1570 Edition | Book 8 | Page 1263 
to no ende, and was therfore compelled to steppe right forth at once to the mazes end, there to quiete, and repose hymselfe at the last.
And is it not tyme to haue end in seuen yeare, or els to seke for it an other waye? The Pope hath shewed hym selfe both vnwillyng to haue an ende, and also so ready & prone to do hym iniurie, aswell in cityng hym to Rome, as also sendyng forth certeine breues to hys grace sclaunderous, & for the iniustice and iniquitie of them, to him selfe dishonorable: as hee gaue his highnes good and iust cause to suspect, lest any ende to bee made at his hand (if any hee would make) might be in hys conscience receiued and folowed. For the Pope doyng iniurie in some point, why should he be thought conuenient Iudge, not vsing hym selfe indifferently in the matter, (as many moe particularities may bee shewed and declared) consideryng, there is a generall Councell,MarginaliaThis generall Councell was the fyrst Coūcell of Constantinople. willyng all matters to be determined where they first began, and that the whole body of our realme hath for the wealth of the same, by a lawe established the determination of such causes? By reason whereof
CloseThe final decision in England was made by Archbishop Cranmer at his tribunal at The Priory of St Peter at Dunstable on 23 May 1533 [for which, see Andrew A Chibi, Henry VIII's Conservative Scholar (Bern, 1997), pp.82-4].
By these matters thus passed & discoursed to & fro betwene þe kyng & these forrein Princes aboue rehearsed, many thinges are to be vnderstāded of the reader, who so is disposed to behold and consider the state and procedyng of publicke affaires, as well to the Churche apperteinyng, as to the common wealth. MarginaliaThe kinges diuorce iust.First how the kyng cleareth hym selfe both iustly and reasonably for hys diuorce made with the Lady Katherine the Emperours Aunte. MarginaliaThe kings maryage with Queene Anne, lawfull.Secondly, how he proueth and defendeth hys Mariage with Queene Anne, to bee iust and lawfull, both by the authoritie of Gods worde, and the comprobation of the best and most famous learned men and Vniuersities, & also by the assent of the whole Realme. MarginaliaThe Pope suppressed.
The kings title of supremacie.Furthermore
CloseThis refers to the first 'Succession Act of 1534' (25 Henry VIII, c.22).
CloseThis is a quote from the second part of the 'Treasons Act of 1534' (26 Henry VIII, c.13). [See, G R Elton, The Tudor Constitution, Documents and Commentary (Cambridge, 1972), p.63].
If any person or persons after the first of Februarye next, do maliciouslye imagine, inuente, practise, or attempte to depriue the kyng of the dignitie, title, or name of hys royall estate. &c. that then euery MarginaliaDenying of the kings supremacie made treason.such person and persons so offending in any of the premisses, their ayders, counsellours, consenters, and abbettours beyng therof lawfullye conuicte, acordyng to the lawes and customes of thys realme, shalbe reputed, accepted, and adiudged traytours, and that euery such offence in any the premisses committed or done after the sayd first day of February, shalbe reputed, accepted, and adiudged hygh treason: and the offenders therein, their ayders, consenters, counsellours, and abbettours beyng lawfully conuict of any such offence, shall haue & suffer such paines of death and other penalties, as is limited and accustomed in cases of hygh treason.
[Back to Top]Vpon this and such other Actes concluded in those Parlamentes, what stomacke the Pope tooke, what stirre he kept, and what practises
CloseThis refers to Cardinal Reginald Pole's activities at the court of Charles V and elsewhere to stir up an anti-Henry VIII crusade.
Wherfore, to ende now with these, & to go forward in our story, as the order and computatiō of yeares do giue, we haue now cōsequently to enter into þe storye of þt good Martyr of God Williā Tyndall, being this present yeare falsely betrayed & put to death. Which W. Tyndall, as he was a speciall organe of þe Lord appointed, and as Gods mattocke to shake the inwarde rootes and fundatiō of the Popes proud prelacie: so the great Prince of darkenes, with his impious Impes, hauyng a speciall malice agaynst hym, left no way vnsought, how craftly to entrappe hym, and falsely to betray him, and maliciously to spill hys life: as by the proces of hys story here folowyng may appeare.
[Back to Top]
CloseThe Rerum contained a fairly substantial narrative on William Tyndale, which is about one-and-a half pages long (Rerum, pp. 138-9). Almost all of this narrative was taken from the account of Tyndale in Hall's chronicle, which Foxe followed very closely (cf. Edward Hall, The union of the two noble and illustre famelies of Lancastre and York [London, 1550], STC 12723a, fo. 2227r-v). Foxe also repeated Hall's story of Augustine Packington buying up all the copies of Tyndale's New Testament on behalf of Bishop Tunstall, who burned them, only to find out that Tyndale, now supplied with sorely needed capital from the sales of these copies, could easily print more (Hall, Union, fo. 186r-v). Foxe also added the story of a magician of Antwerp who was unable to practise his art when Tyndale was present. Foxe declared that he heard the story of a reliable merchant (Rerum, p. 139).
