John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs was one of the most significant works of the Reformation, and a glimpse into his life and his famous book indicates why that was and why it should continue to be.
Foxe became convinced of Protestant doctrines while studying at Magdalen College at Cambridge and resigned (or was asked to resign) in 1545, and when Mary came to the throne, he and his family fled to the mainland a few years later. Foxe spent time in Frankfurt and Strassbourg among other cities, and while in exile and found himself embroiled in controversy in Frankfurt when two factions formed in the English speaking church divided over issues of church polity. One side, led by Richard Cox, held to the polity of the Church of England and the newly published Book of Common Prayer, while the other side led by John Knox (and supported by Foxe) preferred the polity and liturgy of John Calvin’s Geneva. This of course gives us the debate of Cox, Knox, and Foxe which just goes to show that Dr. Suess was never far from the truth.
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