The Martyrdom of Bishop John Fisher

John Fisher, bishop, martyr 22 June 1535.

John Fisher was born in 1469, enrolled at Cambridge University in 1483, ordained in 1491, and in 1502 became chaplain to Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII. With her money and his ideas, they greatly altered Cambridge, restoring the teaching of Greek and Hebrew, bringing Erasmus over as a lecturer, and endowing many chairs and scholarships. In 1504 Fisher was made Chancellor of Cambridge and Bishop of Rochester. In 1527 he became chaplain to the new king, Henry VIII, and confessor to the queen, Catherin of Aragon. He stood high in the favor of Henry, who proclaimed that no other realm had any bishop as learned and devout.

John Fisher, Cardinal and Bishop, takes the first place among the martyrs of the sixteen the century in dignity, example, and the influence of his name. He as born in 1459, at Beverley, and studied when young with a priest of that collegiate church. Afterwards he spent many years at Cambridge with distinction, and was made Bishop of Rochester in 1504, being forty-five years of age. No one was more vigilant against the poison of Luther's doctrines creeping into England. The book which earned for Henry VIII from the Pope the title of Defender of the Faith was written by his advice, if not indeed by his hand. Fisher was considered the most learned, pious and inflexible of the English bishops, and Cardinal Pole regards him as the model of a perfect prelate.

This time, however, came when his virtue and adherence to the faith were imputed to him as crimes. The king, tired of his wife, and in love with Anne Boleyn, affected to have scruples about his marriage. Wolsey, from political motives, wished a divorce, and knew that if Fisher could be gained over, little opposition need be feared from the clergy. But the holy bishop, being sent for, at once advised his majesty with all speed to lay aside those thoughts: "and for any peril," he added, "that may happen to your soul thereby, let the guilt rest on mind." When after long delay, the cause of divorce was before the Papal Legates' Court as Queen Catherine's chief defender "there stood forth John Fisher, the light not only of England, but of Christendom, to demonstrate that for this opinion he was ready to lay down his life, adding that as John the Baptist, in olden times, regarded death glorious in a cause of matrimony, and it was not so holy then as it has now become by the shedding of Christ's blood, he could not encourage himself more, or face any peril with greater confidence than by taking the Baptist for his own example."

Fisher was brought before Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who told him, "You must answer directly, whether you will, or will not subscribe" [to the supremacy of the Church of England being vested in the king of England, his heirs and successors].

Then said the Bishop of Rochester, "If you will needs have me answer directly, my answer is, that, forasmuch as my own conscience cannot be satisfied, I absolutely refuse the oath." Upon this he was immediately committed to the Tower, where he suffered many privations. Mr Richard Rich, the Solicitor-General, was the sole witness brought against the sick prelate. In front of a jury Mr. Rich retold a supposed conversation he had had with the venerable prisoner in the Tower, in which Bishop Fisher spoke his mind plainly abou the statue. A verdict of guilty was soon recorded, and the Lord Chancellor asked the bishop if he had any more to say for himself. The persecuted bishop replied, "Truly, my lord, if that which I have before spoken be not sufficient, I have no more to say, but only to desire Almighty God to forgive them that have thus condemned me, for I think they know not what they have done."

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Water, Mark. The New Encyclopedia of Christian Martyrs. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2001. 655.