1570 Edition | Book 11 | Page 1818 
Marginalia1555. Iune.to bee receiued onely for a remembraunce of Christes passion and death, without any substance of Christes body and bloud at all.
To the fift article they aunswer, that the true receyuing & eating of Christes body, according to Christes institution, MarginaliaThe true eating of Christes body.is to take, distribute, & eate material bread, and therby to remember the passion & death of Christ, and so they receiue by fayth (as they beleue) Christes body and bloud, and not otherwyse.
[Back to Top]To the sixt they aunswer the same to be true in euery part therof, except that ouer and besides the Gloria in excelsis, the Epistle and Gospell, which they beleue to be good, they beleue the Pater noster and Crede vsed in the Masse be also good.
To the seuenth they aunswer and confesse, that MarginaliaAuricular confession not necessary.auricular confession is not necessarye to bee made to the Priest: neuertheles they thincke that it is necessary to go to such a Priest, as is able to geue good counsel, and that for counsell onely, and not otherwyse. And as concerning the ceremonies of the Church, MarginaliaCeremonies idle in the church.they aunswere the same to be vayne and vnprofitable. No seruice in the church ought to be sayd, but onely in the Englyshe tounge.
[Back to Top]To the eyght they aunswer and beleue the same to be true in euery part thereof, except that they doe not beleue that they be heretickes, or suspected of heresy.
To the ninth, Osmond and Bamford aunswered, that they referred them selues to the sayd lawes, mencioned in that article, but Chamberlaine made no aunswer at all to this article.
To the tenth the sayd Osmond and Bamford aunswered and sayde, that by reason of their beliefe afore by them confessed, they are not to be reputed, taken, or iudged for wylfull and obstinate heretickes, nor to be punished therefore, as is declared in that article. The other aunswered nothing.
CloseI.e., notes.
CloseFoxe added this section, warning the reader against accepting the articles objected to by the three martyrs at face value, in the 1570 edition. It is likely that some readers of the first edition pointed out to Foxe the danger of having these articles stand unchallenged as expressing the views of the martyrs. Some of the articles might allow the catholics to challenge the orthodoxy of the martyrs and also to provide a justificatory model for religious radicals.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaNotes or Scholies vppon the Articles vsed to be ministred to the poore christians, by the Popes Church.THese articles in the same forme & maner of wordes are commonly obiected to all other that follow after, with the same answers also therto annexed. In which articles thou mayest note (Reader) the crafty and subtile handling of these Lawyers and Registers, who so deceitfully frame theyr articles and positions, that vnlesse a man do aduisedly consider them, it is hard for a simple man to answere to them, but he shall bee snared and intangled. So they paynt theyr Church with such a visage of vniuersall, whole, holy, catholicke, as who should say: he that denyeth Rome, denyeth the holy Churche of Christ here in earth.
[Back to Top]Likewise in examining them, and specially the simple sort in the matter of the sacrament, to the materiall bread in the sacrament, MarginaliaThe crafty and captious dealing of the Papistes in propounding their Articles.they put this word (onely) very captiously and fraudulently, to take them at the worst auantage, making the people beleue that they take the holy sacrament to be no better then onely common bread: when they do not so, but make a difference betwen the same, both in the vse, honour, and name thereof.
[Back to Top]Agayne, when the Examinates hold but onely against the erroneous poyntes of romish religiō, these Byshops in theyr Interrogatories geue out the matter so generally as though the said Examinates in general spake against all the articles of faith taught in Rome, Spaine, England, Fraūce, Scotland. &c.
Moreouer, concerning lattin seruice, in such crafty forme of words they propound theyr article, that it might appeare to the people, these men to deny any seruice to be lawfull in any place, cuntrey, or language, but only in English.
And as these articles are crafty, captiously and deceitfully in forme of wordes deuised by the Bishops and theyr Notaries: so the answers again to the same, be no lesse subtely framed, and after the most odious maner put downe, in the name of the Examinates, which being read vnto them, thus with out further aduice, they were constrayned vpon a sodayne to subscribe the same with theyr handes. Whereby if any woord escaped theyr hand, peraduenture not considerately subscribed: there the Papistes take theyr aduantage agaynst them, to diffame them and to bring them into hatred with the people.
