1576 Edition | Book 11 | Page 1603 
Marginalia1555. Iuly.scripture so much speaketh, for the more playne vnderstandyng of the simple. For MarginaliaDiuers kindes of fayth.many kyndes there be of fayth: as a man may beleeue euery thyng that is true, yet not euery truth dooth saue, neyther doth the beleuyng of euery truth iustifie a man.MarginaliaEuery truth hath his fayth, but euery truth iustifieth not, no more doth euery fayth. He that beleueth that God created al things of nought, beleueth truly. He that beleueth that God is a iust God, that he is omnipotent, that he is mercyful, that he is true of promise, beleueth well and holdeth the truth. So he that beleueth that God hath his electiō from the beginnyng, and that he also is one of the same elect and predestinate, hath a good beliefe, and thinketh well: but yet this beliefe alone, except it be seasoned with an other thyng, wyll not serue to saluatiō: as it auayled not þe old Iewes, which so thought of them selues, and yet thynke to this day, to be only Gods elect people.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaFayth the action: Christ the obiect of fayth.Onely the fayth whiche auayleth to saluation is that, whose obiect is the body and passion of Iesus Christ crucified. So that in the act of iustifying these two, fayth and Christ haue a mutual relation, and must alwayes concurre together, fayth as the action which apprehendeth: Christe as the obiect which is apprehended.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaFayth and Christ correlatiues. Christ without fayth saueth not.For neyther dooth the passion of Christ saue without faith, neyther doth fayth helpe, except it be in Christ: As we see the body of man susteined by bread and drinke, not except the same be receyued and conueyed into the stomacke: and yet neither doth the receiuing of euery thing susteyne mans body, except it bee meate and drinke, which haue power to geue nourishment. In like sort it is with fayth: for neither doth the beleuyng of euery thyng saue, but onely faith in the bloud of Christ: neither againe doth þe same bloud of Christ profite vs, except by faith it be receyued. And as the sunne being the cause of al light, shineth not but to thē only which haue eyes to see: nor yet to thē neither, vnlesse they wil open their eyes to receyue the light: so the passion of Christ is the efficient cause of saluation, but fayth is the condition wherby the said passion is to vs effectuall.MarginaliaFayth without Christ helpeth not
[Back to Top]And that is the cause, why we say with the scripture, that faith only iustifieth vs, not excluding thereby all other externe causes that goe before faith, as MarginaliaGrace, Election, Vocation, Christes death causes externe of our saluation.grace, mercy, electiō, vocation, the death of Christ. &c. all which be externe causes working our saluatiō through faith. But when we say that fayth only iustifieth vs, the meanyng therof is this: that of all internall actions, motions, or operations in man geuen to hym of God, MarginaliaFayth the only interne cause of mans saluation.there is no other that contenteth & pleaseth God, or standeth before his iudgemēt, or can helpe any thing to the iustifying of man before hym, but only this one action of faith in Iesus Christ the sonne of God.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaFayth is an action in man, but not of man.For although the action of praying, fastyng, almes, pacience, charitye, repentance, the feare & loue of God be hie gifts in man, and not of man, geuen of God to man, yet be none of al these actions in man, imputed of God to saluatiō,MarginaliaVertues and workes of charitye though they be good giftes of God in man, yet they serue not to iustification. but only this one actiō of fayth in man vpon Christ Iesus the sonne of God. Not that the action it selfe of beleeuyng, as it is a qualitie in man, doth so deserue, but because MarginaliaFayth taketh his dignitie of his obiect.it taketh that dignitie of the obiect. For as I sayd, in the act of iustifying, fayth, as it is an action in man, is not to be considered alone, but must euer go with his obiect, & taketh his vertue therof. MarginaliaLoking vp to the brasen serpent, and beleuing vpon the body of Christ cōpared.Lyke as the lookyng vp of the old Israelites dyd not of it selfe procure any health vnto thē, but the promise made in the obiect, which was the brasen serpent, whereupon they looked, gaue thē health by theyr lookyng vp. Euen so after lyke sort are we saued by our fayth & spiritual lokyng vp to the body of Christ crucified. Which fayth to define is this:
[Back to Top]To beleeue Iesus Christ to be the sonne of the liuyng God sent into this worlde, by his death to satisfie for our sinnes, and so to receyue the same.
And thus much touchyng election & fayth, with the order & explicatiō of the causes necessary to be cōsidered in our saluation. Wherby may appeare MarginaliaThe error of the Papistes peruerting the mynde of Gods testament, how and wherein.how farre the pretensed catholikes do swarue from the right mynd of the scriptures. For where the scriptures in declaryng the causes of saluation, do send vs only to fayth as the only condition wherby these causes haue their workyng, these catholikes do quite leaue out fayth, and in stead therof place in other conditions of doyngs, merits, wylworks, pardons, masses, and especially auricular confession, with penaunce and satisfaction for our sinnes. &c.
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CloseThere is a brief statement in the Rerum (p. 503) that William Minge diedin prison in Maidstone. This was essentially all the information which Foxe ever obtained on Minge.
MarginaliaWilliam Mynge dyed in prison.THe next day after M. Bradford & Iohn leafe dyd suffer in Smithfielde, William Mynge priest dyed in prison, at Maydstone, beyng there in bonds for religion, & like to haue suffered also, if he had continued the fury of his aduersaries, whose nature was to spare & fauor none that fauored Christes pure Gospel: whiche W. Mynge, with as great constancy and boldnes yeelded vp hys lyfe in prison, as if it had pleased God to haue called hym to suffer by the fyre, as the
[Back to Top]other good and godly men hadde done at the stake, and as he hym selfe was readye also so to do, if it had pleased God to haue called hym therunto.
