Concerning the Accusations Brought Against This Woman, We Have Found the Following Account in Old Writers

Margaret Backster, wife of William Backster, was accused by Johanna (wife of Cleveland) of various articles, such as, that she had told her that she should not swear at all, neither by God, nor by Our Lady, nor by any saints or saintesses.

Again: That she, the deponent, when Margaret Backster asked her what she did every day in church, answered that she knelt before the crucifix, repeated five Paternosters, and read as many Ave Marias in honor of Our Lady. At this Margaret replied: "You do very wrong to kneel or pray before such images as stand in the church; for God does not dwell in such churches, nor will He come down from heaven; and He will no more give you a reward for such prayers than a taper placed under the cover of the font can give light at night to those who are in the church."

Again: The said deponent, Johanna Cleveland, when Margaret asked her what she believed concerning the sacrament of the altar, said that the sacrament of the altar, the consecration, is the true body of Christ, in the form of bread. At this Margaret said to her: "Your belief is vain; for if this sacrament were God and the true body of Christ, there would be a countless number of gods, since a thousand priests and more make a thousand such gods every day, and then eat them."

Again: She said she knew for certain that the vengeance of God would soon come upon the Bishop of Norwich, and others, who had caused the death of father Abraham, William White, and John Waddon, faithful preachers of the word of God, and of many other godly men with them.

She also declared that she had seen how one of those servants of Caiaphas struck William White on the mouth or lips, when he was about to be put to death, and wanted to address the people and admonish them for the last time; and that he (that servant) stopped his mouth, so that he could not declare the will of God at all. From John Fox, Hist. Angl.

Then follow various other articles, believed and confessed by her, in opposition to the belief of the Roman church, and directed against images, the power of the priests, the forty days' fast, pilgrimages, and the begging of the monks, too numerous to mention.

These, then, are the chief and most remarkable things John Fox took from the old records concerning Margaret Backster; but since those records made no mention of what befell her after these accusations, or what became of her, he did not venture to state it; however, it is supposed, as some write, that they put her to death secretly in prison, or kept her in prison until she died, since no mention is made of her penitence or apostasy. Second book of the Hist. of the Persecutions, folio 583, from Joh. Fox Angl., page 610.

NOTE. In the year 1431, one Paul Craus, in Scotland, was arrested by Bishop Henry, because he rejected auricular confession, the invocation of the saints, the idolatrous sacrament, and so on. And since he would not depart from the truth he had confessed, he was finally sentenced to the fire, and burnt on the thirtieth of June of the same year. Compare Vinc. Cal., folio 368. Georg. Pac., chapter 11. Herm. [n511-1] Mod., folio 274, with the Chron. van den Ond., page 796; also, A. Mell., folio 584, column 1, ex Hist. Scoticae, book 17.

In the year 1436, five years later, one Thomas Rhedonensis, a Frenchman, out of Christian zeal, went to Rome, hoping to preach the pure doctrine of Christ there. But when he found the opposite there, and saw the great abominations, hypocrisy, and pomp, he could not keep from reproving the cardinals and ecclesiastics for their ungodly life, saying that they ought to live modestly and virtuously like Christ and the apostles. By this he quickly drew upon himself the envy and wrath of those persons, so that he was brought before Pope Eugenius, and there cast into prison, where he was greatly tormented, and indeed, in the end, sentenced to the fire, and burnt. Compare the last mentioned chronicle, page 800, column 2, with Vinc. Cal., folio 145. Georg. Pac., chapter 11.

In the year 1439, a certain upright man named Augustine de Roma was condemned as a heretic in the council of Basel (where the feast of the Conception of Mary was instituted and established); but what happened to him after that condemnation by the council has not been mentioned by the writers from whom we have taken this. See the authors cited above. Also, P. J. Twisck, Chron., page 808.

In the year 1450, Alanus Chartetius wrote a book concerning the fruits the church reaped from the unmarried life of the priests; by which he greatly reproved and censured the abuses in the church of the Romanists. See further on. In the same year, Peter de Luna opposed the pope and the ecclesiastical power, and wrote openly against them, and was therefore also condemned as a heretic. From Joh. Munst., folio 182. There were also at this time many learned men who spoke against purgatory, confession, letters of indulgence, the mass, vigils, and so on; which, to all appearance, brought them much suffering in the body; but since we have not found the particulars of it, we will pass them by. Compare the account of Fortalius SidTus with the last mentioned chronicle, page 823, column 2, at the foot, and page 824, column 1, at the top. [n511-2]