The Colchester Martyrs were 16th-century

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

s. They were executed for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, during the reigns of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

and

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

. Their story is recorded in '' Foxe's Book of Martyrs''.

1545 or 1546

" e Henry" and his servant were

burned at the stake Death by burning is an list of execution methods, execution, murder, or suicide method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a puni ...

.Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 207. John Athy, John Heywood, Kerby, and Roger Clarke
/ref>

29 March 1555

John Lawrence, a priest and former

Blackfriar The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius II ...

Sudbury, Suffolk Sudbury (, ) is a market town and civil parish in the south west of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour near the Essex border, north-east of London. It is the largest town in the Babergh local government district and part of the South Suf ...

was

.Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 275. William Pygot, Stephen Knight, and John Laurence
Exclassics.com; retrieved 17 May 2013.

14 June 1555

Nicholas Chamberlain (or Chamberlaine), a weaver from

Coggeshall Coggeshall ( or ) is a town and civil parish in the Braintree district, in Essex, England, between Braintree and Colchester on the Roman road Stane Street and the River Blackwater. In 2001 it had a population of 3,919. It has almost 300 li ...

was

.Thomas Bryce, "The Regester" in Edward Farr, ed.
''Select Poetry of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth''
(1845).
Exclassics.com; retrieved 17 May 2013.

28 April 1556

Christopher Lister, a husbandman from

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

, Essex, John Mace, an apothecary from

, Essex, John Spencer, a weaver from

, Essex, Simon Joyne, a sawyer, Richard Nicol, a weaver from

, Essex and John Hamond, a tanner from

, Essex were

.Foxe's Book of Martyrs 338. Christopher Lyster, John Mace, John Spencer, Simon Joyne, Richard Nichols and John Hamond.
Exclassics.com; retrieved 22 May 2013.

2 August 1557

William Bongeor, Thomas Benhote, William Purchase, Agnes Silverside, Helen Ewring, Elizabeth Folk, William Munt, John Johnson, Alice Munt and Rose Allen were taken to

Colchester Castle Colchester Castle is a Norman architecture, Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, d ...

and

17 September 1557

Agnes Bongeor, wife of Richard Bongeor, John Kurde, and Margaret (Widow) Thurston were

26 May 1558

William Harris, Richard Day and Christian George (female) were

.Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 378. Three Colchester Martyrs.
Exclassics.com; retrieved 30 May 2013.

Those who died in prison

James Gore died on 7 December 1555 in Colchester prisonFoxe's Book of Martyrs: 325. John Webbe, George Roper, Gregory Parke, William Wiseman, and James Gore
Exclassics.com. Retrieved on 2013-05-19. and John Thurston, who had been taken at Much Bentley, Essex, died in May 1557 in

.Foxe's Book of Martyrs: 362. Ten Colchester Martyrs
Exclassics.com; retrieved 29 May 2013.

Monuments

A monument to these victims of the

Marian persecutions Protestants were executed in England under heresy laws during the reigns of Henry VIII (1509–1547) and Mary I (1553–1558), and in smaller numbers during the reigns of Edward VI (1547–1553), Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and James I (1603 ...

is in St Peter's Church on North Hill; another is in the

Colchester Town Hall Colchester Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Colchester, Essex, England. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Colchester City Council, is a Grade I listed building. History The first building on the site, a moot ...

.Virtual Tour of Colchester's Town Hall
camulos.com; accessed 31 July 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colchester Martyrs 16th-century Protestant martyrs People executed under Mary I of England People executed for heresy People from Colchester Executed British people 16th-century English people Year of birth unknown Martyred groups People executed by the Kingdom of England by burning Protestant martyrs of England Lists of Christian martyrs