as is aforesayd condemned, do degrade and put thee frō all order of an Accolite: MarginaliaThe candlestick and taper taken from hym.And in signe and token of thys thy degradation, and actuall deposition, we take from thee the Candlesticke and taper, and also Vrceolum, and do depriue thee of all & all maner dignitie of an Accolite.

Also, we Thomas, Archb. aforesayd by assent, counsell and authoritie which vpon thee the foresayd William we haue, an Exorcist pretensed, in the habite of an Exorcist or holy water clarke, being an hereticke, twyse fallen, and by our sentence as aforesayd condemned, we do degrade and depose thee from the order of an Exorcist: MarginaliaThe holy water bucket coniured from hym.and in token of this thy degradation and actuall deposition, we take from thee the booke of coniurations, and do depriue thee of all and singular dignitye of an Exorcist.

Also, we Thomas Archbishop aforesayde, by assent, counsayle, and autoritie, as is aboue sayd, doo degrade and depose thee the foresayd William, reader pretensed, clothed in the habite of a reader, an heretike, twyse fallen, & by our sentence as is aforesayd, condemned: from the order of a Reader. And in token of this thy degradation and actuall deposition, we take from thee the booke of the deuine lections (that is the booke of the church Legende) MarginaliaHe meaneth the legende books, as saith the Register.and do depriue thee of all and singular maner of dignity of such a reader.

Item, we Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury aforsayd, by authoritye, counsaile, and assent, the whych we haue as is aforesayd, do degrade and put thee the foresayd Wylliam Sawtre, Sexten pretensed, in the habite of a Sexten, and wearing a Surplice, MarginaliaThe Surplice takē from himbeing an heretik, twyse fallen, by our sentence diffinitue condemned, as aforesayde: from the order of a Sexten. MarginaliaThe church dore keyes takē from him.And in token of thys thy degradation and actuall deposition, for the causes aforesayd, we take from thee the keyes of the church doore, and thy Surplice, and doo depriue thee of all and singular maner of commodities of a doore keeper.

And also, by the autority of omnipotent God the father, the sonne, and holy ghost, and by our autority, coūsayle, and assent of our whole counsayle prouinciall aboue written, we do degrade thee and depose thee being here personally presēt before vs, from orders, benefices, priuilegies, and habite in the church, & for thy pertinacie incorrigible, we do disgrade thee, before the secular cout of the high Constable and Marshall of Englande, here being personally presēt, and do depose thee from all and singular clarkly honours and dignities whatsoeuer, by these writinges. MarginaliaPriuilege of the clergy takā from him.Also in token of thy degration and deposition, here actuallye we haue caused thy crowne and ecclesiasticall tonsure in oure presence to bee rased away, and vtterly to be abolished, lyke vnto the forme of a secular lay man: MarginaliaThe priests cap takā from hys head, maketh vp all, in all.and here do put vpon þ^e head, of thee þ^e foresayd Wylliam, the cap of a lay secular person: beseching the court aforesayd, that they wyll receaue fauorably the sayd Wylliam vnto them thus recommitted.

Thus Wylliam Sawtre the seruaunt of Christ, being vtterly thrust out of the Popes kingdome, and metamorphosed from a Clerke to a secular lay man, was committed (as ye haue hearde) vnto the secular power. Which so done, the bishops yet not herewith contented, cease not to call vpō the king, to cause him to be brought forth to spedy execution. Whereupon the king, readye inough and tomuch to gratifie the clergy, and to retayn their fauours, directeth out a terrible decree against the sayd Wylliam Sawtre, and sent it to the Maior and Shiriffes of London to bee put in execution, the tenour whereof here vnder ensueth.

