Upon the death of Bloody Mary in 1558, Elizabeth I, a godly woman and a Protestant, ascended the throne of England as her new queen. Elizabeth commissioned the bishops of the church of England to produce an English Bible for the churches and people of England printed on English soil, not in a foreign land like Geneva, Switzerland.

The new Bible was to be based on the Great Bible, known as "Whitchuch's Bible" (the text in actuality being William Tyndale's), and compared to the Hebrew and greek texts.

Nearly sixty years later the King James Bible translators operated under these instructions in their work: "The ordinary Bible read in the churches, commonly called 'The Bishops Bible,' to be followed and as little altered as the truth of the original text will permit. These translations to be used when they agree better with the text than the Bishops Bible - Tyndale, Matthew (Tyndale's text), Coverdale (revision of Tyndale's text), Whitchurch (Great Bible, Tyndale's text), and Geneva (Tyndale's text)."

Although the Bishops Bible is a faithful translation from the true Bible text, the Geneva Bible remained the people's Bible of choice. The Bishops Bible was perceived as a compromise and never became popular. After all, the established Church and the bishops were responsible for putting countless Christians to death. Now those same persecutors were asking the English people to adopt their translation of the Bible as their own.

With the failure of the Bishops Bible to gain general acceptance and reach the homes and hearts of the people of England, Elizabeth wisely authorized the printing of the Geneva Bible on English presses beginning in 1576.

Over the next seventy years dozens of printings of the Geneva Bible were done each year, as for the first time in history Bibles proliferated, freely and legally, among the people of God in England.

Queen Elizabeth I was certainly a breath of fresh air to the Christians in England who had survived the barbarous reign of her predecessor, Bloody Mary. People enjoyed religious free-dom and liberty such as they had never known in their lifetime. The Bible was no longer a forbidden Book; in fact, the people were encouraged to have, to hold, to read, and to know the Word of God.

Elizabeth's peaceful reign did not, however, cause a sweeping revival of religious toleration and freedom of conscience across the rest of Europe. God's children still suffered atrocities at the hands of those whose sole intention was an iron-clad grip on the hearts and souls of the masses, the Catholic Church. Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The only way to ensure a people enslaved--body, soul, and spirit-- was to deny them that which the Lord Jesus Christ promised would make them free, the Word of God.

"I come to let your proud antichrist understand, that he doth offend the heavenly Majesty, rob God of His honor, and poison the whole world with his abominable blasphemies, making them do homage to stocks and stones, and that filthy sacrament, which is nothing else but a foolish idol."

one day going in the street, he met a priest carrying the sacrament, which offending his conscience, to see people bow down to it, he attempted to throw it down.

were hearing mass. Using no reverence, he stepped up to the altar and threw down the chalice with the wine, striving likewise to have pulled the cake out of the priest's hands, for which many rose up and beat him with their fists.

He was tried and conddemned to be burnt, which sentence he said he was right willing to suffer. He was set upon an ass, naked from the waist up. All the way as he went, there were four men who did nothing but thrust at his body with burning torches, whereat he never moved, but with a cheerful countenance often bent his body to meet the torches.

When he was come to the place of execution, they burned his legs first. He dismayed not any whit, but suffered cheerfully.

Seeing they couldn not prevail upon him to recant, the priests said, "Let us to and leave him to the devil, whom he serves." Thus ended this faithful soldier and martyr of Christ, who is, no doubt, in glory with his Master.

Robert O'Guier, his wife and two sons were arrested in their home, which also served as a little church. They were brought before the magistrate who read the charges against them.

"It is told us that you never come to mass, and also you dissuade others from coming thereto; we are further informed that you maintain conventicles in your house, causing erroneous doctrines to be preached there, contrary to the ordinances of our holy mother the Church."

"I refuse to go to mass indeed, because the death and precious blood of the Son of God, and His sacrifice is utterly abolished there, and trodden under foot. I cannot nor will deny, that but there have met together in my house honest people fearing God, for the advancement of God's glory, and for the good of many."

Father and son were sentenced to be burnt alive to ashes. One of the judges said, "Today you shall go to dwell with all the devils...

They were returned to the prison from whence they came, being joyful that the Lord did them that honor to be enrolled in the number of His martyrs.

A band of friars came thither, and one exhorted O'Guier to recant. He said, "I willingly abandon this body of mine to the fire, hoping today to be with Christ in paradise."

The friar said, "Out, dog. Thou art not worthy the name Christian. Thou and thy son with thee are both resolved to damn your bodies and souls with all the devils in the bottom of hell."

As they were led to the execution, Baudicon, the elder son, began to sing the Sixteenth Psalm. The friar cried out, "Do you not hear, what wicked errors these heretics sing, to beguile the people with?"

Baudicon replied, "Now, simple idiot, callest thou the Psalms of the prophet David errors? But no wonder. For thus you are wont to blaspheme against the Spirit of God."

