This is a list of people burned after being deemed

heretics Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

by different

Christian Churches In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym for ...

. The list does not attempt to encompass the list of those executed by burning for other reasons (such as victims of witch hunts or other persecutions). The

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

states that "with the formal recognition of the Church by the State and the increase of ecclesiastical penalties proportioned to the increase of ecclesiastical offences, came an appeal from the Church to the secular arm for aid in enforcing the said penalties, which aid was always willingly granted...deviations from the Catholic Faith, were by the State made punishable in civil law and secular penalties were attached to them." Canon 3 of the Ecumenical Fourth Council of the Lateran, 1215 required secular authorities to "exterminate in the territories subject to their jurisdiction all heretics" pointed out by the Catholic Church, resulting in the inquisitor executing certain people accused of heresy. Some laws allowed the civil government to employ punishment. After they were convicted by the Church, they were turned over to the local government for execution because of religious restrictions that kept ecclesial clergy from actually carrying out the executions. During the

Leipzig Debate The Leipzig Debate (german: Leipziger Disputation) was a theological disputation originally between Andreas Karlstadt, Martin Luther and Johann Eck. Karlstadt, the dean of the Wittenberg theological faculty, felt that he had to defend Luther a ...

prior to his ex-communication, then-Catholic priest Martin Luther made commentary against the morality of burning heretics to death. His position was summarized as "Haereticos comburi est contra voluntatem Spiritus" (It is contrary to the

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

to burn heretics). As such, it was one of the statements specifically censured in the 1520 papal bull ''

Exsurge Domine () is a papal bull promulgated on 15 June 1520 by Pope Leo X. It was written in response to the teachings of Martin Luther which opposed the views of the Church. It censured forty-one propositions extracted from Luther's '' Ninety-five Theses' ...

''. When he failed to accept the bull and give a broad recantation of his writings, he was excommunicated in the subsequent 1521 papal bull ''

Decet Romanum Pontificem (from Latin: "It Befits the Roman Pontiff"; 1521) is the papal bull which excommunicated the German theologian Martin Luther; its title comes from the first three Latin words of its text. It was issued on January 3, 1521, by Pope Leo X to e ...

''.

Pre-Reformation Roman Catholic Europe

* Ramihrdus of Cambrai (1076 or 1077) ( lynched) *

Peter of Bruys Peter of Bruys (also known as Pierre De Bruys or Peter de Bruis; ''fl.'' 1117 – c.1131) was a medieval French religious teacher. He was called a heresiarch (leader of a heretical movement) by the Roman Catholic Church because he opposed ...

(† 1130) ( lynched) * Gerard Segarelli († 1300) * Fra Dolcino († 1307) (never tried by Catholic Church), Italy *

Marguerite Porete Marguerite Porete (; 13th century1 June 1310) was a French-speaking mystic and the author of ''The Mirror of Simple Souls'', a work of Christian mysticism dealing with the workings of agape (divine love). She was burnt at the stake for heresy in ...

(† 1310), Paris, France *

Botulf Botulfsson Botulf Botulfsson (died April 1311), from Gottröra, Uppland, was a Swedish man burned at the stake for heresy. His is the only confirmed case of an execution for heresy by the Catholic church in Sweden. He was accused by the Catholic Church of ...

(† 1311), the only known person executed for heresy in Sweden *

Jacques de Molay Jacques de Molay (; c. 1240–1250 – 11 or 18 March 1314), also spelled "Molai",Demurger, pp. 1-4. "So no conclusive decision can be reached, and we must stay in the realm of approximations, confining ourselves to placing Molay's date of birth ...

(1243–1314), burned after conviction by a tribunal under the control of King Philip IV of France, Paris, France *

Geoffroi de Charney Geoffroi de Charney,The first name was sometimes spelled Geoffrey, surname sometimes spelled de Charnay and de Charny. also known as Guy d'Auvergne, (died 11 or 18 March 1314) was preceptor of Normandy for the Knights Templar. In 1307 de Charny ...

(† 1314), burned with Jacques de Molay above, Paris, France. * Guilhèm Belibasta († 1321), last

Cathar Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...

