WHen I came before the Byshop, he asked me if I dyd not beleue in the Catholicke Church. I sayd: I beleue that Church wherof Christ is the head.

Then sayd the Byshop: doest thou not beleue that the Pope is supreme head of the Churche? And I sayd: no, Christ is the head of the true Church.

Bysh. So do I beleue also: but the Pope is Gods Vicare vpon earth, and the head of the Churche, and I beleue that he hath power to forgeue sinnes also.

Fortune. Then sayd I: the Pope is but a man, and the Prophet Dauid sayth: MarginaliaPsal. 49.That no man can deliuer his brother, nor make agreement for hym vnto God: For it coste more to redeeme their soules, so that he must let that alone for euer.

Bysh. And the Byshop agayne fetchyng about a great circumstaunce, sayd: MarginaliaThe Pope likened to a Belwether or a Master Bee.like as the Belwether weareth the Bell, and is the head of the flocke of sheepe: so is the Pope our head. And as the hiues of Bees haue a Maister Bee that bryngeth the Bees to the hiue agayn: so doth our head bring vs home agayne to our true Church.

Fortune. Then I asked him whether the Pope were a spirituall man: and he sayd yea. And I sayd agayne: they are spitefull  

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Due to a printer's error this was rendered as 'spiritual' in the 1563 edition; it was corrected to 'spiteful' in the 1570 edition.

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In 'xvi days' in the 1563 edition; this was changed in the 1570 edition.

Bysh. It is maliciously spoken (sayd he): for thou must obey the power and not the man. And thus was the pope denyed to be supreme head.

Well, sayd he, MarginaliaCeremonies of the Church.what sayest thou to the ceremonyes of the Church?

Fort. And I aunswered: MarginaliaMath. 15.All thynges that are not planted by my heauenly father, shalbe plucked vppe by the rootes, sayth Christ. For they were not from the begynnyng, nether shall they continue to the end.

Bysh. They are good and godly, and necessary to be vsed.

Fort. S. Paule called them weake and beggarly.

Bysh. No, that is a lye.

Fortune. I hearyng that, sayd: that Saint Paule writeth thus in the fourth to the Galathians: MarginaliaGal. 4.Ye foolishe Galathians (sayth he) who hath bewitched you, that ye seeke to be in bondage to these weake and beggarly ceremonyes? Now whiche of you do lye? you or Saint Paule? And also it is sayd, that woorkes instituted and enioyned without the commaundement of GOD, perteyne not to the worshyp of God, accordyng to the text: In vayne do men woorshyppe me with mens traditions and commaundementes. And Saint Paule sayth: Wherefore doe ye cary vs awaye from the grace of Christ to an other kinde of doctrine? MarginaliaMath. 15.And Christ openly rebuked the Scribes, Lawyers, Phariseis, Doctours, Priestes, Byshoppes and Hypocrites, for makyng Gods commaundementes of none effect, to support their owne tradition.

Byshop. Thou lyest, there is not such a woorde in all the Scriptures, thou naughtie hereticke. Thou art woorse then all other heretickes: for Hoper (sayd hee) and Bradford allowe them to be good, and thou doest not. Away with him.

¶ Here you may perceiue, how that the Catholicke Church cā not erre, MarginaliaIt is pitie that popish prelates can not lye.but what soeuer they say, must needes be true. And so my Lord Byshop can not lye, as it may appeare to all men most playnly in the text.

MarginaliaAn other examination of Iohn Fortune.THe next day I was brought before the sayd Byshop agayne, where hee made a Sermon vpon the vj. Chapter of Saint Iohns Gospell of Christes woordes: I am the bread that came downe from heauen. &c. and thereupon had a great bibble babble to no purpose. So in the end I was called before him, and he sayd to me.

Bysh. MarginaliaSacrament of the Aultar.How beleuest thou in the Sacrament of the aultar? doest thou not beleue that after the consecratiō, there is the reall substaunce of the body of Christ?

Fort. And I aunswered him, that it is the greatest plague that euer came into England.

Bysh. Why so?

Fort. I sayd: if I were a Byshop, and you a poore man as I am, I would be ashamed to aske such a question. For a Bishop shoulde be apt to teach and not to learne.

Bysh. I am appointed by the law to teach, so are not you.

Fortune. And I sayd: Your law breaketh out very well: for you haue burned vp the true Byshops and Preachers, and maintained lyers to be in their steede.

