John Baker, William Burgate, William Burges, Nicholas Burton, Stanley Gower, William Hooker, George Wiseheart (or Wischard or Wishard), all of whom are mentioned by Samuel Clarke, in his martyrology.

 

Large sections of Clarke's martyrology (1651) are little more than a regurgitation of Foxe. It is in the work bound together with his martyrology, the Lives of Sundry Modern Divines, that Clarke breaks new ground, listing Church of England divines who were persecuted, not by any external agency, but by their own church. He particularly notes persecutions against Puritans. Click HERE for an account of the Lives and the figures mentioned in it.

 

 


A Generall Martyrologie, containing a Collection of all the greatest persecutions which have befallen the Church of Christ From the Creation to our present Times, Whereunto are added, The lives of sundry Modern Divines, Famous in their Generations for Learning and Piety, and most of them great Sufferers in the Cause of Christ. By Sa. Clarke, Pastor of Bennet Fink London (London, Printed by A.M. for Thomas Underhill and John Rothwell in St. Pauls Churchyard, near the Little North-door. MDCLI, quarto, 24+520+4). This is the first edition, an excellent copy, in a contemporary leather binding (hinges a bit sensitive).

 

 

Frontispiece portrait of Samuel Clarke (1599-1682). He was himself prosecuted for nonconformity in 1627. 

The first part of Clarke's book is given over to an account of persecutions in the early Church, followed by persecutions related to the Reformation in Europe. In the section on the Spanish Inquisition is a short chapter entitled "The Martyrdom of Nic. Burton in Spain". This is largely based on Foxe, but Clarke adds the names of John Baker, William Burgate, William Burges and William Hooker to the list of Englishmen put to death by the Inquisition. The last was, according to Clarke, "a youth of about sixteen," who was "stoned to death for the bold Profession of his faith". I have not so far turned up any other references to these figures.

In the chapter on "The Persecution of the Church in Scotland", Clarke gives an account of George Wiseheart. Wiseheart was given the task of trying to promote a match between Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry VIII's Protestant son, Edward, and was burned (in 1546) by a Catholic cardinal for his pains. It is said that this is what radicalised John Knox, a close friend of Wiseheart's. Clarke also gives an account of Adam Wallace, who was burned at Edinburgh in 1550, and Henry Forrest, who was burned for no other reason than that, under questioning by Friar Langius, he affirmed that Patrick Hamilton was a good man. Since Hamilton had already been burned that was taken to be good enough reason for burning Forrest. These accounts are of limited interest, however, being little more than potted versions of Foxe.

Much more interesting are the accounts of "modern divines", which follow.

MARTYRS HOME           NEXT