Anne Askew

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Anne Askew (* 1521 in Stallingborough, Lincolnshire ; † July 16, 1546 in Smithfield , London ) was known in England at the time of King Henry VIII as a Protestant martyr .

background

After Henry VIII broke with Rome, the Pope was rejected as supreme ecclesiastical authority, but other Catholic customs were retained, which is why both heretics and papists were persecuted in England , because both deviated from the teachings of the newly founded Anglican Church .

Life

Anne Askew came from a noble family. At the age of 15 she was forced to marry the Catholic nobleman Thomas Kyme. Her older sister was originally supposed to be Kyme's wife, but since she died, Anne had to take her place.

Anne refused to take the name Kyme even after marrying and having two children, and continued to call herself Askew. She also tried to obtain a divorce from her husband on the grounds that he was not a believer. Her husband, who rejected Protestant teachings, threw his wife out of the house.

Act

After separating from Kyme, Anne Askew went to London, where she continued to advocate Protestantism. She read the Bible in English, distributed banned books, and socialized with influential people; among other things she is said to have been in connection with Catherine Parr , Henry VIII's last wife.

After all, she had to answer for her activities - including before Edmund Bonner , who under Queen Maria I acquired the reputation of a fanatical Protestant hunter. In Anne Askew's case, however, he was lenient. Jasper Ridley states in his biography of Henry VIII: “ He (Bonner) was impressed with her (Anne Askews) intelligence and good manners and made it easy for her to withdraw. "

However, Anne continued her heretical activities and was arrested again. During the interrogations she said u. a. that she would rather read five verses in the Bible, from which she would find improvement and edification, than hear five masses in church. "If anyone trusts Mass more as a meritorious work than in the blood of Christ, which has been shed for us, that would be idolatry and a terrible blasphemy." She also said that it would be enough if she could not confess to God alone confess their sin. She would not doubt in the least that he would listen to her and forgive her of her sins, because she has a penitent heart. In the Tower , she was tortured by Commandant Thomas Kingston to such an extent that she could neither walk nor stand afterwards. She stuck to what she said, and Kingston was so impressed with her bravery that he refused to torture her again. So Lord Chancellor Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton , had to torture Anne Askew himself. Kingston confessed his disobedience to the king, who forgave him.

The works written in prison by Anne Askew - reports on the trial and interrogations, religious poems, a ballad, an adaptation of Psalm 54 - were published in 1546/47 by John Bale (1495–1563). Since 1590/96 she was on the index Librorum Prohibitorum in the 1st class of heretical writers (as "Anna" or "Andreas à Skeuue" and the like).

execution

Anne Askew was burned at the stake as a heretic in July 1546 , and since she was still unable to walk or stand, she was tied to a chair at the stake. To shorten her suffering, a leather pouch with explosive powder was hung around her.

Remembrance day

July 16 in the Evangelical Name Calendar .

Works

  • John Bale (Ed.): The First Examinacyon of the worthye servaunt of god Mastres Anne Askewe , latelye martyred in Smythfelde, by the Romysh popes vpholders, with the Elucydacyon of Johan Bale, fictitious printing place Marburg [actually: Derick van der Straten, Wesel ] 1546
  • John Bale (Ed.): The lattre examinacyon of the worthye servaunt of God mastres Anne Askewe , lately martyred in Smythfelde, by the wycked Synagoge of Antichrist, with the Elucydacyon of Johan Bale, fictitious printing place Marburg [actually: Derick van der Straten, Wesel] 1547

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Anne Askew in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
  2. ↑ See Christoph Reske: Book printers of the 16th and 17th centuries in the German-speaking area , Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 602.
personal data
SURNAME Askew, Anne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Askeve, Anna; Ayscough, Anne; Askue, Anne; Skeve, Anna a; Alkeuve, Anna (wrong name); Skeuue, Andreas à (wrong name); Skevve, Andreas a (wrong name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant martyr
DATE OF BIRTH 1521
PLACE OF BIRTH Stallingborough, Lincolnshire
DATE OF DEATH July 16, 1546
Place of death Smithfield , London