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In sixteenth-century England people were expected to follow the religious beliefs of the reigning monarch. When Edward VI was king they were told they had to be Protestants. However, when Mary Tudor became queen they had to change to being Catholics. After Elizabeth came to the throne they had to be Protestants again.

Those who refused to follow the religious beliefs of their monarch were accused of heresy. During their trials, defendants were given every opportunity to recant (confess their religious errors). If they did this they would be sentenced to a spell in prison. However, if they refused to recant and were found guilty of heresy, they were burnt to death.

During the reign of Henry VIII, people had to agree that the king, rather than the Pope in Rome, was the head of the English church. Those Roman Catholics that refused to accept this were executed. It is claimed that 81 people lost their lives for being heretics during his rule.

In June, 1546 Sir Anthony Kingston, the Constable of the Tower of London, was ordered to torture Anne Askew in an attempt to force her to name other Protestants. According to Askew: "Then they did put me on the rack, because I confessed no ladies or gentlemen, to be of my opinion... the Lord Chancellor and Master Rich took pains to rack me with their own hands, till I was nearly dead. I fainted... and then they recovered me again. After that I sat two long hours arguing with the Lord Chancellor, upon the bare floor... With many flattering words, he tried to persuade me to leave my opinion... I said that I would rather die than break my faith." Kingston was so impressed with the way Anne behaved that he refused to carry on torturing her, and Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor had to take over. After a long period of torture Anne still refused to give names or to recant. Her body was so badly damaged that she had to be carried to her trial. Found guilty of being a Protestant, Anne was condemned to death and burnt at the stake.

Number of people executed for heresy in England and Wales.

In the reign of Mary, Protestants were executed for refusing to accept that the Pope was the head of the church. Others were executed for reading the English Bible. However, the most common cause of heresy concerned something called transubstantiation. Catholics believed that the bread and wine used at communion became the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Protestants who refused to believe this miracle happened during communion were in danger of being executed.

Heretics were always burned in public. This included Thomas Cranmer on the 21st March, 1556: "Coming to the stake... he put off his garments with haste, and stood upright in his shirt The fire was lit... he stretched out his right hand, and thrust it into the flame, and held it there before the flame came to any other part of the body... As soon as the fire got up, he was very soon dead, never stirring or crying all the while."

The executions usually took place on market day so they would be seen by the largest number of people possible. Supporters of the condemned heretic would also attend the execution. In some cases people demonstrated against the idea of killing heretics. If caught, these people would be taken away and flogged.

The condemned heretic was tied to a stake surrounded by faggots (bundles of sticks). Friends of the heretic were allowed to hang a small bag of gunpowder around the neck of the condemned man or woman. The idea was that the gunpowder would explode soon after the faggots were lit. When this happened the heretic died fairly quickly. However, sometimes the gunpowder was defective and failed to explode. If the faggots were damp, the fire would burn very slowly and these people suffered in agony for as long as an hour before they died.

When Elizabeth became queen some of her ministers wanted her to execute Catholics who refused to accept Protestant beliefs. Elizabeth refused and was only willing to execute heretics who tried to overthrow her. As a result only four people lost their lives during her reign. Although heretics were rarely executed during the reign of Elizabeth, people were still persecuted for their religious beliefs. Elizabeth wanted her subjects to be moderate Protestants (Anglicans). As well as Catholics, extreme Protestants called Puritans were also punished by Elizabeth.

John Gerard was one of those tortured during Elizabeth's rule: "The torture chamber was underground and dark... every device and instrument of torture was there... They left me hanging by my hands and arms fastened above my head... a gripping pain came over me... All the blood in my body seemed to rush up into my arms and hands and I thought the blood was oozing out from the ends of my fingers and the pores of my skin. But was only a sensation caused by my flesh swelling above the irons holding them... The warder went on and on, begging and imploring me to pity myself and tell the gentleman what they wanted to know."

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(1) John Gerard was a Catholic priest who was tortured in the Tower of London on 14 April 1597.

The torture chamber was underground and dark... every device and instrument of torture was there... They left me hanging by my hands and arms fastened above my head... a gripping pain came over me... All the blood in my body seemed to rush up into my arms and hands and I thought the blood was oozing out from the ends of my fingers and the pores of my skin. But was only a sensation caused by my flesh swelling above the irons holding them... The warder went on and on, begging and imploring me to pity myself and tell the gentleman what they wanted to know... More than once I interrupted him, "Stop this talk, for heaven's sake. Do you think I'm going to throw my soul away to save my life?"

(2) On 21 March 1556, Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury was executed for heresy. An eyewitness in the crowd described his death.

Coming to the stake... he put off his garments with haste, and stood upright in his shirt The fire was lit... he stretched out his right hand, and thrust it into the flame, and held it there before the flame came to any other part of the body... As soon as the fire got up, he was very soon dead, never stirring or crying all the while.

(3) Rowland Lea worked in the Tower of London during Lady Jane Grey's imprisonment. In his diary, Rowland Lea described the execution of Lady Jane Grey on the green within the walls of the Tower of London.

Lady Jane was calm, although. Elizabeth and Ellen wept... The executioner kneeled down and asked for forgiveness, which she gave most willingly... she said: "I pray you dispatch me quickly." She tied a handkerchief over her eyes; then feeling for the block, she said, "What shall I do? Where is it?" One of the bystanders guided her... She laid down her head upon the block, and stretched forth her body.

(4) While she was in the Tower of London, the Protestant, Anne Askew, wrote her own account of being tortured. A copy of this account was then smuggled out to her friends. (29 June, 1546)

Then they did put me on the rack, because I confessed no ladies or gentlemen, to be of my opinion... the Lord Chancellor and Master Rich took pains to rack me with their own hands, till I was nearly dead. I fainted... and then they recovered me again. After that I sat two long hours arguing with the Lord Chancellor, upon the bare floor... With many flattering words, he tried to persuade me to leave my opinion... I said that I would rather die than break my faith.

(5) John Foxe, Book of Martyrs (1563)

The Lord Chancellor sent to Anne Askew letters offering her the king's pardon if she would recant.. she refused... and thus the good Anne Askew ended the course of her long agonies and was burnt at the stake.