This woodcut image depicts selected reforms of the English church that transpired during the reign of King Edward VI. Priests and tonsured friars carry censing bells, mass books, crucifixes, and other allegedly dangerous objects of Roman Catholic devotion from a church ("The Temple well purged") and load them onto a waiting ship ("The ship of the Romish Church" ["The ship of the Roman Church"]; "Shippe ouer your trinkets and be packing ye Papistes" ["Ship over your trinkets and be packing you papists"]; "The Papistes packing away their paultrye" ["The papists packing away their paltry"]). Iconoclasts burn images ("Burning of Images") and pull statues from the church wall in the background. In the lower left, King Edward carries a sword that symbolizes his authority as Supreme Head of the Church of England, a title first assumed by Henry VIII. Edward delivers a Bible ("Biblia" [Bible]) to his attendants, an action which alludes to the royal support of vernacular Bible reading that appears in "King Edward VI receives a book" and "King Henry VIII sits enthroned over Pope Clement VII" in this collection. The initials "E[dwardus] 6. R[ex]" ["King Edward VI"] appear on Edward's throne. In the lower right, a preacher delivers a sermon to a congregation of men and women, who read from open Bibles. Nearby rest a communion table ("The Co[m]munion Table") and a baptismal font, which is in use. These objects symbolize the Edwardian church's rejection of the other five Roman Catholic sacraments. This portion of the image echoes a similar portrayal on the title page woodcut of the Book of Martyrs. "English Reformation under King Edward VI" introduces Foxe's discussion of Edward's reign in the second (1570), third (1576), and fourth (1583) editions. Luborsky and Ingram 11223/57. JPEG file (3.78 MB).
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