John Foxe's groundbreaking chronicle of Christian saints and martyrs put to death over centuries remains a landmark text of religious history.
The persecution of Christians was for centuries a fact of living in Europe. Adherence to the faith was a great personal risk, with the Roman Empire leading the first of such persecutions against early Christian believers. Many were crucified, put to the sword, or burned alive - gruesome forms of death designed to terrify and discourage others from following the same beliefs.
Appearing in 1563, Foxe's chronicle of Christian suffering proved a great success among Protestants. It gave literate Christians the ability to discover and read about brave believers who died for expressing their religion, much as did Jesus Christ. Perhaps in foretelling, the final chapter of the book focuses upon the earliest Christian missions abroad: these, to the Americas, Asia and other locales, would indeed see many more martyrs put to death by the local populations.
Foxe's Book of Martyrs caused controversy for condemning the Catholic Church for its persecution of Protestant sects it had branded heretical. To a great extent, Foxe's thesis embodies the rebellious outrage that fueled the upheaval of the established order in the 16th century. It galvanized Protestant beliefs and served as a grim reminder of the injustices those divergent from Catholicism had faced in earlier centuries.
Critics would, over the years, attempt to discredit Foxe's work by pointing out perceived inaccuracies or falsehoods - despite their efforts, the Book of Martyrs' influence did not wane. Modern academics however, in reviewing Foxe's sources and performing a close analysis of the Book of Martyrs, concluded that he was a credible scholar whose output was a worthy and valuable contribution to Christian literature. The English historian Patrick Collinson concludes:
“Foxe helped to shape the controversy along historical and prophetic lines, rather than epistemological or linguistic ones."
This edition is a reproduction of Foxe's first, published in 1563. As such it is shorter than later editions, which would see other authors greatly add to the list of martyrs contained. Together with the principle text, the book also contains praise from three distinguished English writers, together with a short, introductory biography of Foxe himself.
