Wednesday 27 June 2007

The Oxford Martyrs


The Oxford Martyrs were bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, and archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Cranmer is remembered especially for his work on the Book of Common Prayer, which was first printed in 1549, and then revised in 1552 and again in later years. Each of the churchmen was tried and convicted of heresy at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. They were burned at the stake, the first two in 1555, and Cranmer in 1556. The actual place where the burning occured is commemorated in Broad Street with cobbled stones that form a cross. The Martyr's Memorial, pictured here, is a nearby Victorian monument completed in 1843.