[Back to Top]These Articles thus propounded and aunswered,
they were vntill the after noone dismissed. At what time they dyd agayne appeare, and there were examined and traueiled with by fayre and flatteryng speaches, aswell of the Byshop as of others his assistaunce, to recant and reuoke their opinions, who notwithstandyng remained constant and firme, and therfore after the common vsage of their Ecclesiastical lawes, were sent away agayne vntill the next day, beyng Saterday and the xviij. day of May. Then in the forenoone the Byshop vsing his accustomed maner of procedyng, which he had vsed before, aswell with them as with others, did likewise dismisse them,and at last in the after noone MarginaliaSentence agaynst Osmund, Chamberlain, Bamford.condemned them as heretickes, and so deliuered them to the Shriffes, in whose custody they remained vntill they were deliuered to the Shriffe of Essex, and by him were executed, MarginaliaIune. 14. Iune. 15. The Martyrdome of Tho. Osmund, Chamberlain, and William Bamford.Chamberlaine at Colchester, the xiiij. of Iune, Tho. Osmūd at Maningtree, the xv. of Iune, and William Bamford alias Butler at Harwyge the same xv. day in þe moneth of Iune.
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CloseMuch of the text in this section is concerned with the discussions between Bradford and various catholic interlocutors. Many of the glosses give prompts and cues to the ebb and flow of this debating, with a good deal of quiet and not-so-quiet moulding of readers' expectations and perceptions in Bradford's favour. There are several examples of a marginal gloss denouncing a catholic assertion as untrue on the strength of it being about to be objected to by Bradford (e.g. 'Boner agayne commeth in with an other vntruth'; 'An other vntruth in Winchester'). At one point when Winchester changes the subject, the gloss announces that he has lost his 'holde' ('Winchester leaueth his holde'; see also the gloss 'Winchester driuen to eate his owne wordes'). A syllogism in the margin assumes that which the catholic interrogator it is directed against sought to disprove ('Argument who so receaue the body of Christ do receiue the fruite and grace of lyfe: no wicked do receiue fruite and grace of lyfe. Ergo, no wicked men receiue the body of Christ'). In addtion to all this there are more direct attacks. The dubious legality of holding Bradford is often alluded to in the margin ('Bradford committed to the tower most vniustly'; 'M. Bradford imprisoned without a cause'; 'Bradford condemned without iust cause but as was gathered at his iudgement against him'; 'Bradford imprisoned for that, for which he had the lawes on his side'), and the point that is made in the case of other martyrs, that they have been imprisoned in order to generate evidence rather than on the strength of any evidence, is also used ('M. Bradford imprisoned not for matter they had, but for matter they would haue agaynst him'). Foxe emphasises anything embarrassing to the papists, producing yet another reference to Winchester's De Vera Obedientia ('Herodes oth quoth Winchester'; 'Winchest. De vera obedientia') and reporting Tunstal's admission about the relative novelty of the doctrine of transubstantiation ('Note how these Bishops themselues do graunt, that the time was, when transubstantiation was not defined by the Church. Tonstall sayth it was more then 800: yeares after Christ'). The catholic preference for acting in darkness is also gets mentioned ('Bradford kept in the Vestrey till darke night'; 'M. Bradford had from the Counter to Newgate by night'), as does Winchester's apparent preference of vows to men over those to God ('The preposterous iudgement of Winchester, to care so little for an othe to God, and so much for his vowe to the Pope'; 'Winchester stumbling at vowes made to mā and leaping ouer solemne othes made to God') which ties in with Foxe's general complaint against catholicism: that it fails to give due weight to the genuinely divine over the merely human. The standard characterisation of the exasperation of the papists in the face of resolved protestants is used three times: twice they are portrayed as 'in a chafe', and once as in a 'pelting chafe' ('The Frier in a chafe'; 'Wynchester in a chafe'; 'Wynchester in a pelting chafe'). An implicit marginal unmasking occurs in the description of Seton as 'flattering' and then as one who 'rayleth' soon after ('The flattering commendation of D. Seton to Mayster Bradford'; 'D. Seton rayleth agaynst M. Bradford').