, Villerouge-Termenès, France *

Cecco d'Ascoli Cecco d'Ascoli (1257 – September 26, 1327) is the popular name of Francesco degli Stabili (sometimes given as Francesco degli Stabili Cichus), an Italian encyclopaedist, physician and poet. Cecco (in Latin, ''Cichus'') is the diminutive of Fran ...

(† 1327), Florence, Italy * Na Prous Boneta († 1328) * William Sawtre († 1401), Smithfield, London, England *

John Badby John Badby (1380–1410), one of the early Lollard martyrs, was a tailor (or perhaps a blacksmith) in the west Midlands, and was condemned by the Worcester diocesan court for his denial of transubstantiation. Badby bluntly maintained that when ...

(† 1410), Smithfield, London, England * Jan Hus (1371–1415), Constance, Germany *

Jerome of Prague Jerome of Prague ( cs, Jeroným Pražský; la, Hieronymus Pragensis; 1379 – 30 May 1416) was a Czech scholastic philosopher, theologian, reformer, and professor. Jerome was one of the chief followers of Jan Hus and was burned for heresy ...

(1365–1416) * William Taylor († 1423), Smithfield, London, England * Joan of Arc (1412–1431),

Trial of Joan of Arc Joan of Arc was a young French woman who said she had been sent to help Charles VII during the Hundred Years' War, which led to her capture by the English-allied Burgundians during the siege of Compiègne in 1430. She was sold to the Englis ...

, Rouen, France * Thomas Bagley († 1431), Smithfield, London, England * Pavel Kravař († 1433) * Joan Boughton († 1494), Smithfield, London, England *

Girolamo Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction o ...

, Domenico da Pascia, and Silvestro Maruffi(† 1498), Florence, Italy (hanged and then burned)

Roman Catholic Countries

Ipswich Martyrs The Ipswich Martyrs were nine people burnt at the stake for their Lollard or Protestant beliefs around 1515-1558. The executions were mainly carried out in the centre of Ipswich, Suffolk on The Cornhill, the square in front of Ipswich Town Hall. ...

(† 1515–1558) *

Jean Vallière Jean Vallière (died 8 August 1523 in Paris) was an Augustinian monk burned at the stake for heresy in 1523 for supporting the teachings of Martin Luther. See also * List of people burned as heretics This is a list of people burned afte ...

(† 1523) * Jan de Bakker († 1525), 1st martyr in the Northern Netherland *

Wendelmoet Claesdochter Wendelmoet Claesdochter ( – 20 November 1527) was a Dutch Lutheran who was executed for heresy by strangulation followed by burning, and is known as the first woman victim to the religious persecutions in the Netherlands during the reign ...

(† 1527), 1st Dutch woman charged and burned for the accusation of heresy *

Michael Sattler Michael Sattler (1490 – 20 May 1527) was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing ...

(† 1527), Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany * Patrick Hamilton († 1528), St Andrews, Scotland *

Balthasar Hubmaier Balthasar Hubmaier (1480 – 10 March 1528; la , Pacimontanus) was an influential German Anabaptist leader. He was one of the most well-known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Reformation. Early life and education He was born in Fr ...

(1485–1528), Vienna, Austria *

George Blaurock Jörg vom Haus Jacob (Georg Cajacob, or George of the House of Jacob), commonly known as George Blaurock (c. 1491 – September 6, 1529), was an Anabaptist leader and evangelist. Along with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz, he was a co-founder ...

(1491–1529), Klausen, Tyrol * Thomas Hitton († 1530), Maidstone, England *

Richard Bayfield Richard Bayfield (died 27 November 1531) was an English Protestant martyr. A graduate of the University of Cambridge, he became a Benedictine monk and Chamberlain of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. At some time in 1522, an Augustinian rector at Cam ...

(† 1531), Smithfield, England * Thomas Benet († 1531), Exeter, England *

Thomas Bilney Thomas Bilney ( 149519 August 1531) was an English Christian martyr. Early life Thomas Bilney was born around 1495 in Norfolk, most likely in Norwich. Nothing is known of his parents except that they outlived him. He entered Trinity Hall, ...

(† 1531), Norwich, England *

Joan Bocher Joan Bocher (died 2 May 1550 in Smithfield, London) was an English Anabaptist burned at the stake for heresy during the English Reformation in the reign of Edward VI. She has also been known as Joan Boucher or Butcher, or as Joan Knell or Joan o ...

