1576 Edition | Book 11 | Page 1627 
Marginalia1555. August.case, at length he fel to prayer, desiring God in mercy to opē to him þe truth, that he might be thorowly perswaded therin, whether it were of God, or no:MarginaliaTankerfield prayeth to God to know whether the Masse be good or no. If not, that he might vtterly hate it in his hart, & abhorre it: which according to his prayer, the Lord mercyfully heard, working dayly more and more in hym to detest and abhorre the same: MarginaliaTankerfield how he was first called to the knowledge of the Gospell.and so was moued to reade the Testament, whereby, (as he said) the Lord lightened his mynd with the knowledge of the truth, working liuely fayth in hym to beleue the same, and vtterly to detest al Papistrie, and so he came no more to their doyngs: And not onely that, but also this liuely fayth, said he, kindled such a flame in hym, as would not be kept in, but vtter it selfe by confession therof, reprouyng his own former doings to his frends, exhorting them likewise to conuert and turne to the truth with hym, and thus he began to be smelled out among them, tyl at the last he was sent for, as foloweth.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe order and maner how Tankerfield was first apprehended by Beard.It pleased God to strike hym with sicknes, wherby he lay long sicke: and on a certayne day to take the ayre abroad, he rose vp and went and walked into the Temple fieldes, to see the shoters.
CloseI.e., archers hunting in the fields.
CloseThe lack of punctuation in this passage obscures its meaning; it reads Beard, a yeoman of the guard and Simon Ponder.
Tankerfield thus beyng brought to prison by hys aduersaryes, at lengeh wt the other aboue named was brought to his examination before Boner. Who after his accustomed maner, ordered his MarginaliaArticles ordinary.articles and positions vnto hym: the copy and tenor of whiche his ordynary Articles ye may read aboue expressed, pag. 1585.
[Back to Top]To these Articles as aboue rehearsed, he aunswered agayne, constantly declaryng his minde both touching auricular confession, and also the sacrament of the Popish alter, and lykewise of the Masse &c: MarginaliaAuricular confession.First that hee was not confessed to any Priest v. yeares past, nor to any other but only to God, and further denying that he would hereafter be cōfessed to anye Priest, for that hee founde it not in Christes booke, and tooke it onely to be a counsell.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaSacrament of the altar.And concernyng the Sacrament, commonly called here in England of the aulter, hee confessed that hee neither had nor dyd beleue, that in the sayd sacrament, there is the reall body and bloude of Christ, because that the bodye is ascended into heauen, and there doth sit at the right of God the father..
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe Masse abhominable.And moreouer he sayd, that the Masse now vsed in the Church of England was naught, and full of Idolatry and abomination and agaynst the woord of God, affirming also, that MarginaliaTwo Sacramentes.there are but two Sacramentes in the Churche of Christe, Baptisme, and the Supper of the Lorde. &c. And to these assertions, he sayd, he woulde stand and so dyd to the end.
[Back to Top]And when at last the Byshop began to read the sentence exhortyng hym before with many woordes to reuoke hys professed opinion (which they called damnable and heretical) hee notwithstandyng, resisted all contrary perswasions, answeryng the Byshop agayne in this forme of words: MarginaliaThe wordes of Tankerfield to Boner.I wil not (said he) forsake myne opinions, except you (my Lorde) can repel them by scriptures, and I care not for your Diuinitie: for you condemne all men, and proue nothing againste them. And after many fayre wordes of exhortation, whiche Boner then vsed (after his ordinarye maner) to conuert or rather peruert hym, MarginaliaThe wordes of Tankerfield at his condemnation.he answered boldly again, saying moreouer: that the church wherof the Pope is supreme head, is no part of Christes Catholike Church: and addyng thereunto, and poyntyng to the Bishop, spake to the people, saying: MarginaliaTankerfield geueth the people warning of Boner.Good people beware of him, and such as he is: for these be the people that deceyueth you. &c.
[Back to Top]These with other woordes moe, he spake: wherupon
MarginaliaTankerfield condemned.the Byshop readyng the sentence of his popish condemnatiō, gaue hym to the secular power.
And so this blessed seruaunt of God was had to saint Albons,
CloseThis is another example of a martyr being sent out of London to a nearby town or village to be executed. This is due to the unease the authorities were beginning to feel about the reaction of Londoners to the executions.