CloseNote how the ending of this section was changed in the 1570 edition to emphasize Minge's readiness to die a martyr's death. This was a response to the attacks of Nicholas Harpsfield, Foxe's most important contemporary critic, on Foxe for listing people who were not truly martyrs in the Acts and Monuments.
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CloseThis narrative, which first appeared in the 1570 edition, was obviously derived from personal informants, probably friends or family of Trevisam.
MarginaliaThe story of Iames Treuisam buryed in the fieldes and summoned after his death.VPon the third day of Iuly. ann. 1555. dyed one Iames Treuisam, in the Parish of S. Margaret in Lothbury vpon a sonday: who being impotēt
CloseWeak, infirm.
CloseInformant.
CloseThe martyrdom of John Bland is particularly interesting because it is so rooted in the history of the reformation in Kent. Bland was a Cambridge graduate who was a protégé of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and of Cranmer's commissary, Christopher Nevinson. (Bland's living of Adisham, which he had held from 1541, was in the gift of the archbishop of Canterbury). He was one of the most outspoken evangelists in Kent during the reign of Henry VIII, stripping the churches where he was pastor of images and furnishings as early as 1542, and preaching throughout eastern Kent, denouncing images, fast days, prayer to saints and other 'superstitious' practices. He also had associations with even more radical protestants in Kent; some of them rallied behind him in Mary's reign. His links to Cranmer, and his zealous evangelism made Bland a natural target for religious conservatives in Kent, and in the spring of 1543 his heresies were denounced to the king as part of the conspiracy against Cranmer which became known as the Prebendaries' Plot. Bland was indicted for heresy in September 1543, but the case against him collapsed when it became clear that Cranmer retained Henry VIII's support. Nevertheless, his Henrician adversaries would resurface in Mary's reign and play a key role in persecuting him.
[Back to Top]Bland's narrative of his persecution - the core of Foxe's narrative of his martyrdom - is a bewildering account of his being shifted from one form of custody to another, and more importantly, from clerical to secular jurisdiction and back again. The key problem for his enemies was that his arrest in December of 1553 came too soon. They were determined to try Bland for heresy, but the statute against heresy had been repealed under Edward VI and would not be revived until January 1555. So an elaboate game of cat and mouse followed, with Bland being arraigned in one jurisdiction, released on bond, then re-arraigned in another, all to keep Bland in some form of custody until the re-enactment of the heresy statute. In February 1555, with the statute now in force, Bland was transferred to spiritual jurisdiction for the final time and he was prosecuted for heresy.
[Back to Top]In the Rerum, Foxe only had a brief account of Bland's background, whichmay well have come from the protestant exile Edwin Sandys, who is rather prominently mentioned in it (Rerum, p. 503). This was reprinted in the 1563 edition, where it introduced a long letter by Bland to his father, relating the circumstances of his arrest, examinations, imprisonment down to the end of March 1555. Foxe also, in his first edition, added an account of Bland's examinations in June 1555 and his condemnation, all taken from a now lost Canterbury diocesan court book, as well as the prayer Bland was supposed to have given at his death. In the 1570 edition Foxe added a letter from Thomas Goldwell to Richard Thornden. There were no changes to this material in the 1576 or 1583 editions.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaIuly. 12. MarginaliaIohn Bland. Iohn Frankesh. Martyrs.THe xij. of Iuly Ioh. Bland, Ioh. Frankesh, Nich. Sheterden, & Hūfrey Myddleton were all foure burned at Canterbury together, for one cause, of the whiche nūber Frankesh & Blande were ministers, & preachers of þe word of God. The one beyng parson of Adesham: the other the vicare of Roluynden. This M. Bland was a man so litle borne for his own cōmodity,
CloseAdvantage, profit.
CloseBland either taught Sandys at Furness Abbey in Yorkshire or, more likely, at St John's, Cambridge, where they were contemporaries.
After this he cōmyng to the ministerie in the Church of God, or rather beyng called thereto, was inflamed with incredible desire to profit the cōgregation, which may appeare by this: that wheras he was cast into Cāterbury prisō for the preachyng of the Gospel, & deliuered once or twise from thence at the suit of his frends: yet would he needes preach the gospel agayn, as soone as he was deliuered. Wherupon he beyng þe thyrd tyme apprehēded, MarginaliaM. Bland offered by hys frendes to be deliuered, refused.when his frendes yet once agayn would haue found the meanes to haue deliuered him, if he would haue promised to abstayne from preachyng:
CloseThe description of Bland's career is reprinted from the Rerum (p. 503) andreflects what Foxe learned about Bland in exile. It is also somewhat garbled. The mention of Bland's earlier arrest, or arrests, appears to be based on his indictment for heresy in 1543. As far as we know, he was not imprisoned then and there was no second imprisonment. (It is worth noting how Foxe moves from stating that Bland was imprisoned once or twice to affirming that there was a 'third' arrest). After this 'third' arrest (in 1553), Bland was not, by his own account, promised release if he abstained from preaching.
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CloseWhat follows is a very long letter, written by Bland to his father sometime between March 1555 and June 1555, describing his arrest and its causes, and what happened to him after that, down to the beginnings of proceedings against him for heresy in 1555.
DEarely beloued father in Christe Iesu, I thanke you for