(† 1531), Smithfield, England *

Solomon Molcho Solomon Molcho ( he, שלמה מולכו Shelomo Molkho), or Molkho, originally Diogo Pires (c. 1500 – 13 December 1532) was a Portuguese Jewish mystic and messiah claimant. When he met with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to urge the creation of ...

(† 1532), Mantua *

Thomas Harding Thomas Harding (born 1448 in Cambridge, Gloucestershire, England and died at Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England, May 1532) was a sixteenth-century English religious dissident who, while waiting to be burnt at the stake as a Lollard in 1532, was ...

(† 1532), Chesham, England * James Bainham († 1532), Smithfield, England * John Frith (1503–1533), Smithfield, England * William Tyndale (1490–1536), Belgium * Jakob Hutter († 1536), Innsbruck, Tyrol * Aefgen Listincx († 1538), Münster, Germany *

John Forest John Forest (1471 – 22 May 1538) was an English Franciscan friar and martyr. Confessor to Queen Catherine of Aragon, Forest was burned to death at Smithfield for heresy, in that he refused to acknowledge the King as head of the church. Lif ...

(† 1538), Smithfield, England *

Katarzyna Weiglowa Katarzyna Weiglowa (Wajglowa) (German: Katherine Weigel; given erroneously in a Polish source of 17c. as Vogel, and known in many English sources as Catherine Vogel) (circa 1460 – April 19, 1539), was a Polish woman who was burned at the stake f ...

(† 1538), Poland *

Anneke Esaiasdochter Anneke Esaiasdochter (also ''Anna Jansz'', ''Anneken Jans'' or ''Anneke van Rotterdam''; 1509–1539), was a Dutch Anabaptist executed as a heretic and at the time regarded as a Protestant martyr. Life Anna Jansz was born in Brielle on the Dutch i ...

(† 1539), The Netherlands * Francisco de San Roman († 1540), Spain * Étienne Dolet (1509–1546), Paris, France *

Henry Filmer Henry Filmer (died 1543) was a 16th-century English Protestant martyr, one of the Windsor Martyrs, during the reign of Henry VIII. Filmer was a Protestant tailor and church warden of St John the Baptist Church, Windsor, Berkshire who complained a ...

(† 1543), Windsor, England *

Robert Testwood Robert Testwood of London was an English Protestant martyr during the reign of Henry VIII, one of the Windsor Martyrs. Testwood was a moderately well-known musician and gained a place as a chorister at Windsor College. He became embroiled in a n ...

(† 1543), Windsor, England * Anthony Pearson († 1543), Windsor, England *

Maria van Beckum Maria van Beckum (before 1510 – 13 November 1544) was a Dutch noblewoman and Anabaptist executed for heresy. Maria was born in Markelo as the daughter of Johan II van Beckum (d. 1526) and Johanna van Wrede (died before 1511). She was the sis ...

(† 1544) * Ursula van Beckum († 1544) *

Colchester Martyrs The Colchester Martyrs were 16th-century English Protestant martyrs. They were executed for heresy in Colchester, Essex, during the reigns of Henry VIII and Mary I. Their story is recorded in ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''. 1545 or 1546 " e Henry" a ...

(† 1545 to 1558), 26 people, Colchester, England * George Wishart (1513–1546), St Andrews, Scotland * John Hooper († 1555), Gloucester, England * John Rogers († 1555), London, England * Canterbury Martyrs († 1555–1558), c.40 people, Canterbury, England *

Laurence Saunders Lawrence Saunders (1519 – 8 February 1555) was an English Protestant martyr whose story is recorded in ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''. Early life Saunders was the son of Thomas Saunders (d. 1528) of Sibbertoft, Northamptonshire, by Margaret, the da ...

, (1519–1555), Coventry, England *

Rowland Taylor Rowland Taylor (sometimes spelled "Tayler") (6 October 1510 – 9 February 1555) was an English Protestant martyr during the Marian Persecutions. At the time of his death, he was Rector of Hadleigh in Suffolk. He was burnt at the stake at ne ...

