1570 Edition | Book 11 | Page 1909 
MarginaliaAn. 1555. August.and abomination, and agaynst the word of God, affirmyng also, that there are but MarginaliaTwo Sacramentes.two Sacramentes in the Church of CHRIST, Baptisme, and the Supper of the Lord. &c. And to these assertions, he sayd, he would stand and so dyd to the end.
And when at last the Byshop began to read the sentence, exhortyng hym before with many wordes to reuoke his professed opinion (which they called damnable and hereticall) he notwithstandyng, resisted all contrary persuasions, aunsweryng the Byshop agayne in this forme of wordes: MarginaliaThe words of Tankerfield to Boner.I will not (said he) forsake myne opinions, except you (my Lord) can repell thē by Scriptures, and I care not for your Diuinitie: for you condemne all men, and proue nothyng agaynst them. And after many fayre wordes of exhortation, which Boner then vsed (after his ordinary maner) to conuert or rather peruert him, he aunswered boldly agayne, saying moreouer: MarginaliaThe words of Tankerfield at his condemnation.that the Church whereof the Pope is supreme head, is no part of CHRISTES Catholicke Church: and adding therunto, and pointyng to the Byshop, spake to the people saying: MarginaliaTankerfield giueth the people warning of Boner.Good people beware of hym, and such as he is: for these bee the people that deceaueth you. &c.
[Back to Top]These with other wordes moe, he spake: MarginaliaTankerfield condemned.wherupō the Byshop readyng the sentence of his Popish condēnation, gaue hym to the secular power.
MarginaliaThe Martyrdome of George Tankerfield, at S. Albons. An. 1555. August. 26.And so this blessed seruaunt of God was had to S. Albons,
CloseThis is another example of a martyr being sent out of London to a nearby town or village to be executed. This is due to the unease the authorities were beginning to feel about the reaction of Londoners to the executions.
CloseRobert Smith's account of his examinations was printed in the Rerum (pp.513-23), as was a note stating that he was burned at Staines on 26 August 1555. With the exception of Smith's letter to 'all which love God unfeignedly', all of the material on Smith in the Acts and Monuments and all of his writings printed by Foxe appeared in the 1563edition. The core of the material on Smith himself was a reprinting of his account of his examinations. Foxe also added a brief introductory account of Smith's life and a graphic description of his execution. (This description, probably derived from an eyewitness, came to Foxe while the Acts and Monuments was being printed and was placed in an appendix at the end of the first edition). None of Smith's verse epistles were printed in the Letters of the Martyrs, but two of his prose letters were reprinted there. The Letters of the Martyrs also printed the letter 'to all which love God unfeignedly' for the first time. In the 1570 edition,the account of Smith's execution was moved from the appendix into the account of Smith, while all of Smith's verse letters were dropped. The 1570 account was reprinted without alteration in the 1576 edition. In the 1583 edition, Smith's verse letters were restored and the letter to 'all which love God unfeignedly' was introduced into the Acts and Monuments.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaRob. Smith of London, Martyr.RObert Smith was brought vnto Newgate the fift of Nouember, in the first and second yeare of the Kyng and Queene, by Iohn Mathew, Yeoman of þe Gard of the Queenes side, by the commaundement of the Counsel. This Smith, first gaue him selfe vnto seruice in the house of Syr Thomas Smith Knight, being then Prouost of Eaton: from thence he was preferred to Windsore, hauyng there in the Colledge a Clerkeship of x. pound a yere. Of stature he was tall & slender, actiue about many thinges, but chiefly deliting in þe Art of Paintyng,MarginaliaRob. Smith actiue in the arte of payn,ting. which many times, rather for his mindes sake then for any liuyng or luker, hee did practise and excercise. In Religiō, he was feruent, after he had once tasted the truth: wherin he was much cōfirmed by the preachynges & readynges of one M. Turner of Wyndsore
CloseWilliam Turner, a protestant controversialist, a pioneering botanist and the dean of Wells cathedral.
CloseOfficials sent by royal or episcopal authority to inspect the clergy.
MarginaliaThe first examination of Rob. Smith before Bishop Boner.ABout 9. of the clocke in the mornyng, I was amōg the rest of my brethrē brought to þe Byshops house: and I first of all was brought before hym into his chāber, vnto whom the Byshop sayd as foloweth, after he had asked my name.
Boner. How long is it agoe since the tyme that ye were confessed to any Priest?
