Actes and Monuments (selections) by John Foxe

PRIMARY SOURCE: Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church (1563-70)
Context

• Publication: Naturally, this is deveolped at length by Evenden & Freeman. EEBO link 1. EEBO link 2.
• Scholarship: Scholarship on Actes and Monuments largely considers Foxe as a Protestant propagandist, his political connections, and the development of a Protestant iconography.
• Why I'm reading it: Illustrations! The Canon, history of religion.

Content

• Form: Illustrated prose.
• Genre: Protestant history. Martyrology.
• Conceit:
• 1. "Dedication to Queen Elizabeth I"
     Foxe compares Elizabeth to Constantine and himself to Eusebius as an analogy to elicit Elizabeth's support for this martyrology.
  2. "The Miraculous Preservation of the Lady Elizabeth"
     Foxe narrates the seizure, transport, trials, and imprisonment of Elizabeth following the Wyatt rebellion. Elizabeth is imprisoned around Palm Sunday, transferred on Trinity Sunday, and sent to Woodstock until the death of Mary. Foxe ventures an interesting side-narrative to exhibit the unloyal nature of a metonymic Catholic merchant.
  3. "From the Life of William Tyndale"
     
     
  4. "The Burning of Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley"
     
     
  5. "The Examination and Execution of Alice Driver and Alexander Gouch"
     
     
  6. "The Hairbreadth escape and Exile of the Duchess of Suffolk"
     
     
  7. "The Deliverance of Catherine Parr from Court Intrigue"
     
     
• Other notes: