1570 Edition | Book 11 | Page 1916 
CloseThis letter is also printed in Letters of the Martyrs, pp. 553-54.
THe God and father eternall, which brought agayne from death our Lord IESVS CHRIST, keepe thee deare wife and all thy Parentes and frendes, now and euer, Amen.
MarginaliaTo his wife an other letter.I prayse God for his mercy, I am in the same state that ye left me in, rather better then worse, lookyng dayly for the liuyng God, before whom I hunger full sore to appeare, and receiue the glory, of which I trust thou art willing to be a partaker (I geue God most harty thākes therfore) desiryng thee of all loues, to stand fast in that faith which thou hast receiued, and let no man take away the seede that almighty God hath sowen in thee, but lay handes of euerlastyng lyfe, which shall euer abyde when both the earth and all earthly frendes shall perish: desiryng them also to receaue thankefully our trouble which is momentane and light, and, as S. Paule sayth, not worthy of the thinges which shal bee shewed on vs, that we paciently cariyng our Crosse, may attayne to the place whether our Sauiour CHRIST is gone before, to the which I besech God of his mercy bryng vs spedely. I haue bene much troubled about your deliueraunce, fearyng much the persuasions of worldlynges, and haue found a frend which will (I trust) finde a meane for you, if you be not already prouided, desiryng you in any case to abide such order, as those my frendes shall appoynt in God. And beare well in mynde the wordes which I spake at our departyng, that as God hath found vs, and also elected vs worthy to suffer with him, we may endeuour our selues to folow vprightly in this our vocation, desiryng you to present my harty commendations to all our frendes, and especially to your Parentes, kepyng your matter close in any wise. Geue most harty thankes to my frend, which onely for our cause is come to Windsore.
CloseIt is unclear why a friend of Smith's would journey to Windsor. Perhaps he or she had visited court to try to intercede for Smith and his comrades.
CloseI.e., do not attend catholic services, particularly mass.
By your husband here and in heauen
Robert Smith.
Content thy self with patience,
With CHRIST to beare the Crosse of paine:
Which can and will thee recompense,
A thousand folde with ioyes againe.
Let nothing cause thy heart to quaile,
Lanch out thy bote, hale vp thy saile.
Put from the shore:
And be thou sure thou shalt attaine,
Vnto the port that shall remaine
For euermore.
CloseThere was a note in the Rerum stating that Harwood was burned at Stratford on 30 August 1555 while Thomas Fust was burned at Ware (Rerum, p. 523). Foxe's complete account of these martyrs was first printed in the 1563 edition and was drawn entirely from official records, now lost, of the diocese of London. This account was unchanged in subsequent editions.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaSteuen Harwood, Thomas Fust, Martyrs.ABout this time dyed also (by cruell fire) these ij. Martyrs of God, that is to say, Ste. Harwood at Stratford, and Thomas Fust at Ware. Which both two, as they were about one time burned with the fore mencioned Robert Smith and George Tankerfield, although in sundry places: so were they also examined and openly condemned togethers with them. Their processe because it was ioyned all in one with the processe of Rob. Smith and other of the sayd company aboue mētioned, I thought it superfluous agayne to repeate the same: saue that of Thom. Fust this is to be added, that where as he in his last appearing the 12. of Iuly was moued by the Byshop to reuoke his opinion, thus he aunswered: MarginaliaThe answer of Tho. Fust to Bishop Boner.No (sayd he) my Lord, for there is no truth commeth out of your mouth, but all lyes. Ye condemne men, and will not heare the truth. Where can ye finde any annoyntyng
[Back to Top]or greasing in Gods booke? I speake nothing but the truth, & I am certaine that it is the truth that I speake. This aunswere of him onely I find noted by þe Register: although how slenderly these Registers haue delt in vttering such matters, that is, in omittyng those thinges which most worthy were to be knowen, by their doynges it is easie to be seene.
CloseFoxe is articulating here one of the two reasons why he preferred to use a martyr's own account, or the testimony of sympathetic witnesses, to official records: official records were often terse, formulaic and those who wrote them often uninterested in recording details of considerable interest to Foxe. (The other reason was that they often contained statements by the martyrs that were embarrassing to Foxe). While historians such as A. G. Dickens or G. R. Elton praise Foxe for his pioneering research in archival sources, it should be remembered that for Foxe they were a poor second choice, to be used only, as in the case of Harwood and Fust, when there was nothing better available.
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CloseNote that during the summer of 1555, after the burning of John Bradford and John Leaf, the authorities had those who had been condemned in London burned in isolated villages instead of in the capital. This was undoubtedly from fear of the mobs drawn to the executions of heretics in London.
CloseThe Rerum contains a note that William Hale was burned at Barnet in late August 1555 (Rerum, p. 523). Foxe's entire account of William Hale was printed in the 1563 edition and was unchanged in subsequent editions. Foxe's information on Hale was drawn from official records, now lost, of the London diocese.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaWilliam Haile, Martyr.OF the same company of these x. aboue recorded, which were sent vp to Bishop Boner by Sir Nicholas Hare and other Commissioners, in the cōpany of George Tankerfield and Robert Smith, was also William Hayle of Thorpe in the County of Essex, who likewise beyng examined with the rest, the 12. day of Iuly, receaued with them also the sentence of condemnation. Giuyng this exhortation withall to the lookers on: MarginaliaHayles wordes to the people.Ah good people, (sayd he) beware of this Idolatrer, and this Antichrist, pointyng vnto the Bishop of Lōdon, and so was he deliuered to þe Shriffes as an hereticke to be burned, who sent him to Barnet,
CloseIn the months following the burning of John Bradford and John Leaf at the beginning of July 1555, the London authorities had heretics who had been convicted in the capital burned in villages surrounding it, instead of in Smithfield. This was undoubtedly due to fears of tumultous behaviour from the crowds drawn to the Smithfield executions.
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Closeof August, he most constantly sealed vp his faith with the consuming of his body by cruell fire, yeldyng his soule vnto the Lord IESVS his onely and most sure redemer.
CloseThere was a great deal of confusion about the names of these martyrs. In the Rerum, there is a note stating that 'Richard Smith' and George 'Bing' died in Lollard's Tower in September 1555 (Rerum, p. 525). John Wade and Thomas Leyes are not mentioned in the Rerum. The 1563 edition corrects the name 'Bing' to King but it still names the non-existant 'Richard Smith'. Wade is still not named but Leyesis mentioned and described as having died in Newgate. In the 1570 edition, their names are finally correctly rendered as George King, Thomas Leyes and John Wade and they are all stated to have died in Lollard's Tower. Foxe probably obtained his scant information on this trio from oral sources: since they were not brought to trial or even examined, there was no accessible official record of them. The 1563 account was unchanged in subsequent editions.
[Back to Top]Marginalia3. Martyrs sickened in prison, and buried in the fieldes.YE heard before pag. 1868. of ten sondry persons sent out of Newgate by M. Hare and other Commissioners, to be examined of Boner bishop of London. Of whom. vj. already haue bene executed in seuerall places, as hath bene shewed,