In the Rerum, Foxe presented a rather lengthy account of the martyrdom of John Lambert (Rerum, pp. 146-54). It began with a verbose description of Satan's unceasing efforts to stir up discord and of how, thanks to the devil, Henry VIII , after the dissolution of the monasteries, began to turn against the evangelicals. Foxe then related how Lambert got into a discussion of the sacrament with John Taylor and how this led to Lambert's arrest for heresy. This is followed by a detailed account of Lambert's trial before Henry VIII. (Foxe would reveal in the 1570 edition that his source for this narrative was one 'A. G'. This was very probably Anthon Gilby, who shared Lambert's theological beliefs and who shared a residence with Foxe in Frankfurt in 1554-55). This in turn is followed by an 'apostrophe' to Henry VIII, warning him (and all princes) that they would face divine judgement if they murdered God's saints. In the Rerum, Foxe also mentioned that Lambert had written a treatise defending his beliefs. Foxe summarised this treatise. (The work referred to was A treatyse made by Johan Lambert, was edited by John Bale and almost certainly he had informed Foxe of the treatise and its contents). Foxe concluded with a story of Thomas Cromwell having Lambert brought to him before his execution and begging the martyr's forgiveness. In the first edition of the Acts and Monumnts, Foxe reprinted the account from the Rerum, but also added some new material. He added the details that Thomas Bilney converted Lambert, that Lambert know both Latin and Greek, and that he was chaplain to the Merchant Adventurers in Antwerp. Most importantly, Foxe added the 45 articles charged against Lambert in 1532 and Lambert's responses to them. Foxe's source for these does not survive, but it was almost certainly a separate court book of the proceedings. Where Foxe found it is harder to answer; the natural place for it have been kept would have been Lambeth, but there is no other indication that Foxe consulted the records there before 1563.

In the Dialogi sex Harpsfield made a number of pointed objections to the claims of Henry VIII and Elizabeth to being Supreme Heads of the English Church (Dialogi sex, pp. 989-91). Among other things, Harpsfield observed that Foxe had denounced Henry for executing Lambert and had even warned the king of his possible damnation (Dialogi sex, p. 991). Although he did not state it explicitly, Harpsfield had made a telling point: If Henry VIII was truly the Supreme Head of the Church, how could his judgement that Lambert was a heretic be questioned? Foxe saw the problem and, in the account of Lambert, he quietly dropped his 'apostrophe' to Henry VIII, although he replaced it with a general warning that even princes would have to account to God for their actions (This oration was dropped from the 1570 edition because Harpsfield had used it to question the validity of the title of Supreme Head of the English Church which had been claimed by Henry and Elizabeth). Foxe also added, for the first time, a note identifying 'A. G.' as the source for the account of Lambert's trial; this verification may also have been a response to Harpsfield.

Foxe made other changes to the account of Lambert in 1570. He re-arranged the account to place it in a more coherent order. He also added more precise detail on the circumstances of Warham's examination of Lambert (concerning Frith's arrest and examination in 1538). He also added detail on the protracted agony of Lambert's execution, which he must have obtained from an eyewitness. Most importantly, Foxe finally obtained Bale's edition of A treatyse made by Johan Lambert…(Wesel, 1548?), STC 15180 and reprinted it. The 1570 account of Lambert was itself reprinted without change in subsequent editions of the Acts and Monuments.

In some ways, the most surprising thing about Foxe's account of Lambert is that he included it in the Acts and Monuments at all. In several respects, it presented Foxe with severe embarassments. For one thing, as we have seen, Henry VIII's direct, and enthusiastic, involvement in Lambert's trial created problems for Foxe. Worse yet was the role of the future martyr Thomas Cranmer and of Foxe's ideal godly magistrate Thomas Cromwell, in condemning Lambert. Foxe did try to alleviate these embarrassments by unconvincingly attempting to blame Lambert's prosecution on Stephen Gardiner and other Henrician bishops (See A treatyse made by Johan Lambert…, ed. John Bale (Wesel, 1548?), STC 15180). Foxe also related an implausible tale of Cromwell asking Lambert for his forgiveness (It is highly unlikely that Cromwell would have had someone condemned by the king brought to his and that he would have sought the condemned man's forgiveness. This anecdote has to regarded as another attempt by Foxe to alleviate the embarrassment caused by Lambert's having been denounced by other evangelicals). Nevertheless the account of Lambert was of considerable use to Foxe for one basic reason: apart from John Frith, Lambert was the only Henrician martyr who articulated a Eucharistic theology with which Foxe was largely in agreement. Lambert, and his writings, were invaluable to Foxe in providing a Reformed ancestry for the theology of the Elizabethan church.

Thomas S. Freeman