(† 1555), Hadleigh, Suffolk, England * Cornelius Bongey, († 1555), Coventry, England * Dirick Carver, († 1555), Lewes, England *

Robert Ferrar Robert Ferrar (died 30 March 1555) was a Bishop of St David's in Wales. He was prior of Nostell Priory, embraced the English Reformation, and was made Bishop of St. David's by Edward VI. He suffered martyrdom during the Marian persecutions. ...

(† 1555), Carmarthen, Wales * William Flower († 1555), Westminster, England * Patrick Pakingham († 1555), Uxbridge, England * Hugh Latimer (1485–1555), Oxford, England * Robert Samuel († 1555), Ipswich, England Latimer Ridley Foxe burning

* Nicholas Ridley (1500–1555), Oxford, England *

John Bradford John Bradford (1510–1555) was an English Reformer, prebendary of St. Paul's, and martyr. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for alleged crimes against Queen Mary I. He was burned at the stake on 1 July 1555. Life Bradford was born i ...

(† 1555), London, England * John Cardmaker († 1555), Smithfield, London, England * Robert Glover († 1555), Hertford, England * Thomas Hawkes († 1555), Coggeshall, England * Thomas Tomkins († 1555), Smithfield, London, England * Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556), Oxford, England * Stratford Martyrs († 1556), 11 men and 2 women, Stratford, London, England *

Guernsey Martyrs The Guernsey Martyrs were three women who were burned at the stake for their Protestant beliefs, in Guernsey, Channel Islands, in 1556 during the Marian persecutions. Trial Guillemine Gilbert and Perotine Massey were sisters, who lived with th ...

(† 1556), 3 women, Guernsey, Channel Islands *

Joan Waste Joan Waste or Wast (1534 – 1 August 1556) was a blind woman who was burned in Derby for refusing to renounce her Protestant faith.Bartlet Green († 1556), Smithfield, London, England *

John Hullier John Hullier or Hulliarde, Huller or Hullyer, (c. 1520 – 16 April 1556) was an English clergyman and a Protestant martyr under Mary I of England. He was a chorister in the Choir of King's College, Cambridge before attending Eton Colleg ...

(† 1556), Cambridge, England * John Forman († 1556), East Grinstead, England *

Pomponio Algerio Pomponio Algerio (1531 – 19 August 1556) was an Italian student who was executed for his Lutheran beliefs. Biography Algerio was born in Nola, and was a civil law student at the University of Padua, where his Lutheran theological beliefs attra ...

(† 1556) Boiled in oil, Rome * Alexander Gooch and Alice Driver († 1558), Ipswich, England Contemporary illustration of the Auto-da-fe held at Validolid Spain 21-05-1559

Contemporary illustration of the Auto-da-fe held at Validolid Spain 21-05-1559

* Augustino de Cazalla († 1559), Valladolid, Spain * Carlos de Seso († 1559), Valladolid, Spain * María de Bohórquez († 1559) *

Pietro Carnesecchi Pietro Carnesecchi (24 December 1508 – 1 October 1567) was an Italian humanist. Biography Born in Florence, he was the son of a da Andrea Carnesecchi, a merchant who under the patronage of the Medici, and especially of Giulio de' Medic ...

(† 1567) Florence, Italy *

Leonor de Cisneros Leonor de Cisneros (1536, in Valladolid – 26 September 1568, in Valladolid), was a Spanish Protestant who was executed for heresy by the Spanish Inquisition and regarded as a Protestant martyr. Her case belongs amongst the most famed of the Spanis ...

(† 1568), Valladolid, Spain * Weyn Ockers († 1568), Netherlands * Dirk Willems († 1569), Netherlands * Anneke Ogiers († 1570), Netherlands * Menocchio (1532–1599), Italy * Giordano Bruno (1548–1600), Rome, Italy * Fulgenzio Manfredi (1560 ca. - 1610) Rome, Italy *

Lucilio Vanini Lucilio Vanini (15859 February 1619), who, in his works, styled himself Giulio Cesare Vanini, was an Italian philosopher, physician and free-thinker, who was one of the first significant representatives of intellectual libertinism. He was amon ...

(Giulio Cesare Vanini) (1585–1619), Toulouse, France * Caterina Tarongí († 1691) *

Kimpa Vita Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita, Kimpa Mvita, Tsimpa Vita or Tchimpa Vita (1684 – 2 July 1706), was a Kongo Empire prophet and leader of her own Christian movement, Antonianism; this movement taught that Jesus and other early Christian figures w ...

