Extract from..... The Six Wifes of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser (8)

In 1546 the pace of persecution towards heretics gathered speed. Sir Thomas Wriothesley, now Baron Wriothesley, had succeeded the milder Lord Audley as Lord Chancellor in May 1544: he was now ardent in his pursuit of those heretics with connections to the court. Wriothesley was one of those who had hailed Catherine Parr on her marriage as 'a woman in my judgement, for virtue, wisdom and gentleness most meet for his Highness; and....'

A key arrest from Catherine's point of view was that of Anne Askew on 24 May. She was a young woman in her early twenties, of strongly reformist views - with a love of biblical studies like the Queen's. Undeniably she had many connections to the court. Anne Askew's sister was married to the steward of the late Duke of Suffolk; her brother Edward had a post in the King's household. She had been briefly married in her native Lincolnshire and borne children, but had come to London after her husband apparently expelled her for crossing swords with local priests. (One of the accusations against her was that she had abandoned her married name - Kyme - for her maiden name of Askew.) In 1545 Anne Askew had alread been cross examined for heresy and had responded to her accusers with vigour. She survived the experience. She could not survive the renewed assault of 1546, although she never gave in to her male accusers. Addressed - constantly - by the Lord Mayor as 'Thou foolish woman', she retorted: 'Alack, poor mouse'. Her remarkable spirit, maintained even under the torture which was illegal for a woman of her degree, did at least gain her reverence as a Protestant heroine of the next reign. (27)

At the time, immured in the Tower of London, Anne Askew was endlessly pressed on the subject of the great court ladies whose religious views were suspect to Wriothesley and his aide Richard Rich. This pair actually operated the rack themselves, infuriated by her obstinate silence, when the Lieutenant of the Tower shrank from doing so. She would admit to receiving presents of money - shillings - from the servants of Anne Countess of Hertford and Jane Lady Denny, but absolutely declined to go further and give the essential lead to their husbands (or the Queen). (28). On 16 July Anne Askew, still horribly crippled by her tortures but without recantation, was burnt for heresy. Alongside her died, also for heresy, John Lascelles: he whose scandalous revelations had led to the imprisonment and death of Queen Katherine Howard.

(27) READ, Evelyn, "Catherine Duchess of Suffolk", 1962; p. 42; STARKEY, David, "The Reign of Henry VIII, Personalities and Politics", 1985; pp. 143-4

(28) BRIGDEN, Susan, "London and the Reformation", Oxford 1989; p. 370ff.

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