Thomas_Benhote

Colchester Martyrs

Colchester Martyrs

16th-century Protestants executed for heresy in Colchester, Essex, England


The Colchester Martyrs were 16th-century English Protestant martyrs. They were executed for heresy in Colchester, Essex, during the reigns of Henry VIII and Mary I. Their story is recorded in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

A 17th century woodcut showing Rose Allin or Allen, being arrested together with her stepfather and mother, William and Alice Mount or Munt on 7 March 1557 for their Protestant beliefs. They, along with seven others, were burnt at the stake at Colchester on 2 August 1557; some of the Colchester Martyrs.

1545 or 1546

"[O]ne Henry" and his servant were burned at the stake.[1]

29 March 1555

John Lawrence, a priest and former Blackfriar at Sudbury, Suffolk[2] was burned at the stake.[3]

14 June 1555

Nicholas Chamberlain (or Chamberlaine), a weaver from Coggeshall, Essex was burned at the stake.[4][5]

28 April 1556

Christopher Lister, a husbandman from Dagenham, Essex, John Mace, an apothecary from Colchester, Essex, John Spencer, a weaver from Colchester, Essex, Simon Joyne, a sawyer, Richard Nicol, a weaver from Colchester, Essex and John Hamond, a tanner from Colchester, Essex were burned at the stake.[4][6]

2 August 1557

William Bongeor, Thomas Benhote, William Purchase, Agnes Silverside, Helen Ewring, Elizabeth Folk, William Munt, John Johnson, Alice Munt and Rose Allen were taken to Colchester Castle and burned at the stake.[7]

17 September 1557

Agnes Bongeor, wife of Richard Bongeor, John Kurde, and Margaret (Widow) Thurston were burned at the stake[8][4]

26 May 1558

William Harris, Richard Day and Christian George (female) were burned at the stake.[4][9]

Those who died in prison

James Gore died on 7 December 1555 in Colchester prison[4][10] and John Thurston, who had been taken at Much Bentley, Essex, died in May 1557 in Colchester Castle.[11]

Monuments

A monument to these victims of the Marian persecutions is in St Peter's Church on North Hill;[12] another is in the Colchester Town Hall.[13]

See also


References

  1. "Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Glossary of People". Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  2. Thomas Bryce, "The Regester" in Edward Farr, ed., Select Poetry of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (1845).
  3. Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 378. Three Colchester Martyrs. Exclassics.com; retrieved 30 May 2013.
  4. Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 362. Ten Colchester Martyrs, Exclassics.com; retrieved 29 May 2013.
  5. Virtual Tour of Colchester's Town Hall, camulos.com; accessed 31 July 2015.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Thomas_Benhote, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.