What do you think?
Rate this book
Bloody Mary's Martyrs
This is the chronicle of a monarch’s religious intolerance, a nation’s fear, and the unimaginable courage of the Protestants who died for their faith—more than three hundred victims in less than three years. Award-winning historical biographer Jasper Ridley explores the dark years of Mary Tudor's reign using an absorbing narrative and meticulously researched history to relate a tragic, brutal, and often inspiring tale. Eight pages of black-and-white photographs are included. “Ridley tells the story of England’s Terror with verve.”—Sunday Times (London)
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 26, 2001
7 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Jasper Ridley
29 books20 followersJasper Ridley was a British writer, known for historical biographies. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and the Sorbonne. He trained and practiced as a barrister, before starting to write. During World War II, he was a conscientious objector and was, by his own account, violently abused while in a detention camp. He served on St Pancras Borough Council from 1945 to 1949, and stood, unsuccessfully, as Labour Party candidate for Winchester in 1955 general election.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 12, 2025
“A good Christian must forgive his enemies, but he must not forgive God’s enemies.”
Jasper Ridley's BLOODY MARY’S MARTYRS: THE STORY OF ENGLAND’S TERROR was an interesting read, largely because of the subject matter, which I personally find compelling. However, I’m not sure most readers would enjoy it without a previous interest, and some knowledge, of the subject matter.
First, there is hardly a transition to be found throughout the book. If readers are not already somewhat familiar with the historical details Ridley covers, the constant shifts in topic can be quite jarring. Ridley frequently jumps from subject to subject without offering any connective tissue between ideas, making parts of the narrative feel abrupt and disjointed.
A significant portion of the book follows a repetitive pattern: "This person was burned at such-and-such a time in such-and-such a place," and then onto the next person, and the next. This listing style grows tedious and really needs stronger narrative work.
There are some nice strengths to the book, however.
Where the book shines is in its exploration of the broader cultural context of Mary’s reign. Chapters 13 (The Revolutionaries, focusing on John Knox) and 14 (The Secret Congregations) are particularly engaging. When Ridley steps back to show the wider movements and consequences of Mary’s reign, the book becomes far more interesting.
A fun historical tidbit Ridley shares that I did not know...Mary almost fled England during the later years of her brother Edward VI's reign. Had she done so, she might have remained a mere footnote in history. Instead, she stayed and is now, of course, known to all as "Bloody Mary."
In one of the final chapters in this text, Ridley provides a fascinating examination of the lasting impact of John Foxe's “Book of Martyrs”. He emphasizes just how profoundly Foxe’s work influenced England and Protestant nations and denominations for centuries after it was written.
Unfortunately, BLOODY MARY’S MARTYRS ends on a very weak note. The final paragraph awkwardly tries to draw a modern-day relevance from the events of the mid-1500s, but it feels forced and falls completely flat. It’s a poor conclusion to an otherwise intriguing, if uneven, work.
Jasper Ridley's BLOODY MARY’S MARTYRS: THE STORY OF ENGLAND’S TERROR was an interesting read, largely because of the subject matter, which I personally find compelling. However, I’m not sure most readers would enjoy it without a previous interest, and some knowledge, of the subject matter.
First, there is hardly a transition to be found throughout the book. If readers are not already somewhat familiar with the historical details Ridley covers, the constant shifts in topic can be quite jarring. Ridley frequently jumps from subject to subject without offering any connective tissue between ideas, making parts of the narrative feel abrupt and disjointed.
A significant portion of the book follows a repetitive pattern: "This person was burned at such-and-such a time in such-and-such a place," and then onto the next person, and the next. This listing style grows tedious and really needs stronger narrative work.
There are some nice strengths to the book, however.
Where the book shines is in its exploration of the broader cultural context of Mary’s reign. Chapters 13 (The Revolutionaries, focusing on John Knox) and 14 (The Secret Congregations) are particularly engaging. When Ridley steps back to show the wider movements and consequences of Mary’s reign, the book becomes far more interesting.
A fun historical tidbit Ridley shares that I did not know...Mary almost fled England during the later years of her brother Edward VI's reign. Had she done so, she might have remained a mere footnote in history. Instead, she stayed and is now, of course, known to all as "Bloody Mary."
In one of the final chapters in this text, Ridley provides a fascinating examination of the lasting impact of John Foxe's “Book of Martyrs”. He emphasizes just how profoundly Foxe’s work influenced England and Protestant nations and denominations for centuries after it was written.
Unfortunately, BLOODY MARY’S MARTYRS ends on a very weak note. The final paragraph awkwardly tries to draw a modern-day relevance from the events of the mid-1500s, but it feels forced and falls completely flat. It’s a poor conclusion to an otherwise intriguing, if uneven, work.
November 10, 2017
The information was good. The author's style of writing leaves much to be desired. It was kind of like eating a good tasting fish that is full of bones.
April 2, 2020
Bloody Mary’s Martyrs
In Rochester town centre there is a memorial tablet high up on a wall of the local Methodist church. It commemorates 4 Protestant Martyrs who were burned alive in the 16th century.
