A poor man's medicine
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions
Tudor religion: Martyrs
Tudors - religion, intolerance and martyrs in the reign of Queen Mary
The reign of Queen Mary - first daughter of Henry VIII.
As the story begins, Christopher Gray is being locked in prison. He then explains to a fellow prisoner how he comes to be in such a place...
Christopher tells how he set out from Kent bound for Oxford. He is arrested when it is discovered he is carrying bibles printed in English. The law under Queen Mary states that bibles may only be in Latin.
Once in prison Christopher is interviewed by the Bishop of Oxford. If he will give up his views he will be forgiven; but if he continues to denounce Catholicism he will be burned.
Christopher is resolute and so the following day he is forced to witness the martyrdom of Bishops Ridley and Latimer in the centre of Oxford. Christopher is horrified, but as the story ends he is adamant that he would rather die a martyr than renounce his faith.
Tudor religion - supporting resources:
More like this
Programmes to download
Podcasts
Contact us
Order CD
Teacher's notes
BBC iD
BBC iDbbc.co.uk navigation
BBC links
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.