Thomas Bilney
Thomas Bilney | |
---|---|
Martyrdom | |
Alma mater | Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
Occupation | Clergyman |
Thomas Bilney (c. 1495 – 19 August 1531) was an English Christian martyr.
Early life
Thomas Bilney was born around 1495 in Norfolk, most likely in Norwich. Nothing is known of his parents except that they outlived him. He entered Trinity Hall, Cambridge at a young age, around the year 1510. During his life he was nicknamed Little Bilney because of his short stature.[1]
Education
At Cambridge, he studied law, graduating LL.B. and taking
During his reading in the Epistles, he was struck by the words of
The Scriptures now became his chief study, and his influence led other young Cambridge men to think along the same lines. Among his friends were Matthew Parker, the future Archbishop of Canterbury, and Hugh Latimer. Latimer, previously a strenuous conservative, was completely won over, and a warm friendship sprang up between him and Bilney. "By his confession", said Latimer, "I learned more than in twenty years before".[3]
Preaching and imprisonment
In 1525 Bilney obtained a licence to preach throughout the diocese of Ely. He denounced saint and relic veneration, together with pilgrimages to Walsingham and Canterbury, and refused to accept the mediation of the saints. [4] The diocesan authorities raised no objection, considering his diverging views to be of minor relevance to the essentials of the Christian faith, and he was orthodox on the authority of the Pope and Church, and on transubstantiation.[3]
Release, re-arrest and execution
After being kept for more than a year in the Tower, he was released in 1529, and went back to Cambridge. Here he was overcome with remorse for his
The sentence was carried out at Lollards Pit, Norwich on 19 August 1531.[4] After witnessing Bilney's death, Bishop Nix is reported to have said, "I fear I have burned Abel and let Cain go".[8]
A parliamentary inquiry was threatened into this case, not because
References
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2400. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Bilney, Thomas (BLNY520T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ a b c Pollard 1911, p. 945.
- ^ a b Gstohl, Mark. "Thomas Bilney", Theological Perspectives of the Reformation Archived 7 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Pollard 1911, pp. 945–946.
- ^ a b Pollard 1911, p. 946.
- ISBN 978-1-340-24333-3.
- ^ "Norfolk Guide". England's Christian Heritage
Bibliography
- public domain: Pollard, Albert Frederick (1911). "Bilney, Thomas". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 945–946. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ISBN 0-85151-910-5.
- Fisher, Stuart (February 1998). "Thomas Bilney – the forgotten Reformer".
- Jean-Henri Merle d'Aubigné. "The Death of Thomas Bilney". Archived from the original on 30 June 2006.
- "Thomas Bilney and the Reformation". – contains longer extracts from Merle d'Aubigné
External links
- Media related to Thomas Bilney at Wikimedia Commons