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History · Crime and punishment in early modern England

Heresy and its Punishment

Why believing the wrong thing could lead to the stake in Tudor England, and how the crime of heresy changed as the official religion changed.

  • c1500-c1700
  • 6 key terms
  • All boards
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Teacher resources

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Student handouts

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Learning Objectives

  1. 1Define heresy and explain why it was seen as such a serious crime.
  2. 2Describe how heretics were tried and punished, including burning at the stake.
  3. 3Explain how and why the treatment of heresy changed between 1500 and 1700.

Setting the Scene

Heresy meant holding religious beliefs that went against the official teaching of the Church. People believed a heretic's soul was damned - and that a heretic could lead others to damnation too. Because the official religion kept changing, the same belief could be heresy under one monarch and the law under the next.

  1. 1530s Henry VIII burns Protestants who deny Catholic beliefs about the Mass.
  2. 1547 Edward VI repeals the old heresy laws.
  3. 1555 Mary I begins burning Protestants; Bishops Latimer and Ridley burned at Oxford.
  4. 1556 Archbishop Thomas Cranmer is burned.
  5. 1563 John Foxe publishes his Book of Martyrs.
  6. 1612 The last burnings for heresy in England.

Why Heresy Was So Serious

To people at the time, heresy was worse than murder: it killed the soul, not just the body.

  • Damnation

    People believed heretics would go to Hell, and that heresy could spread and damn whole communities.

  • Order

    The Church taught obedience; rejecting its teaching seemed to threaten order and the authority of the monarch.

  • Example

    Punishment was public so that others would be frightened away from the heretic's ideas.

  • Chance to recant

    Accused heretics were urged to recant - take back their beliefs - and many who did were spared.

How a Heretic Was Dealt With

Church and state worked together.

  1. 1 Accused

    A suspect was reported to the Church authorities.
  2. 2 Questioned

    Church officials examined their beliefs, often over weeks or months.
  3. 3 Urged to recant

    They were given the chance to take back their beliefs publicly.
  4. 4 Condemned

    If they refused, the Church handed them to the state.
  5. 5 Burned

    The state carried out the sentence: burning at the stake in public.

How Heresy Changed, 1500-1700

Heresy did not disappear - but it was increasingly replaced by treason as the way to punish religious opponents.

  • Henry VIII

    Burned both Protestants who denied Catholic teaching and Catholics who denied his supremacy - the second as traitors.

  • Mary I

    Revived the heresy laws in 1554 and burned around 280 Protestants in under four years.

  • Elizabeth I

    Burned only a handful of heretics; she mainly punished Catholics for treason instead.

  • James I

    The last burnings for heresy in England took place in 1612.

Latimer at the Stake

Burning heretics was meant to stamp out their ideas - but the martyrs' courage, retold by Foxe, helped spread Protestantism instead.

Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.

Hugh Latimer to Nicholas Ridley as they were burned at Oxford, 1555, as reported by John Foxe

Summary & Exam Focus

  • Heresy was seen as a threat to people's souls and to order.
  • Heretics were questioned by the Church and burned by the state.
  • Mary I burned around 280 Protestants; Elizabeth mostly used treason instead.
  • The last heresy burnings in England were in 1612.

Exam focus

Explain why heresy was punished so severely in the period c1500-c1700. (12 marks) (12 marks)

Explain the religious reasons (souls, damnation) and the political reasons (the monarch's authority), then support each with a specific example.

Key terms

The vocabulary this lesson expects you to use. Each one is linked from the first place it appears above.

Heresy
Holding religious beliefs that go against the official teaching of the Church.
Heretic
A person found guilty of heresy.
Recant
To take back your beliefs publicly.
Martyr
Someone who dies for their beliefs.
Burning at the stake
The punishment for heresy: death by fire in public.
Book of Martyrs
John Foxe's 1563 account of Protestants burned under Mary I.

Questions and answers

9 questions set on this lesson, with the mark schemes and model answers open.

1. Exam question Explain one way 4 marks Foundation

Explain one way in which the punishment of heresy under Henry VIII was similar to the punishment of heresy under Mary I.

Mark scheme — 4 marks available

  • A valid similarity identified — 1-2 marks
  • Supported with specific knowledge of both reigns — 3-4 marks

Model answer

In both reigns heretics were punished by burning at the stake in public. Under Henry VIII, Protestants who denied Catholic teaching about the Mass were burned, and under Mary I around 280 Protestants were burned between 1555 and 1558, including Latimer and Ridley at Oxford in 1555. In both reigns the burnings were public so that they would frighten others away from heresy.

