Richard Bayfield

Richard Bayfield was born in Hadleigh, Suffolk, in about 1500. He spent time at Bury St Edmunds Abbey and was ordained as a priest in 1518. It has been suggested that he was converted to Protestant beliefs by Robert Barnes. (1) On 24th December 1525, Barnes preached a sermon in St Edward's Church, in which he attacked the corruption of the clergy in general and that of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in particular. He was arrested on 5th February 1526. Taken to London, Barnes appeared before Wolsey and found guilty. He was made to do public penance by carrying a faggot (a bundle of sticks bound together as fuel) on his back to Paul's Cross. The faggot was a symbol of the flames around the stake. (2)

According to Andrew Hope Richard Bayfield was imprisoned for his beliefs: "Bayfield came under the influence both of Barnes (who provided him with Erasmus's new Latin translation of the New Testament), and of two London Lollards, Lawrence Maxwell and John Stacy, who seem also to have been visiting the abbey to hold talks with Barnes. The outcome was that Bayfield was incarcerated in the abbot's prison, from which Barnes was able to free him only with difficulty." (3)

Richard Bayfield & Thomas Bilney

Richard Bayfield was also influenced by the teachings of Thomas Bilney. In 1527 Bilney's attacks "on the insolence, pomp, and pride of the clergy" drew the attention of the authorities. On 29th November, Bilney was brought before Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and a group of bishops, priests, and lawyers at Westminster. Bilney declared that he had not "taught the opinions" of Martin Luther. Bilney was now handed over to Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall who declared he "was a wicked and detestable heretic". According to John Foxe: "He was sentenced to prison for some time and forced to do penance by going before the procession at St. Paul's bareheaded and carrying a fagot on his shoulder, then standing before the preacher during the sermon." (4)

Richard Bayfield was arrested in 1528 and convicted of heresy. However, he was allowed to go free on the understanding he would return to Bury St Edmunds and wear his monk's habit. Bayfield decided to go and live in Antwerp. Here he met William Tyndale who had translated the New Testament into English and it was printed by Protestant supporters in Europe. Tyndale declared that he hoped to make every ploughboy as knowledgeable in Scripture as the most learned priest. The Bibles were often hidden in bales of straw. Most English people could not read or write, but some of them could, and they read it out aloud to their friends at secret Protestant meetings. They discovered that Catholic priests had taught them doctrines which were not in the Bible. (5)

Tyndale Bible

Jasper Ridley has argued that the Tyndale Bible created a revolution in religious belief: "The people who read Tyndale's Bible could discover that although Christ had appointed St Peter to be head of his Church, there was nothing in the Bible which said that the Bishops of Rome were St Peter's successors and that Peter's authority over the Church had passed to the Popes... The Bible stated that God had ordered the people not to worship graven images, the images and pictures of the saints, and the station of the cross, should not be placed in churches and along the highways... Since the days of Pope Gregory VII in the eleventh century the Catholic Church had enforced the rule that priests should not marry but should remain apart from the people as a special celibate caste... The Protestants, finding a text in the Bible that a bishop should be the husband of one wife, believed that all priests should be allowed to marry." (6)

Over the next couple of years Richard Bayfield arranged for Tyndale's Bible to be exported to England. It is estimated that during this period 18,000 copies of this book were printed and smuggled into England. As Andrew Hope points out: "Bayfield now took on the role of the main supplier of prohibited reformation books to the English market, a role vacant since the arrest of Thomas Garrett in 1528.... He is known to have sent three major consignments to England, the first via Colchester in mid-1530, the second via St Katharine by the Tower, London, in late 1530, and the third via Norfolk about Easter 1531. The second consignment was wholly intercepted by Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More, and the third probably partially so." (7)

