Books Foxe's Book Of Martyrs - John Foxe

Foxe's Book of Martyrs, originally titled Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by English historian John Foxe, first published in 1563 3. It details the lives, sufferings, and deaths of Christian martyrs, emphasizing the persecutions faced by Protestants under the Catholic Church, particularly in England and Scotland 136.

The book begins by chronicling the persecutions of early Christians, including accounts of apostles like Peter, Paul, Andrew, and others who suffered brutal deaths for their faith 246. It describes various forms of torture, such as burning alive, beheading, crucifixion, and being fed to wild animals, faced by men, women, and children 2.

Foxe continues his historical account through the Inquisition and the Reformation, featuring stories of figures such as John Wycliffe, John Huss, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, and Archbishop Cranmer 2. The work is notably polemical, aiming to demonstrate the "hatefulness, evil and corruption" of the Catholic Church and assert the monarch's right over ecclesiastical matters 13. While Foxe's accounts of events closer to his own time are often based on eyewitness testimony and official documents, earlier sections may reflect his biases and credulity 1.

The book was highly influential in shaping lasting popular notions of Catholicism in England and Scotland 3. Updated versions of Foxe's Book of Martyrs also cover modern-day persecutions of Christians in various parts of the world

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