MarginaliaConfession not nedefull.Smith. Neuer since I had yeares of discretion. For I neuer saw it needefull neither commaunded of God to come to shew my faultes to any of that sinfull number whom ye call Priestes.
Boner. Thou shewest thy selfe euen at the first chop to be a ranke hereticke, which beyng weery of payntyng, art entred into Diuinitie, and so fallen, through thy departyng from thy vocation, into heresie.
Smith. Although I haue vnderstandyng in the sayd
occupation, yet (I prayse God) I haue had litle nede all my lyfe hetherto to lyue by the same, MarginaliaReiectio criminis ingeniosa & diuina.but haue lyued without the same in myne owne house as honestly in my vocation, as ye haue lyued in yours, and yet vsed the same better then euer you vsed the Pulpit.
Boner. How long is it agoe since ye receaued the Sacrament of the aultar, and what is your opinon in the same?
MarginaliaThe Sacrament of the Altar.Smith. I neuer receaued þe same since I had yeares of discretion, nor neuer will, by Gods grace: neither do esteeme the same in any point, because it hath not gods ordinaunce, neither in name, nor in other vsage, but rather is set vp and erected to mocke God withall.
Boner. Do ye not beleue, that it is the very body of CHRIST that was borne of the Virgin Mary, naturally, substancially and really, after the wordes of Consecration?
Smith. I shewed you before, it was none of Gods ordinaunces, as ye vse it: then much lesse to be God, or any part of his substaunce, but onely bread and wyne erected to the vse afore sayd: yet neuertheles, if ye can approue it to be the body that ye spake of, by the word, I will beleue it: if not, I will, as I do, coumpt it a detestable Idoll, not God, but contrary to God and truth.
[Back to Top]Boner. Then after many raging words and vaine obiections, hee said MarginaliaBoners argument to proue the Sacrament.there was no remedy but I must be burned.Smith. Ye shall do no more vnto mee, then ye haue done to better men then eyther of vs both But thinke not thereby to quench the spirite of God, neither therby to make your matter good. For your sore is to well seene to be healed so priuely with bloud. For euen the very children haue all your deedes in derision:
CloseA fascinating indication (there would be others in the Acts and Monuments) of children taunting Bonner. See Susan Brigden, 'Youth and the English Reformation,' Past and Present 95 (1982), pp. 37-67 for an interesting attempt to link support for the reformation with youthful protest against gerontocratic authority.
[Back to Top]Boner. Thē after much ado, & many railing sentēces, he sayd, throwing away the paper of myne examinatiō: well euen nowe by my truth, euen in good earnest: if thou wilt go and be shriuen, I wyll teare thys paper in peeces.
Smith. To which I aunswered: It would bee to much to hys shame to shew it to men of discretion.
After which aunswer, I was caried downe into the Garden wyth my Gailer, and there remayned vntyll my brother MarginaliaSteuen Harwode examined before the Byshop.Harwod
CloseNote that this name is given as 'Heralt' in 1563. This person could be the 'Herault' mentioned in a letter of Smith's. This could also be the Thomas Harold mentioned as a protestant prisoner in the Marshalsea (1563, pp. 1145 and 1146; 1570, p. 1756; 1576, p. 1500 and 1583, p. 1584).
MarginaliaRobert Smith againe examined by the Byshop.Boner. What say you to the catholicke church? Do ye not confesse there is one in earth?
Smith. Yes, verely, I beleue that there is one catholicke church, or faithfull congregation, which as the Apostle sayth, is builded vpon the Prophets and Apostles, CHRIST IESVS beyng the heade corner stone: which church in all her wordes and woorkes maintayneth the word, and bringeth the same for her autority, and wythout it doth nothing, nor ought to do, of which I am assured I am by grace made a member.
[Back to Top]Boner. Ye shall vnderstand that I am bound when my brother offendeth, and wyll not bee reconciled, to bring hym before the cōgregation: MarginaliaWhere was the visible church amongest the Protestants?now if your church be the same, where may a man finde it, to bryng hys brother before the same?
MarginaliaWhere was the visible church amongst the Apostles?Smith. It is wrytten in the Actes of the Apostles, that when the tyranny of the bishops was so great against the church in *Marginalia* Here he would not aunswere me to the church of Iury, but flieth to the v. of Corin. Iewry,
CloseI.e., Judea
Boner. Yea, their church was knowen ful wel. For S. Paule wryt vnto the Corinthians to haue the man punished and excommunicate, that had committed euil with his fathers wyfe. Wherby we may well perceiue it was a knowen church, but yours is not knowen.