John Foxe
John Foxe was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England during the year 1516 or 1517. He came from a family that held some local prominence. His father died when John was young and his mother later married Richard Melton. This stepfather worked as a yeoman in Coningsby. Young John spent his childhood hours differently than other boys. While others went out to play after work, he stayed behind. Searchers would find him deep inside church buildings. He prayed there or read books with intense focus. By age sixteen around 1534 he entered Brasenose College at Oxford University. There he studied under John Hawarden who may have been a family friend. Foxe shared rooms with Alexander Nowell who later became dean of St Paul's Cathedral. He moved to Magdalen College School in 1535 where he improved his Latin skills. He became a probationer fellow in July 1538 and a full fellow the following July.
Foxe resigned from his college in 1545 because he had become a Protestant. This belief condemned by the Church of England under Henry VIII made his position untenable. Records state he resigned of his own accord but evidence suggests otherwise. He may have refused to attend mass which was required for all students. Other Protestants like Henry Bull and Laurence Humphrey also faced pressure at Magdalen. The primary reason for leaving involved his opposition to clerical celibacy. He described this requirement in letters as self-castration. A draft letter to Owen Oglethorpe protests charges brought against him by unnamed masters. These masters persecuted other fellows including Thomas Cooper and Robert Crowley. Foxe personally witnessed the burning of William Cowbridge in September 1538. After abandoning his academic career he experienced dire financial need. Hugh Latimer invited him to live together but Foxe eventually became a tutor. He worked in the household of Thomas Lucy near Stratford-on-Avon before marrying Agnes Randall on the 3rd of February 1547.
Mary I ascended to the throne in July 1553 ending Foxe's prospects. He lost his tutorship when the children's grandfather Duke of Norfolk was released from prison. Bishop Stephen Gardiner threatened him personally so he fled with his pregnant wife. They sailed from Ipswich to Nieuwpoort then traveled through Antwerp and Rotterdam. Foxe reached Strasbourg by July 1554 where he published a Latin history of Christian persecutions. This work formed the first outline of what would become Actes and Monuments. He received assistance from Edmund Grindal and John Aylmer who held differing opinions. The book dealt with figures like John Wycliffe and Jan Hus printed by Wendelin Richelius. In autumn 1554 he moved to Frankfurt to serve as preacher for English refugees. A bitter theological controversy erupted between factions supporting different church polities. John Knox led one group while Richard Cox led another. Knox was expelled and Foxe left Frankfurt in autumn 1555 along with about twenty others. Moving to Basel he worked proofreading texts for Johann Herbst and Hieronymus Froben. Despite financial contributions from merchants he lived very close to the margin.
Foxe began writing his Book of Martyrs in 1552 during Edward VI's reign. He published the first true Latin edition at Basel in August 1559. Returning to England poor and unknown he gained substantial reputation through this work. On the 20th of March 1563 he published the first English edition from John Day's press. It became a gigantic folio volume containing about 1800 pages. The full title stretched into a paragraph describing persecutions from year 1000 onward. This publication made Foxe instantly famous yet he remained as poor as ever. The book sold for more than ten shillings which represented three weeks pay for skilled craftsmen. No royalties existed so Foxe received no direct profit despite its popularity. It went on to become the second most popular book written in English after the Bible. Catholics like Thomas Harding attacked it calling it a huge dunghill of stinking martyrs. Foxe put together a second edition in 1570 removing offending passages while mounting counter-attacks. This version doubled the size with two volumes containing 2300 large double-columned pages. A third edition appeared in 1576 printed on inferior paper. The fourth edition published in 1583 contained two thousand folio pages making it the largest English book of its era.
Foxe based accounts before the early modern period on writers including Eusebius and Bede. His own contribution involved compiling English martyrs from Lollards through Mary I's persecution. He drew upon episcopal registers trial reports and eyewitness testimony. All this reinforced associations between Catholicism and cruelty in English minds. Material proved more accurate when dealing with his own period though selectively presented. Sometimes he copied documents verbatim but often adapted them for his use. Any reader must prepare to meet plenty of small errors and inconsistencies. Foxe made unambiguous side glosses such as Mark the apish pageants of these popelings. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica accused him of wilful falsification of evidence. Nevertheless he preserved much firsthand material unobtainable elsewhere. J.F. Mozley stated that Foxe presented lifelike pictures full of details never invented by a forger. Contemporary Jesuit Robert Parsons denied claims about seven people burnt for teaching scriptures in English. Foxe admitted he did not hold to later notions of neutrality or objectivity. He wrote that although many vices existed he abhorred wittingly deceiving any man or child.
On the 22nd of May 1563 Foxe was appointed prebend of Shipton in Salisbury Cathedral. He never visited the cathedral or performed duties except appointing vicar William Masters. His inaction led to charges of failing to give tithes for repairs yet he retained position until death. By 1565 he joined twenty clergymen petitioning to choose not wear vestments. Unlike others Foxe had no London benefice to lose when Archbishop Parker enforced conformity. Before 1569 he moved from Norfolk's house to his own on Grub Street. Norfolk's imprisonment in Tower in 1569 following Ridolfi Plot caused Foxe concern. Foxe attended Norfolk's execution on the 2nd of June 1572 after ministering to him. Norfolk left Foxe twenty pounds yearly as pension. In 1570 at Edmund Grindal's request Foxe preached Good Friday sermon at Paul's Cross. This exposition became A Sermon of Christ Crucified published that year. Another sermon seven years later resulted in denunciation by French ambassador over Huguenot rights. Foxe argued only that if Pope ruled France Protestants would lay down arms. In 1571 he edited Anglo-Saxon gospels under Archbishop Parker's patronage.
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Common questions
When was John Foxe born and where did he spend his childhood?
John Foxe was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England during the year 1516 or 1517. He spent his childhood hours inside church buildings praying or reading books with intense focus while other boys played outside.
Why did John Foxe resign from Magdalen College in 1545?
John Foxe resigned from his college in 1545 because he had become a Protestant and opposed clerical celibacy which he described as self-castration. His refusal to attend mass required for all students made his position untenable under Henry VIII.
What happened to John Foxe when Mary I ascended to the throne in July 1553?
Mary I ascended to the throne in July 1553 ending Foxe's prospects and causing him to flee with his pregnant wife from Ipswich to Nieuwpoort then through Antwerp and Rotterdam. He reached Strasbourg by July 1554 where he published a Latin history of Christian persecutions that formed the first outline of Actes and Monuments.
How many pages were in the fourth edition of John Foxe Book of Martyrs published in 1583?
The fourth edition published in 1583 contained two thousand folio pages making it the largest English book of its era. This publication followed earlier editions including one from August 1559 at Basel and an English edition on the 20th of March 1563 from John Day's press.
When did John Foxe die and what was his role at Salisbury Cathedral?
John Foxe died in 1587 after being appointed prebend of Shipton in Salisbury Cathedral on the 22nd of May 1563. He never visited the cathedral or performed duties except appointing vicar William Masters yet retained the position until death.