MarginaliaAn 1555. February.and to be gilty in the detestable, horrible, and wicked offence of hereticall prauitie and execrable doctrine, and that thou hast before vs sondry tymes spoken, mainteyned, and wittingly and stubbornly defended the said cursed and execrable doctrine in thy sundry confessions, assertions, and recognitions here iudicially before vs oftentymes repeated, and yet still doest maintaine, affirme and beleue the same, and that thou hast bene and art lawfully and ordinarily conuicted in this behalfe, we therfore (I say) albeit folowing the example of Christ, Which would not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should conuert and liue, we haue gone about oftētimes to correct thee, and by all lawful meanes that we could, and all wholesom admonitions that we did know, to reduce thee againe vnto the true faith and vnitie of the vniuersall catholicke church, notwithstanding haue found thee obstinate and stiffenecked, wyllingly continuing in thy damnable opinions and heresies, and refusing to returne againe vnto the true fayth and vnitie of the holy mother Church, and as the childe of wickednes & darkenes so to haue hardened thy harte, that thou wilt not vnderstand the voyce of thy shepehard, which with a fatherly affection doth seke after thee, nor wilt not be allured with his fatherly & godly admonitiōs: we therfore Ste. the B. aforesaid, not willing þ^t thou which art wicked, shouldest now become more wicked & infect þ^e Lords flocke w^t thine heresie (which we are greatly afraid of) MarginaliaThese murderers pretend a sorow of hart, & yet they will not cease from murderyng.w^t sorrow of mynde & bitternes of hart do iudge thee, & diffinitiuely condemne thee the said I. Rogers, otherwyse called Mathew, thy demerites & defaultes being aggrauate through thy damnable obstinacy, as gilty of most detestable heresies, and as an obstinate impenitent sinner, refusing penitently to returne to the lappe and vnity of the holy mother church, and that thou hast bene and art by law excommunicate, and do pronounce and declare thee to be an excommunicate person: Also we pronounce and declare thee beyng an heretike, to be cast out from the church, & left vnto the iudgement of the secular power, and now presently so do leaue thee as an obstinate heretike, and a person wrapped in the sentence of the great curse, to be disgraded worthely for thy demerites [requiring them notwithstanding in the bowels of our Lord Iesus Christ, that this execution and punishment worthely to be done vpon thee, may so be moderated that the rigour therof be not to extreme, nor yet the gentlenes to much mitigated, but that it may be to the saluation of thy soule, to the extirpation, terror, and conuersion

of the heretikes, to the vnity of the catholike fayth] by this our sentence diffinitiue which we here lay vpon and against thee, and do with sorrow of hart promulgate in this forme aforesaid.

MarginaliaM. Rogers and M. Hooper sent to Newgate.After this sentence beyng red, he sent vs (M. Hoper I meane, and me) to the Clinke, there to remayne till night: and when it was darke, they caried vs, M. Hoper going before with the one shirife, and I commyng after with the other, with bils and weapons enough, out of the Clinke, and led vs through the bishops house, and so thorow S. Mary Oueries churchyard, and so into Southwarke, and ouer the Bridge on procession to Newgate thorough the Citie. But I must shew you this also, that when he had red the condemnation, he declared that I was in the great curse, and what a MarginaliaA vengeable thyng to be in the popes Church.vengeable daungerous matter it were to eate and drinke with vs that were accursed, or to geue vs anye thyng: for all that so dyd should be pertakers of the same great curse.

MarginaliaM. Rogers words to the B. of Winchest.Well my Lord (quoth I) here I stand before God and you, and all this honourable audience, and take hym to witnes, that I neuer wittingly or willingly taught any false doctrine: and therfore haue I a good conscience before God and all good men. I am sure that you and I shall come before a iudge that is righteous, before whom I shall bee as good a man as you: and I nothing doubt but that I shall be found there a true member of the true catholike Church of Christ and euerlastingly saued. And as for your false church ye nede not to excommunicate me forth of it. I haue not ben in it these xx. yeres, the lord be thanked therfore. But nowe ye haue done what ye can my Lord, I pray you yet graunt me one thing.

What is that? quoth he.

MarginaliaM. Rogers request to haue hys wyfe come to him while he lyued, could not be graunted.That my poore wife beyng a stranger, may come and speake with me so long as I lyue. For she hath ten children that are hers and myne, & somewhat I would counsell her what were best for her to do.

No (quoth he) she is not thy wife.

Yes my Lord (quoth I) & hath ben these 18. yeares.

Should I graunt her to be thy wyfe, quoth he?

Chuse you, quoth I, whether ye will or not: she shal be so neuertheles.

She shall not come at thee quoth hee.

Then I haue tried out all your charity, sayd I. You make

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Commentary on the Woodcuts     Close

The woodcut of the burning of John Rogers at Smithfield gives the impression of an agitated scene, attended by a large crowd, some watching from nearby windows, as they were shown doing in other burnings in urban settings (e.g. William Flower at Westminster, the following year). The moment is the climax at which the dying man washed his hands in the flames 'as he was in burning', and around him men and women gesture and throw up their hands in what can only be read as gestures of acclamation. This was the first burning of Mary's reign, and apart from the horseman (apparently Sir Richard Southwell) armed men are singularly absent. The awkward placing of this print on the page in 1563, spilling over the columns of text, is indicative of the problems of layout faced in Foxe's first English edition with the introduction of large narrative woodcuts. The satisfactory solution reached in 1570, and; 1583, was abandoned in the cheaper 1576, edition in which this and the other large woodcuts extend into both margins. Rogers' last words were reset in each of the early editions; roman type 1563, to italic 1570, to roman again in 1576,and 1583, with minor spelling differences.