(1684–1706), Angola * Maria Barbara Carillo (1625–1721), Madrid, Spain * Gertrude Cordovana († 1724), Palermo, Italy * Ana de Castro († 1736) *

Abraham ben Abraham Abraham ben Abraham ( he, אברהם בן אברהם, lit. "Avraham the son of Avraham") (c. 1700 – 23 May 1749), also known as Count Valentine (Valentin, Walentyn) Potocki (Pototzki or Pototski), was a purported Polish nobleman (''szlachta'' ...

(† 1749), Vilna, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth * María de los Dolores López († 1781), Seville, Spain

Protestant Countries

* Robert Barnes († 1540), Smithfield, London, England *

Thomas Gerrard Thomas Gerard (1500?–1540) (Gerrard, also Garret or Garrard) was an English Protestant reformer. In 1540, he was burnt to death for heresy, along with William Jerome and Robert Barnes. Life He matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, ...

(† 1540), Smithfield, England *

Anne Askew Anne Askew (sometimes spelled Ayscough or Ascue) married name Anne Kyme, (152116 July 1546) was an English writer, poet, and Anabaptist preacher who was condemned as a heretic during the reign of Henry VIII of England. She and Margaret Cheyne ...

(1521–1546), Smithfield, England *

John Lascelles John Lassells (also Lascelles; died 1546) was an English sixteenth-century courtier and Protestant martyr. His report to Archbishop Thomas Cranmer initiated the investigation which led to the execution of Queen Catherine Howard. Life Lassells w ...

(† 1546), Smithfield, England * John Adams († 1546), Smithfield, England *

(† 1550), Smithfield, England * George van Parris († 1551), Smithfield, England * Matthew Hamont († 1579), Norwich, England *

Francis Kett Francis Kett (c. 1547–1589) was an Anglican clergyman burned for heresy. Life Kett was born in Wymondham, Norfolk, the son of Thomas and Agnes Kett, and the nephew of the rebel Robert Kett, the main instigator of Kett's Rebellion. Although K ...

(† 1589), Norwich, England *

Bartholomew Legate Bartholomew Legate (c. 157518 March 1612) was an English anti-Trinitarian martyr. Legate was born in Essex and became a dealer in cloth. This also cites: * T. Fuller, ''Church History of Britain'' (1655) * S. R. Gardiner, ''History of England'', ...

(1575–1612), Smithfield, England *

Edward Wightman Edward Wightman (1566 – 11 April 1612) was an English radical Anabaptist minister, executed at Lichfield on charges of heresy. He was the last person to be burned at the stake in England for heresy. Life Edward Wightman was born in 1566. H ...

(1566–1612), relapsed heretic, Lichfield, England * Michael Servetus (1511–1553), Geneva, Switzerland * Stephen Cotton († 1558), Brentford, England * Nicolas Antoine (1602–1632), Geneva, Switzerland

Eastern Orthodox Countries

Avvakum by Pyotr Yevgenyevich Myasoyedov

Basil the Physician Basil the Physician (died c.1111 or c.1118) was the Bogomil leader condemned as a heretic by Patriarch Nicholas III of Constantinople and burned at the stake by Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. Originally a monk and a physician, Basil beca ...

(† 1118), by Emperor

Alexius I Comnenus Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

; heresy * Avvakum Petrovich (1620–1682), by Tsar Feodor III of Russia; combating the Starovery movement * Quirinus Kuhlmann († 1689), by Tsar

Ivan V of Russia Ivan V Alekseyevich (russian: Иван V Алексеевич; – ) was Tsar of Russia between 1682 and 1696, jointly ruling with his younger half-brother Peter I. Ivan was the youngest son of Alexis I of Russia by his first wife, Mari ...

; considered politically dangerous

References

* {{Cite book, last=Foxe, first=John, editor=M. Hobart Seymore, title=The Acts and Monuments of the Church, publisher=Robert Carter and Brothers, location=New York, year=1855, url=https://archive.org/stream/actsmonumentsofc00foxe#page/n3/mode/2up, access-date=27 February 2013

External links

Foxe's book of Martyrs
Retrieved 27 February 2013 Burned for heresy People executed by burning