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James Bainham (died 30 April 1532) was an English lawyer and Protestant reformer who was burned as a heretic in 1532.


Life

According to
John Foxe John Foxe (1516/1517 – 18 April 1587), an English historian and martyrologist, was the author of '' Actes and Monuments'' (otherwise ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''), telling of Christian martyrs throughout Western history, but particularly the su ...
he was a son of Sir Alexander Bainham, who was sheriff of
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
in 1497, 1501, and 1516; and a nephew of
William Tracy William Tracy (December 1, 1917 – June 18, 1967) was an American character actor. Early life and career Tracy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is perhaps best known for the role of Pepi Katona, the delivery boy, in ''The Shop ...
. He was a member of the
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...
, and practised as a lawyer. He married the widow of
Simon Fish Simon Fish (died 1531) was a 16th-century Protestant rebel and English propagandist. He is best known for helping to spread William Tyndale's New Testament and for writing the vehemently anti-clerical pamphlet ''Supplication for the Beggars'' (' ...
, author of the ''Supplication of Beggars.'' In 1531 he was allegedly accused of heresy to
Sir Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...
, then
Lord Chancellor of England The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
. John Foxe alleges that More imprisoned and flogged Bainham in his house at
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, and then sent him to the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
to be
racked Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 by ...
, in the hope of making him name names. This, however, is doubted by later historians. On 15 December he was examined before
John Stokesley John Stokesley (8 September 1475 – 8 September 1539) was an English clergyman who was Bishop of London during the reign of Henry VIII. Life Stokesley was born at Collyweston in Northamptonshire, and became a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford ...
, Bishop of London, concerning his belief in
purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
,
confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
,
extreme unction In the Catholic Church, the anointing of the sick, also known as Extreme Unction, is a Catholic sacrament that is administered to a Catholic "who, having reached the age of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age", except in t ...
, and other points. His answers were couched in words of Scripture, but were not satisfactory to the court, who believed that his approval of the works of
William Tyndale William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – ) was an English biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his executi ...
and John Frith (whose books he possessed) was evident. The following day, being threatened with sentence, he partially submitted, pleading ignorance, and was again committed to prison. In the following February he was brought before the bishop's chancellor to be examined as to his fitness for readmission to the church, and after considerable hesitation abjured all his errors, and, having paid a fine and performed penance by standing with a
faggot Faggot, faggots, or faggoting may refer to: Arts and crafts * Faggoting (metalworking), forge welding a bundle of bars of iron and steel * Faggoting (knitting), variation of lace knitting in which every stitch is a yarn over or a decrease * F ...
on his shoulder during the sermon at
Paul's Cross St Paul's Cross (alternative spellings – "Powles Crosse") was a preaching cross and open-air pulpit in the grounds of Old St Paul's Cathedral, City of London. It was the most important public pulpit in Tudor and early Stuart England, and many ...
, was released. Within a month, however, he openly withdrew his recantation during Mass at St. Austin's Church. He was apprehended and brought before the bishop's vicar-general on 19 and 20 April. One of the articles alleged against him was that he asserted
Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...
to be a thief and murderer. He was sentenced as a relapsed heretic and burned at Smithfield on 30 April 1532. In the ''Calendar of State Papers of Henry VIII'' there is a contemporary account of an interview between him and
Hugh Latimer Hugh Latimer ( – 16 October 1555) was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Worcester during the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555 under the Catholic Queen Mary I he was burned at the s ...
, the day before his death. Robert Demaus records that conversation. He writes that Bainham informed Latimer of the articles for which he was dying. "Bainham recapitulated the articles. He had spoken of Thomas-à-Becket, the great patron saint of the South East of England, as a traitor. 'That,' said Latimer emphatically, 'is no cause at all worthy for a man to take his death upon.' 'I spoke also against purgatory,' Bainham proceeded, 'that there was no such thing; but that it picked men's purses; and against satisfactory masses' (i.e., against the doctrine that the mass was an atonement or sacrifice for sins). 'Marry,' said Latimer, ' in these articles your conscience may be so stayed, that you may seem rather to die' .e., it may seem your duty rather to die'in the defence thereof, than to recant both against your conscience, and the Scriptures also. But yet beware of vain-glory; for the devil will be ready now to infect you therewith, when you shall come into the multitude of the people.' After thus cautioning him against the imaginary danger of sacrificing his life simply out of pure vanity, Latimer encouraged him to take his death quietly and patiently. Bainham thanked him heartily, and having doubtless perceived Latimer's own weak point, he added, 'I likewise do exhort you to stand for the defence of the truth; for you that shall be left behind had need of comfort' trength'also, the world being so dangerous as it is'; and so spake many comfortable works to Latimer. After some further converse they departed; and the next day (April 30) Bainham was burned, constant and undaunted to the end."Robert Demaus, ''Hugh Latimer'' (1904), p. 156-157.


In modern fiction

Bainham was a character in the "
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" episode of the ''
Wolf Hall ''Wolf Hall'' is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, ''Wolf Hall'' is a symp ...
'' miniseries made in 2014, and was played by
Jonathan Aris Jonathan Aris is a British actor who has appeared in films, television and the theatre. He has narrated three TV documentaries produced and aired by the National Geographic Channel, and appears as Philip Anderson in the BBC television series ...
.


Notes


References

*


External links


Account from Foxe's ''Acts and Monuments''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bainham, James Year of birth missing 1532 deaths English Protestants People executed for heresy Executed British people People executed under Henry VIII 16th-century Protestant martyrs People executed by the Kingdom of England by burning Members of the Middle Temple Protestant martyrs of England