Martyrdom of Bishop Nicholas Riley (1555)

Martyrdom of Bishop Nicholas Riley (1555): Dr Ridley was born in Northumberland, England in 1550. He obtained his basic education at Newcastle before proceeding to Cambridge University. He was head of Pembroke College, from where he obtained the prestigious Doctor of Divinity. He spent some months in Paris, and upon his return to England, King Henry VIII appointed him his Chaplain. The King later promoted him to the bishopric of Rochester. From there, King Edward VI made him the Bishop of London.   

People flocked to the church to listen to Ridley’s sermons, swarming about him like bees to honey. He not only preached wholesome doctrine, he demonstrated it with his life. He was a bright light to the blind, a heavenly trumpet to the deaf, and a holy voice to lost sinners.

He lived and ministered in such purity that not even his enemies could reprove him in any jot or tittle. Ridley was intelligent, wise, and artful in dealing with others. He was such a good, godly, and spiritual man that England may rightly mourn the day that such a treasure was lost.

 Each morning, Ridley devoted himself to private prayer until ten o’clock, and then took part in the daily prayers that were held in his house by members of his parish. After a midday dinner, he would talk to others or play chess for an hour, and then spend the rest of the afternoon studying or taking care of church business.

About five o’clock, he would pray for about an hour again, refresh himself at chess for another hour, then return to his study until eleven o’clock, when he would retire after praying on his knees for a while.

 About September 8, 1552, in his capacity as Bishop of London, Ridley went early in the morning to visit Lady Mary, who later became Queen Mary I, at Hunsdon where she was staying. There, he was entertained by Sir Thomas Wharton and other officials in Mary’s court until almost eleven o’clock when Lady Mary received him with all courtesy.

When they held a private discussion on the issue of faith, she made it clear to him that she was not interested in hearing about his Protestant faith and its reformation. She concluded their discussion by saying, “My lord, for your consideration in coming to see me, I thank you. But for your offering to preach before me, I don’t thank you the least bit.”

When Edward VI died in 1553 and Lady Mary became Queen Mary I of England, Bishop Ridley was immediately marked for slaughter. But before she attended to the Bishop, “Bloody Mary” saw to the execution of Lady Jane Grey, great-granddaughter of Henry VII and a cousin of King Edward VI, along with her husband, Lord Guilford Dudley. Queen Mary killed Jane because some people in the court of King Edward VIII tried to make her queen after his death.

 In the meantime, Bishop Ridley and several others were imprisoned in  the Tower of London. These included Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and Hugh Latimer, former Bishop of Worcester. On March 10, 1554, these men were taken from the Tower to Oxford University to debate with the Queen’s chosen doctors of divinity about the following articles of faith:

1. Whether the natural body of Christ is really in the sacrament after the words spoken by Roman Catholic priests;
2. Whether after the words of consecration any other substance remains in the sacrament other than the body and blood of Christ; and
3. Whether in the Catholic mass there is a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the living and the dead.

 After hearing these read, Ridley said without delay that the Catholic doctrines on which these questions hung, were all false. He said he would defend the truth as long as God gave him life. He later submitted his report at the behest of the papal inquisitors, in which he condemned the false doctrines of Roman Catholic Church. After this, he was separated from Crammer and Latimer, and kept in custody of a man named Irish, where he remained until the day of his execution on October 16, 1555.

 The night before his execution, Ridley said to Mrs Irish, the keeper’s wife who served him breakfast, “Though my breakfast in the morning will be somewhat sharp and painful, yet I am sure my supper in the evening will be most pleasant and sweet.” Before his execution, he knelt next to the stake and kissed it and prayed for strength.

After one Dr Smith preached a short sermon, urging him to recant, Ridley said, “So long as there is breath in my body, I will never deny the Lord Christ and His known truth. God’s will be done in me.”

Then he held up his hands and said, “O heavenly Father, I give unto Thee most hearty thanks, for that Thou has called me to profess Thee, even unto death. I beseech Thee, Lord God, have mercy upon this land of England and deliver her from all her enemies.” When the faggots placed around him were lit with fire, he cried with a loud voice, “Lord, Lord, receive my spirit!”

Hundreds of onlookers were moved to tears by what they had witnessed. Though the world did not give Ridley any reward for the work he did, and the many souls he touched with the love of God, he was warmly received by the One he served with his whole heart. The Roman Catholic Church may have silenced this godly servant of God, but his legacy lives on in the millions of people that have received the truth preserved by the testimony he affirmed with his blood.

      ****Culled from The New Foxes Book of Martyrs 2001 by John Foxe, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Gainesville, Florida 32614, USA.