[Back to Top]While in comparison to certain moments in the Oxford disputations Foxe's notes are on the whole less intrusive, the level of aggression in the glosses increases somewhat during Bradford's discussion with Harpsfield; this may be because they go through a more diverse agenda than is usually the case. Alternatively, the fact that they agree on quite a few points and have quite a civilised discussion for the most part may have encouraged Foxe to display more opposition in the glosses. Pendleton is ungenerously treated, for the straightforward reason that he was a turncoat ('Pendleton belike would study out the reasons that moued him to alter, for he had none ready to shew'). As for the contribution of the glosses to the portrayal of Bradford, his ongoing pastoral enthusiasm despite his imprisonment is noted ('Bradford preacheth and ministreth the Sacrament in prison'; 'Byshop Farrar confirmed in the truth, by Iohn Bradford'; see also the gloss 'Note well the Popes way to bring men to fayth', which bemoans the catholic use of imprisonment as a means of conversion), as is the affection shown to him by the people ('The reuerēt regard and affection of the people to M. Bradford'; 'The people in Cheapside bad Bradford farewell') and the tears of the prisoners at his departure ('The prisoners take their leaue of Bradford with teares'). The glosses set Bradford up as the charismatic pastor that his letters in the following section prove him to have been. He also enjoys the martyr's privilege of forseeing his own death ('Bradford dreameth of his burning, according as it came to passe') and is shown to be unworldly ('Bradford content with a little sleepe'). His tearfulness ('Bradfordes teares') and (especially) the mention of his name in connection with mortification ('Bolde confidēce and hope of Gods word and promise, semeth strange among them which are not exercised in mortification') should be read in part as preparatives for the joyfully self-condemnatory nature of the impending letters. There are several cross-references to other places in the book; 1570 has a correct reference to all three citations, 1576 to one, in all other cases, no specific reference is given. There is one example of a gloss badly placed after 1570 and an example of a scriptural reference wrong in 1563 (1. Cor. 12) but correct thereafter (1. Cor. 11).
[Back to Top]Thus cōtinued Bradford certeine yeares in a right honest & good trade of lyfe, after þe course of this world, like to come forward (as they say) if his mynd could so haue liked, or had bene geuen to the world as many other be. But þe Lord which had elected him vnto a better function, & preordained him to preach the Gospell of Christ, in that houre of grace which in his secret coūsell he had appointed, called this his chosen childe to the vnderstandyng and partakyng of the same Gospell of lyfe. MarginaliaBradford called to the Gospell.In which call hee was so truly caught, that forthwith this effectuall call was perceiued by the fruites. For then Bradford did forsake his worldly affaires and forwardnes in worldly wealth, and after the iust accompt geuen to his Maister of all his doynges, he departed from him, and with marueilous fauour to further the kyngdome of God by the ministery of his holy word, MarginaliaBradford geueth himself to the study of Scripture.he gaue him selfe wholy to the study of the holy Scriptures. The which his purpose to accōplish þe better, he departed frō þe Temple at Lōdon, where the tēporall law is studied, & went to the Vniuersity of Cambridge, to learne by Gods law how to further the buildyng of þe Lordes temple. In Cābridge his diligence in study, his profiting in knowledge, & godly conuersation so pleased all men, that within one whole yeare after that he had bene there, the Vniuersity did geue him the degree of a Maister of Arte.MarginaliaBradford Maister of art and fellow in Pembroke Hall. Immediatly after the Maister and felowes of Pēbroke hall did giue hym a felowshyp in their Colledge with them: yea that man of God Martin Bucer so liked him, that he had him not onely most deare vnto him, but also oftē tymes exhorted him
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