Robert O'Guier prayed as he was fastened to the stake, "O God, Father everlasting, accept the sacrifice of our bodies, for Thy well beloved Son Jesus Christ's sake."

O'Guier lifted his eyes toward heaven and said, "I see the heavens opened, and millions of angels ready to receive us."

Fire was forthwith put to the straw and wood, while they, not shrinking from the pains, spake to one another. "Faint not. Be not afraid. Yet a very little while, and we shall enter into the heavenly mansions." The last words they were heard to pronounce were, "Jesus Christ, Thou Son of God, into Thy hands we commend our spirits."

And thus these two slept sweetly in the Lord. Eight days later, Jane the mother, and Martin her son, were executed in the same city.

John Burgeolus, an old man, was suspected of being a Protestant. He was taken and beaten cruelly with clubs and staves, and being stripped of his clothes, was brought to the bank of the river, and was hanged by his feet upward, and head downward in the water up to his breast. Then, while he ws yet alive, they opened his belly, plucked out his guts, and threw them into the river, and taking his heart, put it upon a spear, carrying it with contempt about the city.

In the town of Barre, taken by the papists, all kind of cruelty was there used. children were cut up, and the guts of some of them and hearts pulled out, which in rage they gnawed with their teeth. In the city of Matiscon great cruelty was shown, so that they counted it sport to cut off men's legs and arms.

One papist, inviting gentlewomen to supper, would walk with them, and having his soldiers about him used to cast some of his prisoners from the bridge into the river, and with that spectacle did satisfy the eyes of his guests; of whom he would often ask, whether they did ever see men leap better.

A certain woman was shamefully defiled in the sight of her husband. Then being commanded to draw a sword, was forced by others to give her husband a deadly would, whereof he died.

Bordis, a captain under the prince of Conde, ws cruelly killed, and his naked body cast into the street, that, being unburied, the dogs might eat it.

At a town called Vassy in France, in the year of our Lord 1562, was committed what is known to this day as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. A duke of Guise, hearing mass very early Sunday morning, left with about two hundred men armed with pistols and cutlasses. About a quarter of a mile from Vassy, he heard a bell. He ws told, "It is for the assembling of the Huguenots to call them to the sermon."

Mr Leonard Morel, the minister, stood before a congregation of about twelve hundred people. The ruffians rushed the church house and cried, "Death of God. Kill these Huguenots." They...

violently entered in among the people, striking them down with swords, daggers and cutlasses. Some shot their pistols against them that were in the galleries. Others cut in pieces such as they lighted upon. Some had their heads cleft in twain, their arms and hands cut off. The walls and galleries of the said place were dyed with the blood of those who were everywhere murdered.

During this slaughter, the cardinal of Guise leaned upon the walls of the church yard, looking toward the place where his followers were busied in killing and slaying whom they could.

The duke went into a barn, where there was found a Great Bible, which they used for the service of God. The duke called his brother the cardinal and said, "Lo, here the title of the Huguenot books."

"What?! The holy Scripture?! It is one thousand five hundred years ago since Jesus Christ suffered His death and passion, and it is but a year since these boooks were imprinted. How then say you that this is the gospel? By the death of God, you say you know not what."

At Rome solemn masses were sung, and thanks rendered unto God for the good success which the Roman Catholics had obtained in massacring the Huguenots. The cardinal of Lorrian gave a thousand crowns to the person that brought him this welcome news.

It was credibly reported, that the number of slain in the city of Paris and in the suburbs, during a two day massacre in 1572, was above ten thousand, counting lords, gentlemen, presidents, counsellors, advocates, lawyers, scholars, physicians, merchants, tradesmen, women, maids and children.

The streets were covered with dead bodies. The river was dyed with blood; the gates and entrance into the king's palace with the same color.

The papists weent from house to house, and where they thought to find any Huguenots, they broke open the doors, then cruelly murdered whosoever they met, sparing neither sex nor age.

Carts were laden with the dead bodies of yong maidens, women, men and children, which were discharged into the river, which was covered withthe slain, and dyed with their blood, which also streamed down the streets from sundry parts thereof.

It is no secret that I have borrowed extensively from Fox's Book of Martyrs for the accounts of the saints of God who were faithful unto death, and today wear a crown of life. Many of the accounts were rendered word-for-word from John Fox's monumental work. The reason for this is elementary. John Fox, born in 1517, lived through these times of terrible persecution against the Christians, and was eyewitness to many of the atrocities recorded in this book. Fox himself was hunted for his life during the hellish reign of Bloody Mary.

He had pastored a church in Salisbury, England, and is credited with being the first man to preach the true gospel at Ryegate, which brought down the wrath of Archbishhop Gardiner upon him. Gardiner also was a murderer and persecutor of the Christians.

The concerted efforts of the Roman Catholic church to discredit him and his work ensured that his accounts of the martyrs for Jesus would be accurate and historically proveable.

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