![RichardWoodmanandOthers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/RichardWoodmanandOthers.gif)
Richard Woodman (1524? – 22 June 1557) was a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
martyr, who was born in
Buxted
Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundarie ...
and lived in nearby
Warbleton
Warbleton is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. Within its bounds are three other settlements. It is located south-east of Heathfield on the slopes of the Weald.
Etymology
The place-name Warbleton, der ...
in
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...
. He was burnt during the
Marian Persecutions
Protestants were executed in England under heresy laws during the reigns of Henry VIII (1509–1547) and Mary I (1553–1558). Radical Christians also were executed, though in much smaller numbers, during the reigns of Edward VI (1547–155 ...
in 1557 in
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
. The cult of the
Sussex Martyrs is said to have been started using an etching by
James Henry Hurdis
James Henry Hurdis (1800-1857) was an amateur artist and the elder son of James Hurdis, a renowned professor of poetry. He is known for his many portraits of notable Sussex people. The cult of the Sussex Martyrs is said to have been started usin ...
of Woodman burning as a Protestant martyr.
[Christopher Whittick, ‘Hurdis, James Henry (1800–1857)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 200]
accessed 6 Nov 2009
/ref>
Life
Woodman was born around 1524 in Buxted
Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundarie ...
in East Sussex; he became an ironmaster
An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain.
The ironmaster was usually a large ...
,[ and became known whilst running an "iron-making" business that employed one hundred people. During a sermon at St Mary the Virgin Church, Warbleton, Woodman was arrested for having words with the rector which are said to have identified Woodman as a Protestant. Woodman said that the rector was preaching the exact opposite of what he previously said (before ]Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
was Queen). Woodman lived close to the church and his foundry was also adjacent. Woodman was in contravention of a 1553 law which protected preachers from criticism whilst preaching.
Woodman was imprisoned and investigated at intervals by local magistrates and at quarter sessions where he refused to assure them of his intention to conform. He spent periods in prison amounting to six months in total where he was examined by the Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's seat ...
, George Day, and by the commissioners of Cardinal Pole.
Finally he was sent to the Queen's Bench in London although it is not certain if this was legal. There he stayed for another year and a half until Dr. John Story, the persecuting chancellor, sent him to the bishop's "coalhouse". Whilst a prisoner there he was further examined including an investigation by thirty respectable people who set him free on 18 December 1555. His release was unconditional as they could find no heresy and his arrest appeared to be illegal.
It was said that Woodman had submitted to the church but he (perhaps unwisely) corrected this view by undertaking preaching around his parish to correct any misunderstandings over his position.
Woodman fled abroad after a warrant had been issued for his arrest. He returned again, but was turned in by his brother (allegedly because they had a financial dispute). Woodman was again in the bishop's "coalhouse" where he was again examined before being sent to the Marshalsea
The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition, it became known, in ...
prison.
John Christopherson
John Christopherson (died December 1558) was Chaplain and confessor to Queen Mary I of England, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge (1553–1558), Dean of Norwich (1554–1557) and Bishop of Chichester (1557–1558) - all during the reign of ...
who was to be the next Bishop of Chichester conducted a second examination on 27 April 1557, but Woodman could not be tried as Christopherson had not been appointed. John White, the Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...
then examined Woodman in St George's Church in Southwark, but he had no jurisdiction over Woodman. Over the next few weeks, Woodman was examined again by White, Christopherson and William Roper and in combination they managed to get Woodman to admit a heresy and he was excommunicated.
Woodman was taken to Lewes and burnt in front of the Star Inn (now Lewes Town Hall
Lewes Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Lewes, East Sussex, England. The structure, which is the meeting place of Lewes Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.
History
In the medieval period, the site of the town hall ...
), together with nine others on 22 June 1557. The nine were George Stevens, Alexander Hosman, William Mainard, Thomasina Wood, Margery Morris, James Morris, Denis Burges, Ann Ashdon and Mary Groves. This was the largest number of people burnt in England at one time and was intended to serve as a warning to others.
Legacy
Woodman's martyrdom is remembered with the memorial pictured in his local churchyard, and he with others are celebrated in the Bonfire Night
Bonfire Night is a name given to various annual celebrations characterised by bonfires and fireworks. The event celebrates different traditions on different dates, depending on the country. Some of the most popular instances include Guy Fawkes ...
celebrations which are peculiar to Sussex.[England's Christian Heritage]
accessed November 2009.
M. A. Lower published the ''Sussex Martyrs'' in the mid-nineteenth century, a book credited with reviving memories of the martyrs. At the time the martyr deaths had been largely forgotten, and Lower believed that High Churchmen
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
were referring to the Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
and the deaths of these people as "a mistake". Following the publications "anti-popish" demonstrations took place each year around 5 November. In 1868 a figure dressed as the "Bishop of Lewes" warned Protestants of the Roman Catholic threat and the following year an effigy of the pope was to be blown up with gunpowder.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodman, Richard
1520s births
1557 deaths
16th-century Protestant martyrs
People excommunicated by the Catholic Church
People from Buxted
English ironmasters
Executed British people
16th-century English businesspeople
People executed under Mary I of England
Executed people from East Sussex
People executed by the Kingdom of England by burning
Protestant martyrs of England
People from Warbleton