CloseRobert Smith's account of his examinations was printed in the Rerum (pp.513-23), as was a note stating that he was burned at Staines on 26 August 1555. With the exception of Smith's letter to 'all which love God unfeignedly', all of the material on Smith in the Acts and Monuments and all of his writings printed by Foxe appeared in the 1563edition. The core of the material on Smith himself was a reprinting of his account of his examinations. Foxe also added a brief introductory account of Smith's life and a graphic description of his execution. (This description, probably derived from an eyewitness, came to Foxe while the Acts and Monuments was being printed and was placed in an appendix at the end of the first edition). None of Smith's verse epistles were printed in the Letters of the Martyrs, but two of his prose letters were reprinted there. The Letters of the Martyrs also printed the letter 'to all which love God unfeignedly' for the first time. In the 1570 edition,the account of Smith's execution was moved from the appendix into the account of Smith, while all of Smith's verse letters were dropped. The 1570 account was reprinted without alteration in the 1576 edition. In the 1583 edition, Smith's verse letters were restored and the letter to 'all which love God unfeignedly' was introduced into the Acts and Monuments.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaRob. Smith of London, Martyr.RObert Smith was brought vnto Newegate the fift of Nouember, in the first and second yeare of the kyng and queene, by Io. Mathew yeoman of the Gard of the quenes side, by the commaundemēt of the Counsaile. This Smith, first gaue him selfe vnto seruice in the house of sir Thomas Smith knight, being thē Prouost of Eton: from thence he was preferred to Windsore, hauing there in the Colledge a Clerkship of x. pound a yere. Of stature he was tal & slēder, actiue about many things, but chiefly delighting in the arte of Painting,MarginaliaRob. Smith actiue in the arte of paynting. which many tymes, rather for his minds sake then for any liuyng or luker, he dyd practise & excercise. In religion, he was feruent, after he had once tasted the truth: wherein he was much confirmed by the preachinges & readings of one M. Turner of Windsore
CloseWilliam Turner, a protestant controversialist, a pioneering botanist and the dean of Wells cathedral.
CloseOfficials sent by royal or episcopal authority to inspect the clergy.
MarginaliaThe first examination of Rob. Smith before B. Boner.ABout nyne of the clocke in the mornyng, I was among the rest of my brethren brought to the Bishops house: and I first of all was brought before hym into his chamber, vnto whom the Bishop said, as foloweth, after he had asked my name.
Boner. How long is it agoe since the tyme that ye were confessed to any priest?
MarginaliaConfession not needefull.Smith. Neuer since I had yeares of discretion. For I neuer saw it needeful neither commaunded of God to come to shewe my faultes to any of that sinfull number, whom ye cal priestes.
Boner. Thou shewest thy selfe euen at the first chop to be a ranke heretike, which beyng werye of painting, art entred into Diuinitie, and so fallen, through thy departing frō thy vocation, into heresie.
Smith. Although I haue vnderstanding in the said occupation, yet (I prayse God) I haue had litle neede all my lyfe hytherto to lyue by the same, MarginaliaReiectio criminis ingeniosa & diuina.but haue liued without the same in myne owne house as honestly in my vocation, as ye haue lyued in yours, and yet vsed the same better then euer you vsed the Pulpit.
[Back to Top]Boner. How long is it ago since ye receiued the sacrament of the aultar, and what is your opinon in the same?
MarginaliaThe sacrament of the Altar.Smith. I neuer receaued þe same since I had yeres of discretion, nor neuer wyl, by Gods grace: neither do esteeme the same in any poynt, because it hath not Gods ordinance, neither in name, nor in other vsage, but rather is set vp and erected to mocke God withal.
Boner. Do ye not beleue that it is the very body of Christ that was borne of the virgin Mary, naturally, substātially and really, after the wordes of consecration?
Smith. I shewed you before, it was none of Gods ordinaunces, as ye vse it: then much lesse to be God, or any part of his substance, but onely bread and wine erected to the vse aforesaid: yet neuerthelesse, if ye can approue it to be the body that ye spake of, by the woord, I wyl beleue it: if not, I wyl, as I do, acoūt it a detestable Idol, not God, but contrary to God and truth.
[Back to Top]Boner. Then after many raging words & vaine obiectiōs, he said MarginaliaBoners argument to proue the sacrament.there was no remedie but I must be burned.
Smith. Ye shall doo no more vnto me, then ye haue done to better men then either of vs both But thinke not thereby to quench the spirite of God, neither thereby to make your matter good. For your sore is too well seene to be healed so priuily with bloud. For euen the very children haue al your deedes in dirision:
CloseA fascinating indication (there would be others in the Acts and Monuments) of children taunting Bonner. See Susan Brigden, 'Youth and the English Reformation,' Past and Present 95 (1982), pp. 37-67 for an interesting attempt to link support for the reformation with youthful protest against gerontocratic authority.
[Back to Top]Boner. Then after much ado, & many railyng sentences, he said, throwing away the paper of myne examinatiō: wel euē now by my truth, euen in good earnest: if thou wylt goe and be shriuen, I wyll teare this paper in peeces.
Smith. To which I aunswered: It would be too much to his shame to shew it to men of discretion.