I read this book as I wanted to know more about why they were burned and also find out more about that period in English history. Why was Mary Tudor known as ‘Bloody Mary’? It told of a short but tyrannical reign that was determined to quell the new Protestant faith set in motion by Mary’s father, Henry VIII, after his break with Rome. Mary wanted England to become a Catholic country again and so nearly 300 Protestant supporters suffered a horrible and gruesome death in being chained to a stake and burned alive in public.
As the author says, on page 1, ‘during Mary’s reign… for forty-five terrible months between 4 February 1555 and 10 November 1558, 283 Protestant martyrs, 227men and 56 women, were burned alive.’
This has had repercussions down the centuries as it’s made it impossible for a King or Queen of England to be a Roman Catholic or to marry one and Mary is, as the author asserts, ‘indirectly responsible for the hatred of ‘Papists’ felt by Protestants in Northern Ireland today. It was chiefly because the English and Irish Protestants remember their martyrs that 130 years later, in 1688, they refused to accept a Roman Catholic king and grant religious toleration to Roman Catholics. This led to the siege of Londonderry, the Battle of the Boyne, and the events of 1690 which are remembered with such disastrous results in Northern Ireland today.’
There had been Acts of Parliament passed in the 14th and 15th centuries that gave a statutory authority for burning heretics. This was a time of religious persecution with the Roman Catholic church determined to keep its authority. But with William Tyndale’s translation of the Bible into English in 1526 this undermined the Church’s hold on the population. The book has a chapter on Henry VIII’s break with Rome and his creation of the Church of England after his divorce from Katherine of Aragon. Edward VI was his successor and took the throne aged 9 and died at 14 from consumption after strengthening the Church of England. There had been an attempt to put Lady Jane Grey in as Queen but this was quelled and Mary finally succeeded her father. She came in on a wave of popularity from the populace. But forty five months later it would all be different. Mary was determined to make England a Catholic country again. She was also resigned to marry Prince Philip of Spain, 11 years her junior, to support an alliance between Spain and England as well as producing an heir to carry on the good work.
Mary soon set about creating the conditions in which to burn heretics or Protestants. The author is good at describing the ordinary people who ended up in the flames; tailors, millers, spinners, housewives, the blind and crippled, pregnant women and also the young and the old. A handful recanted but the majority were determined to die for their faith. This was one of the most interesting aspects of the book. There are also engravings depicting the burnings throughout the book and on the back cover.
On 30 April 1555 it was announced that Mary was pregnant but there’s no further explanation as to what happened. Was it a phantom pregnancy? The author also asserts that Mary was disgusted at having to have sex with a man – what source does he credit with this information? Also did Mary suffer from mental instability with the pressure to produce an heir and the country turning against her because of the public burnings?
The machinations at Mary’s court were also revealing as the future Queen Elizabeth 1 played a skilful game in order to survive. The book also explained the significance of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. This recorded all of the people who had been burned during Mary’s reign. In fact Mary had burned more heretics than had been burned during the previous 150 years.
The author doesn’t shy away from describing the horrific and gory details of 16th century punishments such as being hung, drawn and quartered. The descriptions of the burnings is detached but equally as gruesome and shocking. I had always thought that the victims would succumb to the smoke before the flames reached them but this was not the case. Some of the luckier ones could persuade their friends or bribe others to allow them to have a small sack of gunpowder around their necks so that when the flames reached it then it would explode and end their suffering. But most couldn’t. The image on the back cover from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs amply demonstrates a burning.
Mary died on 17 November 1558 aged 42. The loss of Calais affected her and her reign almost as much as the burning of heretics. Even prior to her death the tide of popularity had turned against her. People had had enough of the burnings.
This book filled in a gap in English history for me and enabled me to understand why there is still an anti-Catholic feeling both in England and Northern Ireland. I thought that the author did a good job in bringing the ordinary people, as well as the more infamous, all Mary’s victims, to life and revealing the reasons why she was known as ‘Bloody Mary’.
In Rochester town centre there is a memorial tablet high up on a wall of the local Methodist church. It commemorates 4 Protestant Martyrs who were burned alive in the 16th century.
I read this book as I wanted to know more about why they were burned and also find out more about that period in English history. Why was Mary Tudor known as ‘Bloody Mary’? It told of a short but tyrannical reign that was determined to quell the new Protestant faith set in motion by Mary’s father, Henry VIII, after his break with Rome. Mary wanted England to become a Catholic country again and so nearly 300 Protestant supporters suffered a horrible and gruesome death in being chained to a stake and burned alive in public.
As the author says, on page 1, ‘during Mary’s reign… for forty-five terrible months between 4 February 1555 and 10 November 1558, 283 Protestant martyrs, 227men and 56 women, were burned alive.’
This has had repercussions down the centuries as it’s made it impossible for a King or Queen of England to be a Roman Catholic or to marry one and Mary is, as the author asserts, ‘indirectly responsible for the hatred of ‘Papists’ felt by Protestants in Northern Ireland today. It was chiefly because the English and Irish Protestants remember their martyrs that 130 years later, in 1688, they refused to accept a Roman Catholic king and grant religious toleration to Roman Catholics. This led to the siege of Londonderry, the Battle of the Boyne, and the events of 1690 which are remembered with such disastrous results in Northern Ireland today.’
