Joan Bocher (died 2 May 1550 in

Smithfield, London Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England. Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Barth ...

) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...

burned at the stake Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...

for

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 religi ...

during the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

in the reign of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

. She has also been known as Joan Boucher or Butcher, or as Joan Knell or Joan of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Life

Bocher's origins are unclear, but it is known that families named Bocher and Knell lived in the area round

Romney Marsh Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until th ...

. She was associated with

s in Kent, some of them immigrants who had fled persecution in the

low countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

(Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). In the 1530s and 1540s she was "much in favour in reforming circles" in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

.Andrew Hope, ''Joan Bocher'' in ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' (2004) Her first conflict with church and state came after she spoke against the sacrament of the altar, but she was released from imprisonment by a commissary of

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

and

Christopher Nevinson Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (13 August 1889 – 7 October 1946) was an English figure and landscape painter, etcher and lithographer, who was one of the most famous war artists of World War I. He is often referred to by his initial ...

. This leniency was held against Nevinson when he was charged in 1543 with involvement in the

Prebendaries' Plot The Prebendaries' Plot was an attempt during the English Reformation by religious conservatives to oust Thomas Cranmer from office as Archbishop of Canterbury. The events took place in 1543 and saw Cranmer formally accused of being a heretic. The ...

. Bocher developed an interest in

ideas, and took up the idea of Christ's

celestial flesh Anabaptist theology, also known as Anabaptist doctrine, is a theological tradition reflecting the doctrine of the Anabaptist Churches. The major branches of Anabaptist Christianity (inclusive of Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Bruderhof, Schwarze ...

, "not incarnate of the Virgin Mary". She was arrested as a heretic in 1548 and convicted in April 1549. Then followed a year's imprisonment during which various well-known religious figures were enlisted to try to persuade her to recant. She was unmoved, and Cranmer was involved in bringing her to the stake on 2 May 1550, though accounts of him forcing

to sanction this—with Edward "driven to pen the mandates", as

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

put itWilliam Wordsworth, ''Edward signing the warrant for the execution of Joan of Kent''
/ref>—may be inaccurate.

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 ...

approached royal chaplain John Rogers to intervene to save Joan, but Rogers refused with the comment that burning was "sufficiently mild" for a crime as grave as heresy. Rogers himself was later 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 ...

Anecdotes

Some well-known stories about Bocher were first recounted by Robert Parsons in 1599: for instance, Joan's friendship with

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 Chey ...

and her involvement in smuggling

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 ...

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

into England, and into the royal court under her skirts. According to Parsons in ''A temperate ward-word'', he had learned these things from someone who had been present at her trial.

References

External links

Boucher, Joan (d. 1550)
at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
J. Newton Brown ''Memorials of Baptist Martyrs'' (1854)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bocher, Joan 1550 deaths People from the City of London People executed for heresy Executed British people People executed under Edward VI of England English Anabaptist martyrs English Anabaptists Executed English women Year of birth unknown 16th-century Protestants 16th-century English women People executed by the Kingdom of England by burning

Life

Anecdotes

See also

References

External links