Bysh. MarginaliaCatholicke prelates obsequious to hyer powers so long as they make for their dignity, but when they doe otherwise, then they excommunicate them.Now you may vnderstand that he is a traytour: for he denyeth the hygher powers.

Fort. I am no traitour: for S. Paule sayth: All soules must obey the hyer powers, and I resist not the hyer powers, cōcernyng my body, but I must resist your euil doctrine wherwith you would infect my soule.

A. Doct. Then sayd a Doctour: my Lord, you do not well: let him aunswere shortly to his articles.

Bysh. Howe sayest thou? make aunswere quickely to these Articles.

Fort. S. Paule sayth: MarginaliaHeb. 10.Christ dyd one sacrifice once for all, and set him downe on the right hande of his father, triumphyng ouer hell and deeath, makyng intercession for sinnes.

Bysh. I aske the no such question, but make aunswere to this article.

Fort. If it bee not God before the consecration, it is not God after: for God is without begynnyng and without endyng.

Bysh. Then sayd he: lo, what a stiffe hereticke is this? He hath denyed altogether: how sayest thou? Is it idolatrye to worship the blessed sacrament or no.

Fort. God is a spirite, and will bee worshipped in spirite and truth.

Bysh. I aske thee no such question: answere me directly.

Fort. I aunswere that this is the God Mauzzim,MarginaliaDan. 11. that robbeth God of his honour.

Bysh. It is pitie that the grounde beareth the, or that thou hast a toung to speake. Thē sayd þ^e Scribe: here are a great many more articles.

Bysh. The sayd the Byshop: Away with him, for he hath spoken to much.

MarginaliaOther talke betwene Iohn Fortune and the Byshop of Norwich.ANd when I came to mine examination agayne, the Bishop asked me if I would stand vnto mine answere that I had made before: and I sayd, yea, for I had spoken nothyng but the truth. And after that hee made a great circumstaunce vpon the Sacrament.

Thē I desired him to stand to þ^e text, & he red the Gospell on Corpus Christi day, which sayd: MarginaliaIohn. 6.I am the bread which came downe from heauen: beleuest thou not this? And I sayd: yea truely.

And he sayd, why doest thou deny the Sacrament?

Because your doctrine is so false, sayd I.

Then sayd he: how can that be false which is spoken in the Scripture? And I sayd, Christ sayd: I am the bread, and you say the bread is he. Therfore your doctrine is false, sayd I.

And he sayd: doest thou not beleue that the bread is he? And I sayd, no.

Bysh. I will bryng the to it by the Scriptures.

Fort. Hold that fast my Lord: for that is the best Argument that you haue yet.

Bysh. Thou shalt be burned like an hereticke.

Fort. Who shall geue iudgement vpon me?

Bysh. I will iudge an hundred such as thou art, and neuer be shriuen vpon it.

Fort. Is there not a lawe for the spiritualtie as well as for the temporaltye? and Syr Clement Higham sayd yes, what meanest thou by that?

Fort. When a man is periured by the law, he is cast ouer the barre, and sitteth no more in iudgement. MarginaliaThe Byshop of Norwich charged with periury.And the byshop is a periured mā and ought to sit in iudgement of no man.

Bysh. How prouest thou that?

Fort. Because you tooke an oth by kyng Henryes dayes to resist the Pope. So both spirituall and temporall are periured, that here can be no true iudgement.

Bysh. Thinkest thou to escape iudgement by that? no, for my Chauncellour shall iudge thee. He tooke no oth, for hee was out then of the Realme.

M. Hygham. It is tyme to weede out such felowes as you be, in deede.

Bysh. Good felow, why beleuest not thou in the Sacrament of the aulter?

Fort. Because I finde it not in Gods booke, nor yet in the Doctors. If it were there, I would beleue it w^t al my hart.

Bysh. How knowest thou it is not there?

Fort. Because it is contrary to the second commaundemēt: and seyng it is not written in Gods booke, why do you then robbe me of my life?

Then the Byshop hauyng no more to say, commaunded the Baliffe to take him away.

And thus much touchyng the examinatiōs of thys man. Now whether he dyed in fire, or otherwise preuented with death: as I sayd before, I am vncerteine.

In the Registers of Norwich this I do finde, that his sentence of condemnation was drawen and Registred,  

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The condemnation is among Foxe's papers: BL, Harley MS 421, fos. 164r-165r. Fortune's replies to his articles are also in Foxe's papers (BL, Harley 421, fos. 161r-162r) but, typically, Foxe preferred to use the martyr's account of his examinations rather than the official record.