The Tudor Society

Thomas Bilney – The Reluctant Martyr

On this day in Tudor history, 19th August 1531, Norfolk priest and preacher Thomas Bilney was burned at the stake in the Lollards' Pit, Norwich.

Bilney had been a passionate reformer, inspiring the likes of fellow martyr, Bishop Hugh Latimer, but under pressure, he broke and recanted, regretted his recantation but then, at the end, recanted once more.

Find out more about Bilney, his career, religious wavering, and tragic end...

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  1. R

    There’s a memorial to Bilney and others, placed in the ground near to the supposed site of Lollard’s Pit, next to Bishop’s Bridge on the River Wensum, Norwich.

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Thomas Bilney – The Reluctant Martyr