There had been Acts of Parliament passed in the 14th and 15th centuries that gave a statutory authority for burning heretics. This was a time of religious persecution with the Roman Catholic church determined to keep its authority. But with William Tyndale’s translation of the Bible into English in 1526 this undermined the Church’s hold on the population. The book has a chapter on Henry VIII’s break with Rome and his creation of the Church of England after his divorce from Katherine of Aragon. Edward VI was his successor and took the throne aged 9 and died at 14 from consumption after strengthening the Church of England. There had been an attempt to put Lady Jane Grey in as Queen but this was quelled and Mary finally succeeded her father. She came in on a wave of popularity from the populace. But forty five months later it would all be different. Mary was determined to make England a Catholic country again. She was also resigned to marry Prince Philip of Spain, 11 years her junior, to support an alliance between Spain and England as well as producing an heir to carry on the good work.
Mary soon set about creating the conditions in which to burn heretics or Protestants. The author is good at describing the ordinary people who ended up in the flames; tailors, millers, spinners, housewives, the blind and crippled, pregnant women and also the young and the old. A handful recanted but the majority were determined to die for their faith. This was one of the most interesting aspects of the book. There are also engravings depicting the burnings throughout the book and on the back cover.
On 30 April 1555 it was announced that Mary was pregnant but there’s no further explanation as to what happened. Was it a phantom pregnancy? The author also asserts that Mary was disgusted at having to have sex with a man – what source does he credit with this information? Also did Mary suffer from mental instability with the pressure to produce an heir and the country turning against her because of the public burnings?
The machinations at Mary’s court were also revealing as the future Queen Elizabeth 1 played a skilful game in order to survive. The book also explained the significance of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. This recorded all of the people who had been burned during Mary’s reign. In fact Mary had burned more heretics than had been burned during the previous 150 years.
The author doesn’t shy away from describing the horrific and gory details of 16th century punishments such as being hung, drawn and quartered. The descriptions of the burnings is detached but equally as gruesome and shocking. I had always thought that the victims would succumb to the smoke before the flames reached them but this was not the case. Some of the luckier ones could persuade their friends or bribe others to allow them to have a small sack of gunpowder around their necks so that when the flames reached it then it would explode and end their suffering. But most couldn’t. The image on the back cover from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs amply demonstrates a burning.
Mary died on 17 November 1558 aged 42. The loss of Calais affected her and her reign almost as much as the burning of heretics. Even prior to her death the tide of popularity had turned against her. People had had enough of the burnings.
This book filled in a gap in English history for me and enabled me to understand why there is still an anti-Catholic feeling both in England and Northern Ireland. I thought that the author did a good job in bringing the ordinary people, as well as the more infamous, all Mary’s victims, to life and revealing the reasons why she was known as ‘Bloody Mary’.
September 24, 2020
This book has problems so I can't recommend it. Firstly, the author equates Anabaptists with Arians, such as in the Index for Anabaptists, it has Arians in parentheses, which is not true. Secondly, he makes statements about Anabaptist beliefs, which are not true. Lastly, too much of the book sounds like a paraphrase plagiarized from Foxe's Book of Martyrs, from which he also quotes extensively. Don't bother buying the book.
June 27, 2025
A decent, interesting read. However, it soon adopts too much of a predictable pattern. That is, the author lists some names and descriptions of people, then proceeds to describe how, when, why they were martyred. Then on to the next lot.
Would have been better with some more background material, wider perspectives on what was going on.
Would have been better with some more background material, wider perspectives on what was going on.
December 30, 2021
Some interesting snippets but I couldn't get to the end complete the book. its just not a good read.
February 11, 2009
This book read like a high school book report of Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
By the end, I was just reading it so that I could warn others. There was little perspective, just listing after listing of who died in the fires and vignettes of things they did before they died.
It just droned..on...and...on...and...on..
Like I get it, they died, but how about what was going on around this, how about some perspective? Some historical analysis!
Don't read.
By the end, I was just reading it so that I could warn others. There was little perspective, just listing after listing of who died in the fires and vignettes of things they did before they died.
It just droned..on...and...on...and...on..
Like I get it, they died, but how about what was going on around this, how about some perspective? Some historical analysis!
Don't read.
May 5, 2015
Mostly balanced view of the religious issues of the era. A true tale of man's inhumanity to man. Sad that this was winked at in the end. But if religion is simply an exercise in avoiding persecution or staying on the right side of the powers that be, then the waffling is understandable--though disappointing. Truly disheartened by the truths shared about John Knox.
July 18, 2017
Some interesting history, mainly focused on the religious upheaval in England during the reign of the Tudors. However, there are some sloppy mistakes and at times it is just a listing of those who were burned.
July 28, 2010
A very tangled time in history.
December 16, 2014
Excellent- Proves that history is more shocking and suspenseful than fiction.
November 1, 2007
The terrors of Bloody Mary's reign and the history behind it all.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews