“Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man, for we shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God’s grace shall never be put out!”
Martyrdom of Bishop Ridley and Latimer
The three were tried at University Church of St Mary the Virgin, the official church of the University of Oxford on the High Street, Oxford. The men were imprisoned at the former Bocardo Prison near the extant St Michael at the North Gate church (at the north gate of the city walls) in Cornmarket Street. The door of their cell is on display in the tower of the church.[1]
The men were burnt at the stake just outside the city walls to the north, where Broad Street is now located. Latimer and Ridley were burnt on 16 October 1555 for denying the Roman Catholic dogma of Transubstantiation. Cranmer was burnt five months later on 21 March 1556.[2]
A small area paved with granite setts forming a cross in the centre of the road outside the front of Balliol College marks the site.[2][3] The Victorian spire-like Martyrs’ Memorial, at the south end of St Giles’ nearby, commemorates the events.
Martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer
As the flames drew around him, [Thomas Cranmer] fulfilled his promise by placing his right hand into the heart of the fire, calling it “that unworthy hand”. His dying words were, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. I see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”[108]
