known as Lollards.
An illustration from the first edition of Foxe’s Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church, more commonly known as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, first published in 1563
John Wycliffe sending out a band of itinerant preachers who became known as Lollards
While Foxe was in the process of publishing this first book, a new monarch ascended the throne back in England. Her strict adherence to the Catholic Church and drastic measures to root out all those who would not bow to its mandates earned her the monicker “Bloody Mary”. All Bibles in English were sought out and destroyed, and those who owned them and would not recant from their faith were tortured and put to death by public burnings. Such tales of woe reached Foxe in Switzerland, among them those of the heroism of his close friends, Tyndale, Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer—all martyred for their faith and in the cause of preserving God’s Word in the common tongue.
Martyrdom of William Tyndale (1494-1536)
Martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)
Foxe compiled into a second volume the stories that reached him from the faithful back in England, which he initially published in a small release in Basel, Switzerland. Shortly after this, yet another English queen replaced the previous—her name was Elizabeth, and under her more tolerant policies, Foxe felt safe to return to his homeland and take up pastoral work. There, at home in England, Foxe spent years in further study, tracking down documents and certain eyewitnesses to martyrdoms, and afterwards produced an expanded work of his volume on martyrology. Once completed, the book boasted a total of 1,800 pages, embellished with numerous illustrations sparing no detail pertaining to the gruesome fates of the faithful sufferers. Foxe translated this work into English so that it might be read by the common man and had it published by John Day in London in the year 1563.
A 1562 portrait of Publisher John Day (c.1522-1584) from the frontispiece of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs
Basel, Switzerland as viewed from the Rhine River, with the Protestant Cathedral dominating the landscape
A still later edition was published in 1570, revised and enlarged to some 2,500 pages to include the history of persecution from the Early Church forward, although scrupulously exempt from any mention of Catholic persecution, it should be noted. Under Elizabeth’s direction this new volume was ordered displayed alongside the Holy Bible in every church, common hall, and college throughout England.
The title page to the 1563 edition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, heavily illustrated to show the breadth of history covered
The Reformation of the sixteenth century had brought about change in culture and not just the church—there was a literacy revolution afoot unlike any seen before. Average men and women were now capable of owning books due to the proliferation of the printing press, and the education required to comprehend them kept apace. The great Reformer William Tyndale’s hope for the ‘humble ploughboy to know more of the Scriptures’ than the pretentious clergy had come into being. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs as it became known, was second only to the Divine Word in its reach during that time—a time that boasted authors like Shakespeare and Moore. Vicars read from it during Sunday services. Francis Drake read it aloud on the Western seas. It inspired the upcoming generation of Puritans. It took the world by storm. But the rigors of his research also took a toll on Foxe’s personal health, and he went to be with his Lord and the saints whom he so diligently honored on this day, April 18, in the year 1587.
An engraving of John Foxe, captioned: “The true Picture of John Foxe, who Gathered together and published the Actes and Monuments of the Universall History of the same, wherein is set at Large the Whole Course of the church, from the Primitive age to these Latter times, Especially in this Realme of England”
St. Giles-without-Cripplegate, London—final resting place of John Foxe
Foxe’s incredible work is still in print today, unabridged and as stirring as ever, a harrowing reminder of the price those who have come before us paid for their faith—a price still exacted to this day from our brothers and sisters all over the world. A compilation of stories with no earthly happy ending, whose common denominator is only one of the most feared mortal things on earth—death—is only a fortifying read to those whose faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Image Credits: 1 Joshua fighting Amalek (wikipedia.org) 2 John Foxe (wikipedia.org) 3 Illustration (wikipedia.org) 4 Wycliffe and Lollards (wikipedia.org) 5 Martyrdom of Tyndale (wikipedia.org) 6 Martyrdom of Cranmer (wikipedia.org) 7 John Day (wikipedia.org) 8 Basel, Switzerland (wikipedia.org) 9 Title Page (wikipedia.org) 10 Foxe, from his Book of Martyrs (wikipedia.org) 11 St. Giles, Cripplegate (wikipedia.org)
