Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Speciall and Memorable...

John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments, popularly known from its first appearance onwards as the ‘Book of Martyrs’, was the exceedingly influential Protestant martyrology that succeeded the Golden Legend. It focuses mainly on English church history, especially from Wycliffe until the accession of Elizabeth I, but also considers continental history. Actes and Monuments was both the most important narrative source for the English Reformation, and a work that helped to shape its later development, and influenced English religious, social and cultural life considerably. Until 1684 it was reprinted regularly in entirety and with additions. Thereafter it appeared in numerous abridgements which, whilst at best restricting and at worst distorting Foxe’s message, simultaneously disseminated and perpetuated some of the content. Foxe compiled the work from numerous printed and archival sources and from oral testimonies. The first edition appeared in 1563. In successive editions Foxe eliminated some material and, extending sources and the time coverage, added some. The fourth edition, shown here, is the last to have been printed in Foxe’s lifetime. Among its changes it takes account of recent atrocities, such as France’s St Bartholomew’s Day massacre (1572). The edition gains significance as the version used by Victorian editors.