Arrested & Executed

Richard Bayfield also made visits to England and was arrested at a London bookbinder's in October 1531. He was imprisoned, and interrogated and tortured by the Lord Chancellor Thomas More. "Richard Bayfield was cast into prison, and endured some whipping, for his adherence to the doctrines of Luther... The sufferings this man underwent for the truth were so great that it would require a volume to contain them. Sometimes he was shut up in a dungeon, where he was almost suffocated by the offensive and horrid smell of filth and stagnant water. At other times he was tied up by the arms, until almost all his joints were dislocated. He was whipped at the post several times, until scarcely any flesh was left on his back; and all this was done to make him recant. He was then taken to the Lollard's Tower in Lambeth palace, where he was chained by the neck to the wall, and once every day beaten in the most cruel manner by the archbishop's servants." (8)

According to Jasper Ridley More later attempted to discredit Bayfield by claiming he had two wives. His friends claimed this was untrue. More suggested that Bayfield had relapsed into heresy, "like a dog returning to his vomit" but was "willing to recant again as long as he thought that there was any chance of saving his life". (9)

Richard Bayfield was convicted as a relapsed heretic, degraded, and "burnt with excruciating slowness" at Smithfield, on 27th November, 1531. (10 ) According to one source "More stamped on Bayfield's ashes and cursed him." (11) The following month, on 3rd December, Thomas More issued a proclamation denouncing William Tyndale as a "spreader of seditious heresy". (12)

Primary Sources

(1) Andrew Hope, Richard Bayfield : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004-2014)

Bayfield now took on the role of the main supplier of prohibited reformation books to the English market, a role vacant since the arrest of Thomas Garrett in 1528. The major source of such books was the Low Countries and in particular Antwerp. There is a stray reference to Bayfield also supplying the French market. He is known to have sent three major consignments to England, the first via Colchester in mid-1530, the second via St Katharine by the Tower, London, in late 1530, and the third via Norfolk about Easter 1531. The second consignment was wholly intercepted by Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More, and the third probably partially so. A list of books recovered from Bayfield gives over fifty titles, of which he said he was bringing in multiple copies. Many were Lutheran but many also were by writers such as Oecolampadius, Lambert, and Zwingli who represented a more anti-sacramental theology.

Bayfield showed signs of not always appreciating the extreme danger he was in. He had indiscreet conversations with people who did not share his views. He was arrested at a London bookbinder's, possibly in October 1531, imprisoned, and interrogated by More. The authorities seem to have been alarmed that Bayfield was a source of anti-sacramental ideas, and even moved him out of a cell which he shared with another suspect, Thomas Patmere. His trial by the new bishop of London, John Stokesley, opened at St Paul's on 10 November. He was convicted as a relapsed heretic, degraded, and burnt with excruciating slowness at Smithfield, probably on 27 November, although some authorities give 4 December.

(2) Melvyn Bragg, The Daily Telegraph (6th June, 2013)

The fury of the then Establishment is difficult to credit. The Bishop of London bought up an entire edition of 6,000 copies and burned them on the steps of the old St Paul’s Cathedral. More went after Tyndale’s old friends and tortured them. Richard Bayfield, a monk accused of reading Tyndale, was one who died a graphically horrible death as described in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. More stamped on his ashes and cursed him. And among others there was John Firth, a friend of Tyndale, who was burned so slowly that he was more roasted.

(3) John Foxe, Book of Martyrs (1563)

A few weeks after Bilney had suffered, Richard Bayfield was cast into prison, and endured some whipping, for his adherence to the doctrines of Luther: this Mr. Bayfield had been some time a monk, at Barnes, in Surrey, but was converted by reading Tyndale's version of the New Testament. The sufferings this man underwent for the truth were so great that it would require a volume to contain them. Sometimes he was shut up in a dungeon, where he was almost suffocated by the offensive and horrid smell of filth and stagnant water. At other times he was tied up by the arms, until almost all his joints were dislocated. He was whipped at the post several times, until scarcely any flesh was left on his back; and all this was done to make him recant. He was then taken to the Lollard's Tower in Lambeth palace, where he was chained by the neck to the wall, and once every day beaten in the most cruel manner by the archbishop's servants. At last he was condemned, degraded, and burnt in Smithfield.