[Back to Top]In the 1563 edition, Foxe scrapped most of this material. He replaced it with two more detailed narratives. The first is of Tyndale's life in the Walsh household in Little Sodbury and it apparently came from someone associated with the household or at least in the area. The second narrative is a long account of Tyndale's arrest, betrayal and death supplied by Thomas Poyntz, Tyndale's host in Antwerp, or by someone close to him. (Foxe, however, retained two items from the Rerum account: praise of Tyndale's learning and character from the procurator who prosecuted him and the story of the magician. These items would be reprinted in every edition of the Acts and Monuments). In the 1563 edition, Foxe also added two letters from Tyndale to John Frith, although Foxe did not know that the letter addressed to 'Jacob' was actually sent to Frith, until after the 1563 edition was printed (see Luke 15:11-32).
[Back to Top]In the 1570 edition, Foxe added new information concerning Tyndale's early years, notably that Tyndale had attended Magdalen Hall, that he preached in Bristol and that he visited Germany (but there is actually no evidence that Tyndale visited Saxony. He did, however, visit Cologne in 1525, where his translation of the New Testament was partially printed, before the printing house was raided by the authorities. Tyndale then journeyed to the safe Lutheran city of Worms where his New Testament was printed in 1526. Exactly when Tyndale reached Antwerp is unknown, but it was in the years 1526-8). He gleaned additional information concerning Tyndale's time at Little Sodbury and of Tyndale's rebuff by Bishop Tunstall, from reading Tyndale's preface to his translation of the Pentateuch (William Tyndale, Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures, ed. Henry Walter, Parker Society (Cambridge 1848) pp.394-396). He also adds the story of Tyndale's shipwreck and his sojourn in Hamburg. To make room for these additons, Foxe had to cut the Poyntz narrative by almost half of its length. The account of Tyndale printed in the 1570 edition remained unchanged in subsequent editions.
[Back to Top]David Daniell has perceptively observed that, in the 1570 edition, Foxe recast his account of Tyndale to establish parallels between Tyndale and St. Paul. Daniell argues persausively that Foxe even included a fictitious account of Tyndale being shipwrecked (see David Daniell, 'Tyndale and Foxe' in John Foxe: Historical Perspectives, ed. David Loades (Aldershot, 1999), pp. 26-8.), to increase the analogy with the book of Acts (David Daniell, 'Tyndale and Foxe' in John and Foxe: An Historical Perspective, ed. David Loades [Ashgate, 1999], pp. 24-28). The account of Tyndale provides a good example of the strengths and weaknesses of Foxe's historical method. On the one hand, he preserved valuable narratives about Tyndale from those who knew him and he preserved two letters of Tyndale's which would otherwise have disappeared. On the other hand, he was not above including (and probably inventing) fictitous material to suit his didactic and moral purposes.
[Back to Top]The significance of these passages for the interpretation of Foxe's (or perhaps John Day's) picture of the significance of print culture for the reformation can be found in John N. King, '"The Light of Printing": William Tyndale, John Foxe, John Day, and Early Modern Print Culture', Renaissance Quarterly, 54 (2001), pp. 52-85, where David Daniell's analysis of Foxe's use of the Tyndale material is largely repeated.
[Back to Top]Thomas S. Freeman
CloseThis heading was added in the 1570 edition as part of the effort to compare Tyndale ('the Apostle of England') to St. Paul.
MarginaliaVVilliam Tyndall, Martyr.
1536.WIlliam Tyndall the faythfull Minister and constant Martyr of Christ, was borne about the borders of Wales, and brought vp from a child in the Vniuersitie of Oxford, where he by long cōtinuaunce grew vp, and increased as wel in the knowledge of tounges, and other liberall Artes, as especially in the knowledge of the Scriptures: whereunto his mynde was singularly addicted: MarginaliaThe fyrst taste of Gods truth in Madalen Colledge, by the meanes of Maister Tyndall.In so much that he lying then in Magdalene Hall, read priuely to certeine studentes and felowes of Magdalene Colledge, some parcell of Diuinitie, instructing them in the knowledge and truth of the Scriptures. Whose maners also and cōuersatiō being correspōdent to the same, were such that all they which knew hym, reputed and estemed hym to bee a man of most vertuous disposition, and of life vnspotted. Thus he in the Vniuersitie of Oxford increasing more and more in learnyng, and procedyng in degrees of the scholes, spying hys tyme, remoued from thence to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge
CloseThere is no solid evidence that Tyndale attended Cambridge but a tenuous link is suggested in Magnus Williamson, 'Evangelicalism at Boston, Oxford and Windsor under Henry VIII: John Foxe's Narratives Recontextualized' in John Foxe at Home and Abroad, ed. David Loades (Aldershot, 2004), pp. 31-45.
CloseSir John Walsh, lord of the manor of Little Sodbury, was later twice elected high sheriff of Gloucestershire. He had connections with the Tyndale family, having handed over his position as crown steward for the Berkeley estates to Edward Tyndale, William's elder brother.