Joyce Lewis or Jocasta Lewis (died 1557) was an English Protestant martyr.

Life

She was only daughter of Thomas and Anne Curzon of

Croxall Croxall is a hamlet and former civil parish in England that was historically in Derbyshire, but since 1895 has been part of Edingale parish, Staffordshire. The settlement today is mainly the Church of England parish church of St John and Crox ...

in Staffordshire. Her maternal grandfather was Sir John Aston of

Tixall Tixall is a small village and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the English county of Staffordshire lying on the western side of the Trent valley between Rugeley and Stone, Staffordshire and roughly 4 miles east of Stafford. The populat ...

. She first married Sir George Appleby of Appleby in Leicestershire and they had two sons. Her husband died in 1547 at the

Battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Cro ...

. She then married Thomas Lewis of

Mancetter Mancetter is a village and civil parish on the southeastern outskirts of Atherstone in North Warwickshire, at the crossing of Watling Street over the River Anker. The population had reduced from 2,449 to 2,339 at the 2011 census. It is situated ...

on 10 September 1547. She was a Catholic, but she began to question her faith, according to the partisan martyrologist

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 ...

, after the martyrdom of

Lawrence Saunders Lawrence Saunders (1519 – 8 February 1555) was an English Protestant martyr whose story is recorded in ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''. Early life Saunders was the son of Thomas Saunders (d. 1528) of Sibbertoft, Northamptonshire, by Margaret, the dau ...

on 8 February 1555. Her move to being a Protestant was led by the brother of another martyr, Robert Glover, who died the same year. Her previous devotion to Catholicism was replaced by "irreverent behaviour in church" which came to the notice of Ralph Baines, the

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Mi ...

. Lewis spent a year in jail before she was taken, with the comfort of the priest

Augustine Bernher Augustine Bernher ( fl. 1554) was a priest in England. Life Bernher, a clerk and servant of Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, was a Swiss, or, according to Fox, a Belgian. During the reign of Mary he was minister of a congregation in London, and ...

, to be burnt at Lichfield on 18 December 1557.

Legacy

Lewis was said to have been aware of the impact of her own death and she had consulted to maximise the value of her sacrifice. After she died, eleven of her supporters were summoned to account for their actions. Under pressure they all recanted.Henry Summerson, ‘Lewis , Joyce other married name Joyce Appleby, Lady Appleby] (died 1557)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 31 Jan 2015
/ref> A memorial to Joyce Lewis and Robert Glover was placed in Mancetter Church in 1833.

References

;Works cited * ;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Joyce 1557 deaths People from Derbyshire (before 1895) Converts to Protestantism from Roman Catholicism Protestant martyrs of England