Stephen Knight, Martyr, 1555 - Maldon Ironworks Company Limited building, Fullbridge, Maldon. CM9 4LE
Posted by: 
greysman
N 51° 44.174 E 000° 40.817
31U E 339825 N 5734248
A simple plaque commemorating the burning at the stake of a Protestant Martyr in 1555.
Waymark Code: WMKHW1
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/18/2014
Views: 4
As a result of the splitting of Roman Catholicism from the rule of the land and the Reformation under King Henry VIII many Protestants were executed for their faith. This was especially rife when Catholic Queen Mary came to the throne in 1533 following the early death of King Edward VI, England's first Protestant ruler, and the deposition of Lady Jane Grey. At least 287 martyrs were executed during Mary's reign when she reformed the links with Rome.
One of them was a barber from Maldon, Steven Knight, who was tried by Edmund Boner, Bishop of London, on the ninth day of February, 1555, along with Thomas Tomkins, William Hunter, Thomas Higbed, Thomas Causton, William Hunter, John Laurence and William Pigot. They were all burnt at the stake in their own towns between the 26th and 29th of March in 1555. The examinations of these men is too complicated to relate here, but boil down to different interpretations of the same scriptures all Christians believe in. They were written down by John Foxe and published in 'The Acts and Monuments'. Steven Knight's examination is at page 737.
The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe are at at:- John Foxe's Acts, Page 737