Smithfield was one of the most important locations for

public executions In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

in the medieval and modern

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. The following people were among those executed there.

Traitors

People charged with and convicted of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

(or high treason): *

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...

(23 August 1305) * Wat Tyler (1381) * Sir John Bulmer (1537) * Ann Bigod (1537) * Edward Arden (1583), beheaded; his head put on

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It re ...

and his body quartered and placed on the city's gatesChalmers' General Biographical Dictionary

Heretics

People charged with and convicted of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

: *

William Sawtrey William Sawtrey, also known as William Salter (died March 1401) was an English Roman Catholic priest and Lollard martyr. He was executed for heresy. Sawtrey was born in Norfolk, England. He was a follower of John Wycliffe, the leader of an ea ...

(1401) *

John Badby John Badby (1380–1410), one of the early Lollard martyrs, was a tailor (or perhaps a blacksmith) in the west Midlands, and was condemned by the Worcester diocesan court for his denial of transubstantiation. Badby bluntly maintained that when ...

(1410) * Thomas Bagley (1431) *

Richard Bayfield Richard Bayfield (died 27 November 1531) was an English Protestant martyr. A graduate of the University of Cambridge, he became a Benedictine monk and Chamberlain of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. At some time in 1522, an Augustinian rector at Cam ...

(1531) * John Tewkesbury (1531) * James Bainham (1532) * John Frith (1533) * Andrew Hewet (1533) *

John Lambert John Lambert may refer to: * John Lambert (martyr) (died 1538), English Protestant martyred during the reign of Henry VIII *John Lambert (general) (1619–1684), Parliamentary general in the English Civil War * John Lambert of Creg Clare (''fl.'' c ...

(1538) *

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister ...

(1538) * Two Dutch Anabaptists, a man and a woman (1538) * William Collins (1540) * Robert Barnes (1540) *

Thomas Gerrard Thomas Gerard (1500?–1540) (Gerrard, also Garret or Garrard) was an English Protestant reformer. In 1540, he was burnt to death for heresy, along with William Jerome and Robert Barnes. Life He matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, ...

(1540) * William Jerome (1540) *

Richard Fetherston Richard Fetherston (Fetherstone, Featherstone) (died 30 July 1540) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He was Archdeacon of Brecon"Pedro de Ribadeneyra’s 'Ecclesiastical History of the Schism of the Kingdom" p303: Leiden, Brill, 1683 and Cha ...

(1540) * Edward Powell (1540) * Thomas Abel (1540) *

Anne Askew Anne Askew (sometimes spelled Ayscough or Ascue) married name Anne Kyme, (152116 July 1546) was an English writer, poet, and Anabaptist preacher who was condemned as a heretic during the reign of Henry VIII of England. She and Margaret Cheyne ...

(1546) * Nicholas Belenian (1546) *

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

(1546) *

John Lascelles John Lassells (also Lascelles; died 1546) was an English sixteenth-century courtier and Protestant martyr. His report to Archbishop Thomas Cranmer initiated the investigation which led to the execution of Queen Catherine Howard. Life Lassells w ...

(1546) *

Joan Bocher Joan Bocher (died 2 May 1550 in Smithfield, London) was an English Anabaptist burned at the stake for heresy during the English Reformation in the reign of Edward VI. She has also been known as Joan Boucher or Butcher, or as Joan Knell or Jo ...

(1550) * John Rogers (1555) *

Thomas Tomkins Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 9 June 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English Madrigal School, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort m ...

(1555) * John Cardmaker (1555) *

John Warne John Warne is an American musician who has been active since 1996. He is best known for being the bassist for the Christian rock band Relient K as well as being a founding member of the Christian punk band Ace Troubleshooter. His hometown is Min ...

(1555) *

John Bradford John Bradford (1510–1555) was an English Reformer, prebendary of St. Paul's, and martyr. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for alleged crimes against Queen Mary I. He was burned at the stake on 1 July 1555. Life Bradford was born ...

(1555) * John Leaf (1555) *

John Philpot John Philpot (1516–16 January 1557) was an Archdeacon of Winchester and an English Protestant martyr whose story is recorded in ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''. He was the third son of Sir Peter Philpot and was born at Compton, Hampshire, in 1516 ...

(1555) * Thomas Whittle (1556) * Bartholomew Green (1556) * Thomas Brown (1556) * John Tudson (1556) *

John Went '' This article is about the bishop. For the Protestant martyr, see John Went (martyr).'' John Stewart Went (born 11 March 1944) was the Anglican Bishop of Tewkesbury, the suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Gloucester, from 25 January 1996 unt ...

(1556) * Isobella Forster (1556) * Joan Lushford (1556) * William Tyms, burnt 24 April (1556) * Robert Drake, burnt 24 April (1556) * Richard Spurge, burnt 24 April (1556) * Thomas Spurge, burnt 24 April (1556) * George Ambrose, burnt 24 April (1556) * John Cavel, burnt 24 April (1556) *

John Rough John Rough (died 22 December 1557) was a Protestant martyr and leader of the London underground church. He was born in Scotland and died in England. Early life Rough is said to have been born in 1510, but as he was incorporated in St. Leonard's C ...

(1557) * Robert Southain (1558) * Roger Holland (1558) *

Nicholas Horner Nicholas Horner (died 3 March 1590) was an English Roman Catholic layman, hanged, drawn and quartered because he had "relieved and assisted" Christopher Bales, a seminary priest. A tailor by trade, he was charged with making a jerkin for a pr ...

(1590) * Bartholomew Legate (1612)

References

{{reflist Smithfield People executed by the Kingdom of England Smithfield, London