Critical Apparatus for this Page
Commentary on the TextCommentary on the Woodcuts
Names and Places on this Page
Unavailable for this Edition
1209 [1209]

K. Hen. 8. The abiuration of James Baynham.

his mother was open for hym. Otherwise if hee woud continue stubburne, there was no remedy. Now was the tyme either to saue, or els vtterly to cast hym selfe away. Whiche of these wayes he would take, the case present now required a present aūswere, for els þe sentence diffinitiue was there ready to be read. &c. To cōclude long matter in fewe woordes, Baynham waueryng in a doubtfull perplexitie betwene lyfe on the one hand, and death on the other, at length giuing ouer to the aduersaryes, gaue aūswere vnto them that he was contented to submit hym selfe, in those thinges wherin he had offēded, excusing that he was deceaued by ignoraunce. Then the Byshop requiryng hym to say hys mynde playnly of his aunsweres aboue declared, demaunded what he thought therof, whether they were true, or no.

[Back to Top]

MarginaliaEx Regist. Lond.To this Baynham sayd, þt it was to hygh for him to iudge. And then being asked of þe bishop, whether there was any Purgatory, he aunswered, and sayd: he could not beleue þt there was any Purgatory after this life.

Vpon other Articles beyng examined and demaunded, he graūted as followeth: That he could not iudge whether Bayfild dyed in the true fayth of Christ or no. That a man making a vowe, can not breake it without deadly sinne. That a Priest promising to lyue chaste, may not mary a wife. That hee thinketh the Apostles to be in heauē. That Luther did naught in marying a Nunne. That a child is þe better for confirmation. That it is an offence to God, if any man kepe bookes prohibited by the Churche, the Pope, the Byshop, or the kyng, and sayd that he pondered those poyntes more now, then he dyd before. &c.

[Back to Top]

Vpon these aūsweres the Byshop thinkyng to kepe hym in safe custody, to further triall, committed hym to one of the Counters.  

Commentary   *   Close

There were two prisons known as the Compter in London: one on Wood Street, the other on Poultry Street.

MarginaliaAn. 1532
Baynham agayn brought before the byshops Chauncellour.
The tyme thus passyng on, whiche bryngeth all thynges to their end, in the moneth of february next folowyng, in the yeare of our Lord. 1532. the foresayd Iohn Baynham was called for agayne to the Byshops Consistory, before hys vicar generall, and other his assistance: to whom Foxford the Bishops Chauncellour recited agayne his Articles and aunsweres aboue mentioned, protestyng that he intended not to receaue hym to the vnitie of þe holy mother church, vnles he knew þe sayd Baynham to bee returned agayne purely and vnfeynedly to the Catholicke fayth, and to submitte hym selfe penitenly to the iudgement of the Churche. To whom Baynham spake in this effecte, saying that hee hath and doth beleue the holy Church, & holdeth the fayth of the holy mother þe Catholicke church. Wherupon the Chauncellour offeryng to hym a byll of his abiuration, after the forme of the Popes Church conceaued, required hym to read it. Who was contented and read to the clause of the abiuration, conteinyng these wordes: I voluntarily, as a true penitent person returned frō my heresies, vtterly abiure. &c. & there he stayd and woulde read no farther, saying that hee knewe not the Articles conteyned in his abiuration to bee heresie, therfore he coulde not see why hee should refuse them. Whiche done, the Chauncellour proceded to the readyng of the sentence diffinitiue cōming to the place of this sentence: the doctrine and determination of the Church. &c. and there paused, saying he would reserue þe rest till he saw his tyme. Whō then Baynham desired to be good vnto hym, affirmyng that hee did acknowledge that there was a Purgatory: that the soules of the Apostles were in heauen. &c. Then began he agayn to read the sentēce, but Baynham agayne desired him to be good vnto him. Wherupon he ceased the sentence and sayd that he would accepte this hys confession for that time, as sufficient.

[Back to Top]

So Baynham for that present, was returned to hys prison agayne. Who then the fift day after, which was the viij. day of February, appeared as before, inMarginaliaBaynham agayn brought to the Consistory.the Consistorye. Whom the foresayd Chaūcellour repeatyng agayne his Articles and aunsweres, asked if he would abiure and submitte him selfe: who aunswered that he would submitte hym selfe, as a good Christē man should. Againe, the Chauncellour the second time asked if he would abiure. MarginaliaBaynham loth to abiure.I wil (said he) foresake all my Articles, and will medle no more with them, and so beyng commaunded to lay hys handes vpon the booke, read his abiuration openly. After the readyng wherof he burst out into these woordes, saying that, because there were many woordes in the sayd abiuration, whiche he thought obscure and difficile, he protested, that by hys othe hee intended not to go from such defense, which he might haue had before his othe. Which done, the Chauncellour asked hym why hee made that protestation? Baynham sayd, for feare least any man of ill will do accuse me hereafter. Then the Chaūcellour takyng the diffinitiue sentence in his hand, disposing hym selfe (as appeared) to read the same: well M. Baynham (sayd he) take your othe & kisse the booke, or els I will do myne office agaynst you, and so immediatly he tooke the booke in his hand and kissed it, and subscribed the same with his hand.

[Back to Top]

Whiche done, the Chauncellour receauyng the abiuratiō at his hand, put hym to his fine, first to pay xx. l. to þe kyng. MarginaliaBaynham inioyned penaunce.After that, he inioyned him penaunce, to go before the Crosse in procession at Paules, and to stād before the preacher duryng the Sermons at Paules MarginaliaIames Baynham
1532.

woodcut [View a larger version]

Commentary on the Woodcuts   *   Close
This woodcut gives a rare and graphic impression of the discipline of penance, showing the guilty man standing barefoot in his white garment, holding the lit candle and symbolic bundle of faggots, while the priest presides over the ceremony and the congregation bears witness below. Bainham did not prove penitent for long and was burned only two months later.

Crosse, with a Fagot vpon his shoulder the next Sonday, and so to returne with the Sumner to the prison agayne, there to abyde the Byshops determination: MarginaliaBaynham dismissed out of prison.and so the xvij. day of February he was released, and dismissed home. Where hee had scarse a moneth continued, MarginaliaRepentaunce of Baynham after his fall.but he bewayled  
Commentary   *   Close

Somehow Foxe got confused in the 1563 edition and related this story of the penitent declaration before an evangelical congregation but claimed that John Tewkesbury was the repentent sinner (1563, p. 486). This mistake was corrected in the 1570 edition.

his facte and abiuration, and was neuer quyet in mynde and conscience, vntill the tyme, he had vttered his fall to all his acquayntaunce, and asked God & all þe world forgiuenes before the cōgregatiō in those dayes, in a warehouse in Bow lane: and immediatlye the nexte Sondaye after, hee came to S. Austens, with the new Testament in his hand in Englishe, and the obedience of a Christen man in hys bosome, and stoode vp there before the people, in hys pew, there declaryng openly with wepyng teares, that he had denyed God, and prayed all the people to forgyue hym, and to beware of hys weakenes, and not to do, as he did. For, sayd he, if I should not turne agayne vnto the truth (hauyng the newe Testament in hys

[Back to Top]
hand)