2. Exam question Explain why 12 marks Stretch

Explain why heresy was punished so severely in the period c1500-c1700. You may use the following in your answer: the burnings under Mary I; the authority of the monarch. You must also use information of your own.

Mark scheme — 12 marks available

  • Level 1 (1-3) — A simple or general answer
  • Level 2 (4-6) — Some explanation of one or more reasons, with some knowledge
  • Level 3 (7-9) — A developed explanation linked to the question, with accurate knowledge
  • Level 4 (10-12) — An analytical explanation of several reasons, with knowledge that goes beyond the stimulus points

Model answer

One reason was religious belief. People believed heretics would go to Hell and could lead others there too, so heresy was seen as more dangerous than murder. Mary I burned around 280 Protestants between 1555 and 1558 because she believed she was saving England's souls by restoring the Catholic faith and stopping the spread of Protestant ideas. A second reason was the authority of the monarch. After the Act of Supremacy of 1534, the monarch was Head of the Church of England, so rejecting the official religion also meant rejecting the monarch. Heresy was therefore a threat to order as well as to souls, and punishing it severely showed the monarch's power. A third reason, beyond the stimulus, was deterrence. Burnings were carried out in public, such as those of Latimer and Ridley at Oxford in 1555, so that crowds would see the terrible price of heresy and be frightened away from it. Accused heretics were given the chance to recant, which shows that the aim was to stop the belief spreading rather than simply to kill.

3. Exam question How far do you agree? 16 marks Stretch

"The main reason religious opponents were punished in the period c1500-c1700 was to protect the authority of the monarch." How far do you agree? Explain your answer. You may use the following in your answer: Mary I; recusancy. You must also use information of your own. (16 marks, plus 4 for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology)

Mark scheme — 16 marks available

  • Level 1 (1-4) — A simple or generalised answer
  • Level 2 (5-8) — Some analysis, with a judgement that is asserted
  • Level 3 (9-12) — Analysis of both sides with accurate knowledge and a supported judgement
  • Level 4 (13-16) — Sustained analysis, knowledge beyond the stimulus, and a clear, justified judgement
  • SPaG (4) — Accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar, with specialist terms such as heresy and recusancy

Model answer

On the one hand, protecting the monarch's authority was very important. After the Act of Supremacy in 1534, denying the king's headship of the Church was treason, and Thomas More was executed in 1535. Elizabeth I fined recusants and executed around 200 Catholics, mostly priests, for treason, because after 1570 the Pope had told Catholics they need not obey her. These punishments were clearly about loyalty to the monarch. On the other hand, religious belief itself was also a major reason. Mary I burned around 280 Protestants as heretics because she believed they endangered souls and the true Catholic faith, not simply because they threatened her power. The public burnings, like those of Latimer and Ridley in 1555, were meant to stop dangerous ideas spreading, and heretics were given the chance to recant to save their souls. Overall, both reasons mattered, but they were so closely linked that they are hard to separate: because the monarch led the Church, a religious opponent was also a political one. The balance shifted over time - Mary's punishments were mainly religious, while Elizabeth's were mainly about protecting her authority.

4. Multiple choice 1 mark Core

What was the punishment for heresy?

  1. A Hanging
  2. B A heavy fine
  3. C Burning at the stake Correct
  4. D Transportation

Why: Heretics who would not recant were burned at the stake in public.

5. Multiple choice 1 mark Core

What did it mean to "recant"?

  1. A To take back your beliefs publicly Correct
  2. B To flee abroad
  3. C To confess to treason
  4. D To pay a fine instead of punishment

Why: To take back your beliefs publicly - many accused heretics who recanted were spared.

6. Multiple choice 1 mark Core

Who wrote the Book of Martyrs (1563)?

  1. A Thomas More
  2. B John Foxe Correct
  3. C Matthew Hopkins
  4. D Thomas Cranmer

Why: John Foxe, a Protestant, who described the burnings under Mary I.

7. Multiple choice 1 mark Core

Which archbishop was burned as a heretic in 1556?

  1. A Hugh Latimer
  2. B Nicholas Ridley
  3. C Thomas More
  4. D Thomas Cranmer Correct

Why: Thomas Cranmer, Henry VIII's Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned under Mary I.

8. Multiple choice 1 mark Stretch

When were the last burnings for heresy in England?

  1. A 1534
  2. B 1558
  3. C 1612 Correct
  4. D 1605

Why: In 1612, under James I.

9. Multiple choice 1 mark Foundation

Who carried out the burning of a condemned heretic?

  1. A The state Correct
  2. B The Pope
  3. C The accused's own parish
  4. D A jury

Why: The Church tried heretics, but handed them to the state to be burned.