MarginaliaThe cruell decree of the king against SautreyTHe decree of our soueraigne Lord the kyng and hys counsell in the Parliament, agaynst a certeine newe sprong vp hereticke. To the Maior and Sherifes of London. &c. Where as the reuerend father Thomas Archbyshop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and Legate of the Apostolicke see, by the assent, consent, and counsellof other Byshops, and his brethren suffragantes, and also of all þ^e whole clergy within his prouince or dioces, gathered together in his prouinciall councell, the dewe order of the law beyng obserued, in all pointes in this behalfe: hathe pronounced and declared by his definitiue sentence, William Sautrey sometime chaplayne, to bee fallen agayne into his most damnable heresy, the whiche before tyme the sayde William had abiured, theruppon to be a most manifest heretike, and therfore hath decreed, that he should be disagraded and hath for the same cause really disgraded him frō all prerogatiue and priuilege of the clergy, decreing to leaue him vnto the seculer power: and hath really so left him accordyng to the lawes and canonical sanctions set fourth in this behalfe, and also that our holy mother the churche hath no further to do in the premisses. MarginaliaPreposterous zele without knowledge.We therfore being zelous in religion, and a reuerent louer of the catholike fayth, willing and mindyng to maintayne and defend the holy church, and the lawes and liberties of the same, to roote all such errours and heresies out of our kingdome of Englād, and with condigne punishment to correct and punishe all heretiques or such as be conuict: Prouided alwaies, that both according to the lawe of God and man, and the canonicall institutions in this behalfe accustomed, that such heretikes conuict & condemned in forme aforesaid, ought to be burned with fyre. We cōmaund you as straightly as we may or can, firmely enioyning you, that you do cause the sayd William being in your custodie, in some publique or opē place within the liberties of your citie aforesaid (the cause aforesayd being published vnto the people) to be put into the fyre, and there in the same fyre really to be burned, to the greate horrour of hys offence and the manifest example of other Christians. Fayle not in the executiō hereof, vpon the perill that will fall therupon.

MarginaliaAdmonitiō to Princes.Thus it may appeare how kings & princes haue ben blinded and abused by the false prelates of the churche, in so muche that they haue bene their slaues & butchers to slay Christes poore innocent members. See therefore what daunger it is for Princes, not to haue knowledge and vnderstanding themselues, but to bee led by other mens eyes, and specially trusting to suche guides, who through hipocrisie both deceiue them, and through crueltie deuour the people.

Commentary on the Woodcuts     Close

William Sawtry, a priest, was important for Foxe's narrative as the first Wycliffite martyr to be burned at the stake after the passage of the statute De heretico comburendo in 1401. He was accordingly given significant pictorial presence, but it proved problematical. The striking image of a youthful looking man chained to the stake in a ferociously flaming fire that encircles his torso, with flaring hair, outstretched hands, belonged to a small group of woodcuts used in the first edition that proved difficult to accommodate. (See introductory note on the format of the A&M) They shared certain features, including the winding bandaroles: Sawtry's reads 'Jesu have mercy'; words that were changed when this block was reused for Thomas of Rennes in 1563, but reinstated for illustrating Sawtry once more in 1570. The Sawtry block was twice cut down in an effort to make it fit better on the page. In the first edition it lost the left side of its frame but even so jutted awkwardly into the margin. In 1570 it was cut back on the right side, but still took too much space. So in 1576 the block was jettisoned and Sawtry was then and in 1583 represented by one of the small cuts that had been added in 1570, which in that edition illustrated the burning of Rawlins White. This might seem unsuitable, since Sawtry was unlikely to have been an 'old man' though the choice could perhaps have been a mark of respect. The striking earlier image of Sawtry lived on, and had an afterlife adorning an early seventeenth-century ballad. The words attributed to Sawtry in the bandarole cannot, given his resolute stand, signal a change of heart, as John Badby's similar call was taken to be (see following woodcut). CUL copy and WREN copy: A startling use of yellow and orange for the flames; a very vivid depiction. Note also the attention to shading of the stake and of Sawtre's body. The banderole is edged with a pinkish purple shading its tips. There are additional spatters of orange on his right arm and torso, which go beyond colouring in of the detail in the illustration.