On this day in Tudor history, 22nd May 1538, Franciscan friar John Forest met his end at Smithfield in London for his allegiance to the Church of Rome.
His death, along with the burning of a religious statue from Wales, was said to be the fulfilment of a prophecy made about the statue.
Find out more about Blessed John Forest and the prophecy in today's video.
Also on this day in history:
- 1490 – Death of Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent.
- 1537 – Edward Seymour, brother of Jane Seymour, was sworn in as a Privy Councillor.
- 1539 – Probable birthdate of Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford and son of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (the Edward mentioned above). Hertford was also the husband of Katherine Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey.
- 1570 – Death of John Best, Bishop of Carlisle. He was buried in Carlisle Cathedral.
There was a polemic answer to Fox’s Book of Martyrs published in the nineteenth century which shows the woodcut of Blessed John Forrest being executed and the statue underneath and it is quite horrific. How can a Catholic be a heretic when that was the orthodox church? Weren’t people who didn’t agree with the Supremacy usually martyred for treason? It was a very odd thing I guess. He was a brave man and he stood firm. Yes, it is very ironic that Hugh Latimer, himself a heretic should be preaching the sermon and it does raise the question What Is Or What Was Heresy? Answer: Whatever the crown now wanted it to be. The word actually means to choose and refers to any belief system which was different to the “orthodoxy” of the ruling authority . It would be used to describe a very wide variety of Christian and none Christian and even cults or Puritan beliefs as well as Catholic traditional belief and reformed belief. A dozen changes of what was orthodox faith occurred between 1529 and 1559 and by all accounts that was just the warming up. Even the religious settlement under Elizabeth and James wasn’t static and things continued to swing back and forth for another 100 years. Honestly, not the time period for me.