Bloody Mary's martyrs - Jasper Ridley

'They then brought a lighted fagot and laid it at Dr Ridley's feet, upon which Mr Latimer said: 'Be of good comfort Master Ridley and play the man, we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out.'
Foxe's Actes and Monuments
These chilling words set the scene for the reign of Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, who was crowned queen in 1553. Always sickly, she died in 1558, but her short reign was entirely devoted to restoring Catholicism to England by whatever means were necessary. Her brutal methods earned her the name she has carried ever since, 'Bloody Mary'. This is the story of her persecution of men such as Ridley and Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, both of whom were burned at the stake, as were some 300 others who refused to renounce their protestantism and accept Papal supremacy once more. Jasper Ridley's new book tells the full story of the events of England's reign of terror.