John Badby (1380–1410), one of the early

Lollard Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s, was a tailor (or perhaps a blacksmith) in the west Midlands, and was condemned by the Worcester diocesan court for his denial of

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of th ...

. Badby bluntly maintained that when Christ sat at supper with his disciples he had not his body in his hand to distribute, and that “if every host consecrated at the altar were the Lord’s body, then there be 20,000 Gods in England.” A further court in St Paul's, London, presided over by Archbishop

Thomas Arundel Thomas Arundel (1353 – 19 February 1414) was an English clergyman who served as Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of York during the reign of Richard II, as well as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken o ...

and his brother-in-law William, Baron de Ros, condemned him to be burned at Smithfield, the tournament ground just outside the city walls. It is said that the prince of Wales (afterwards

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

) witnessed the execution and offered the sufferer both life and a pension if he would recant; but in Walsingham's words, “the abandoned villain declined the prince’s advice, and chose rather to be burned than to give reverence to the life-giving sacrament. So it befell that this mischievous fellow was burnt to ashes, and died miserably in his sin.” Narration in

Foxe's Book of Martyrs The ''Actes and Monuments'' (full title: ''Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church''), popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by Protestant Engli ...

:John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, book 5
''" .. And then was the tunne put ouer hym, and fire putte vnto hym. And when he felt the fire, he cryed, mercy (calling belike vpon the Lorde) and so the Prince immediatlye commaunded to take away the tunne, and quenche the fire. The Prince, his commaundement beyng done, asked him if he would forsake heresie to take him to the fayth of holy churche: which thing if he would doo, he shoulde haue goods inough, promising also vnto him a yearelye stipende out of the kinges treasury, so muche as shoulde suffice hys contentation. ''"But this valiant champion of Christ, neglectyng the princes fayre wordes, as also contempnyng all mennes deuises: refused the offer of worldly promises, no doubt, but beyng more vehemently inflamed with the spirite of God then with any earthly desire. ''"Wherfore, when as yet he continued vnmoueable in hys former minde, the prince commaunded him straight to be put againe into the pype or tunne, & that he should not afterward looke for any grace or fauour. But as he could be allured by no rewardes, euen so was he nothing at all abashed at their tormentes, but as a valiant champion of Christ, he perseuered inuincible to the end. .. "''

In popular culture

South Korean novelist Kim Seong-han's historical novel ''Babido'' ("바비도") illustrates the martyrdom of an eponymous tailor, whose name is a mistranscription of Badby's surname.

References

*''Heresy and Politics in the Reign of Henry IV: The Burning of John Badby'' by Peter McNiven
''Foxe's Book of Martyrs'' - John Badby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Badby, John 1380 births 1410 deaths People executed for heresy People executed under the Lancastrians Executed English people Year of birth unknown Executed British people People executed by the Kingdom of England by burning Lollard martyrs 15th-century English people British evangelicals English evangelicals