Marginalia1555. Februa. belly was swolne by imprisonment) he shranke, & put in his belly with his hand, vntil it was fastened: & whē they offered to haue boūd his necke & his legges with the other two hoopes of yron, he vtterly refused thē, & would haue none, saying: I am well assured I shal not trouble you.

Thus being ready, he looked vpon all the people, of whom he might be wel seene (for he was both tal, and stoode also on an high stoole) and behelde rounde about hym: MarginaliaThe weeping of the people at M. Hoopers burning.and in euerye corner there was nothing to be seene but weeping and sorowfull people. Then lifting vp his eyes and handes vnto heauen, he prayed to hym selfe. By and by he that was appoynted to make þ^e fire, came to hym, & did aske him forgeuenes. MarginaliaHe forgeueth his executioner.Of whom he asked why he shoulde forgeue hym, saying: that he knewe neuer any offence he had committed against hym. Oh sir (said the man) I am appoynted to make the fire. Therein (sayde Mayster Hooper) thou doest nothing offend me: God forgeue thee thy sinnes and doo thine office, I pray thee. Then the Reedes were cast vp, and he receyued two bundels of them in his owne handes, embraced them, kissed them, and put vnder eyther arme one of them, and shewed with his hand howe the rest shoulde be bestowed, and poynted to the place where anye dyd lacke.

MarginaliaFire put to M. Hooper.Anone commaundement was geuen that fire should be set to, and so it was. But because there were put to no fewer greene fagots then two horses could carry vpon their backes, it kindled not by and by, and was a prety while also before it tooke the Reedes vpon the fagottes. At length it burned about hym, but the wynd hauyng full strength in that place (it was also a louring & a cold morning) it blew the flame from him: so that he was in maner no more but touched by the fire.

Within a space after, a few drye Fagottes were brought andMarginaliaA new fire made to M. Hooper.a new fire kindeled with fagottes, (for there were no more Reedes): and that burned at the nether partes, but had small power aboue, because of the wynde, sauyng that it did burne his heare and scorch his skynne a litle. In the time of which fire, euen as at the first flame, he prayed, saying mildely and not verye loude (but as one without paynes): O Iesus the sonne of Dauid haue mercye vpon me, and receyue my soule. After the seconde was spent, he did wipe both his eyes with hys handes, and beholdyng the people, he saide with an indifferent loude voyce: MarginaliaM. Hooper calleth for more fire.For Gods loue (good people) let me haue more fire. And all this while his nether partes did burne: for the fagottes were so few, that the flame did not burne strongly at his vpper partes.

The third fire was kindled within a while after, which was more extreme then the other two: and then the bladders of gonnepouder brake, whiche dyd him smal good they were so placed, and the wynde had suche power. In the whiche fire he prayed with somewhat a loude voyce: MarginaliaThe last wordes of M. Hooper.Lorde Iesu haue mercye vppon me: Lord Iesu haue mercye vppon me: Lord Iesus receyue my spirite. And these were the last wordes he was heard to vtter. But when he was black in the mouth, & his tongue swolne that he could not speake, yet his lyppes went tyll they were shronke to the gummes: and he knocked hys brest with his handes, vntyl one of his armes fel of, and then knocked styl with the other, what tyme the fat, water, and bloud dropped out at his fingers endes,MarginaliaThe blessed Martyr long tormented in the fire. vntyl by renuyng of the fire, his strength was gone, and his hande did cleaue fast in knocking to the yron vpon his brest. So immediately bowyng forwardes, he yelded vp his spirite.  

Commentary     Close

This graphic account of Hooper's death, which appears in the Rerum and in every edition of the Acts and Monuments, had two purposes: to demonstrate the cruelty of the catholic church and, even more importantly, to demonstrate the stoicism of the martyramid extreme suffering. (On the polemical importance of this stoicism see Collinson [1983] and Freeman [1997]).

[Back to Top]

[View a larger version]

Commentary on the Woodcuts     Close

In 1570: The burnying of Maister Iohn Hoper Byshop at Glocester The 'description' of Hooper's burning (as it was headed in 1563, when this term was used more often than in later editions) is a graphic transcription of the bishop's suffering in the fire that took so slowly, showing the arm that fell into the flames as he beat his breast. He is depicted frontally which is unusual, and focuses attention on the carefully delineated tension of his shoulders and almost sculpted, seemingly outsize head. Also unusually he is bound to the stake at chest as well as waist. The image is related to that in Foxe's Latin Rerum in ecclesia gestarum of 1559 (Pt I, p. 297) in which Hooper stands erect in a similar pose on the high stool that Foxe refers to, though here he is still clothed and intact, not yet affected by the blaze that surrounds him. Although the image in the continental edition (the dramatic plumes and curls of whose fire is unlike the imagery of the English work) might seem custom made for Hooper, it also served to illustrate Hus (Rerum, Pt II, p. 1). The layout in 1563 also echoes that of the earlier book, allowing a full page to the woodcut with lines of verse below. In both cases a single woman represents the sorrowing crowd, in the Acts and Monuments attracting the seemingly sympathetic attention of the official on her right. Changes to the speech scroll - gothic in 1563, italic 1570, roman 1576, and redone roman 1583, had resulted in damage to the framing line by 1570.

¶ In clarissimi Doctrina & pietate viri Iohannis Hoperi Martyrium, Conrardi Gesneri carmen.  

Commentary     Close

This poem was first printed in the Rerum (p. 305).

AVreus Hoperus flammis inuictus et igni,
Atq; suum Christum confessus ad vltima vitæ

Momenta, integritate sua præclarus, et ardens
Exterius flammis, diuinus Martyr: at intus
Eximio fidei seruore accensus, ad astra
Spiritus ascendit, cœlesti luce beatus,
In terris cineresq; manent, & fama corusca
Flammæ instar lucens, lucebit dum stabit orbis,