Martyrdom and Sainthood in Tudor England

This research is derived from my doctoral thesis undertaken at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, which provided the first in-depth comparison of printed representations of Catholic and Protestant martyrdom in Tudor England since the work of McGrath and Dickens during the 1960s. In this article, a martyr is defined as one who bore witness to persecution during the Tudor Reformation (c. 1530-1600), and who ultimately died for his or her beliefs rather than abjure. The main themes discussed were issues of continuity and change: To what extent did Protestant depictions of martyrs draw upon pre-Reformation ideas? Were they a radical break from the past; or did they represent gradual evolution and transition in which some older beliefs were perpetuated, some were reinterpreted allegorically, and others were abandoned and replaced with new representations? Novel contributions to the historiography include the representation of non-martyrs (individuals who failed to gain full recognition in Catholic or Protestant martyrologies), Puritan efforts to supplant pre-Reformation rituals derived from what Duffy termed the cult of saints with abstract Old Testament inspired sermons, and the depiction of persecutors’ untimely deaths as evidence of divine providence and the illegitimacy of rival churches. Although firmly grounded in history, my methodology also incorporated elements from other disciplines, especially gender studies, death studies, religion, philosophy, and some aspects of art history. In particular, I have examined the language of inversion, where exceptionally courageous female martyrs were portrayed with the masculine virtues of courage, analytical rationality or self-control, and allegedly negative feminine traits such as cowardice, deceit, treachery, or sexual misconduct were used to shame and discredit clergymen from rival religious groups or sects. This article will focus upon Catholic and Protestant efforts to identify 16th century martyrs with the saints of the early church, either literally or allegorically, with the aim of gaining reassurance from familiar historical patterns, and challenging the legitimacy of rival churches.