Category Archives: The Burning Time

20 February 1547: Coronation of Edward VI

On this day in 1547 Edward, the young son of the late King Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour was crowned in Westminster Abbey, the event accompanied by much pageantry and celebration, as recorded by the Grey Friars Chronicler: Item the 20th day of the same month the said King Edward the SixthContinue reading “20 February 1547: Coronation of Edward VI”

19 February 1555: Writ for John Bradford’s execution withdrawn

On this day in 1555 the prominent Protestant preacher, John Bradford, who had been condemned to death for heresy on 30 January, had the writ for his execution temporarily withdrawn. He had expected to be executed in short order, but the authorities were delaying the carrying out of his sentence while they sought to findContinue reading “19 February 1555: Writ for John Bradford’s execution withdrawn”

18 February 1533: Thomas Cromwell receives a letter

On this day in 1533 an Observant Franciscan lay brother by the name of Richard Lyst wrote a letter to Thomas Cromwell, one in a series of letters denouncing a fellow Observant Franciscan, Friar John Forest. Cromwell had recruited Lyst as an informer in 1532, Lyst thereby becoming a small cog in Cromwell’s machinery toContinue reading “18 February 1533: Thomas Cromwell receives a letter”

18 February 1516: Birth of Mary Tudor

On this day in 1516 a child was born to Henry VIII and his first wife Katherine of Aragon who would become known to history as ‘Bloody Mary’, the scourge of English Protestants, ultimately responsible for the death by burning of scores of her subjects with whom she had profound disagreements over matters of religion.Continue reading “18 February 1516: Birth of Mary Tudor”

14 February 1551: Stephen Gardiner deprived of his see

On this day in 1551, 11 years after he had preached against the new Protestant doctrines at Paul’s Cross, Stephen Gardiner was officially stripped of his position as Bishop of Winchester. Gardiner had been summoned to appear before the Privy Council early in the reign of Edward VI, the young Protestant King, and had beenContinue reading “14 February 1551: Stephen Gardiner deprived of his see”

14 February 1540 – Stephen Gardiner preaches at Paul’s Cross

On this day in 1540 (a Sunday), the Bishop of Winchester, Stephen Gardiner, preached the first of that year’s Lenten sermons at Paul’s Cross. These occasions drew large crowds and whatever was said at Paul’s Cross would be heard in the highest quarters. Bishop Gardiner used the opportunity to attack the doctrine of justification byContinue reading “14 February 1540 – Stephen Gardiner preaches at Paul’s Cross”

13 February 1542 – Execution of Queen Katherine Howard

On this day in 1542, Queen Katherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII, was beheaded. Her alleged pre- and extramarital liaisons had come to light in the previous year, during the King’s so-called ‘Great Progress‘ to York, undertaken with the aim of demonstrating Henry’s power and authority in the north of England, inContinue reading “13 February 1542 – Execution of Queen Katherine Howard”

11 February 1526 – Robert Barnes recants

On this day in 1526 (a Sunday) Robert Barnes, a prominent early advocate of Protestantism in England, was forced to recant his beliefs in public at Paul’s Cross. Robert Barnes was born in Bishop’s Lynn in Norfolk in about 1495 and entered the house of the Austin Friars in Cambridge while still a boy. HeContinue reading “11 February 1526 – Robert Barnes recants”