Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius were continental Protestant theologians who migrated to England during the reign of Edward VI in order to escape Catholic persecution in Europe. Both died during the period of Edward's rule, at Cambridge, but religious authorities under Queen Mary exhumed their remains and burned them, along with their books, in order to combat their alleged heresies. This full-page woodcut insert records these events. In the upper center of this illustration, smoke rises from a burning pyre ("How M. Bucers and Paulus Phagius bones, were put into two new Coffins, and so bound to a Stake." ["How Martin Bucer's and Paul Fagius's bones were put into two new coffins and so bound to a stake"]). These coffins burn in a fire fueled by the books. A ring of civilians and officials surrounds the burning pyre, and a procession circles the event. A priest or friar carries a consecrated host under a canopy, in the lower right corner of the image, in a manner similar to the procession illustrated by the title page woodcut in this collection. Individuals carry banners and tapers at the front of the train. Friars ("Salue festa dies" / ["Hail, festival day"]) follow, carrying liturgical books that would likely have been written in Latin, a language inaccessible to most lay people at the time. The use of these sanctioned books affords a contrast to the heterodox books of Bucer and Fagius that burn nearby. Xylographic labels ("On afore, On afore," and "Hold up your torches for [i.e., from] dropping") convey orders given to the front of the procession. In an expression of conservative religious devotion, many individuals follow behind, and some kneel beside. The scene occurs in the town square at Cambridge. This woodcut appears in the first through fourth editions (1563, 1570, 1576, and 1583). Luborsky and Ingram 11222/47, 11223/94. JPEG file (3.11 MB).
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