Friday, May 29, 2009
RANDOM 'THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE'-ANNE ASKEW
was going thru one of the books before i squirrel them away, and read a bit about religious martyrs of henry VIII. saw a woman- Anne askew. googled her and she popper right up on wiki-
Anne Askew (also spelled Anne Ayscough) (1521 - 16 July 1546) was an English poet and Protestant who was persecuted as a heretic. She is the only woman on record to have been tortured in the Tower of London, before being burnt at the stake. Born at Stallingborough into a notable family of Lincolnshire, she was forced by her father, Sir William Askew (1490-1541), to marry Thomas Kyme when she was just fifteen, as a substitute for her sister Martha who had recently died. Anne rebelled against her husband by refusing to adopt his surname. It is also speculated that Anne had two children, their sex and names unknown. Even the Dictionary of National Biography can tell us no more than that she left her children to go "gospelling".
Her marriage did not go well, not least because of her strong Protestant beliefs. When she returned from London, where she had gone to preach against the doctrine of transubstantiation, her husband turned her out of the house. She then went again to London to ask for a divorce, justifying it from scripture (1 Corinthians, 7.15), on the grounds that her husband was not a believer.
Eventually Anne left her husband and went to London where she gave sermons and distributed Protestant books. These books had been banned and so she was arrested. Her husband was sent for and ordered to take her home to Lincolnshire. Anne soon escaped and it was not long before she was back preaching in London.
Anne was arrested again. This time, Sir Anthony Kingston, the Constable of the Tower of London, was ordered to torture Anne in an attempt to force her to name other Protestants, and so Anne was put on the rack. However, Kingston refused to carry on torturing her on the grounds that it was not the custom to torture women, and especially one from a noble family, thus he could no longer partake in such an abominable act. Kingston ran away from the Tower and sought a meeting with the King at his earliest convenience to explain his position, and also to seek his pardon for not continuing with the torture. Henry VIII listened, pardoned Kingston, but did not put an end to the torture. Instead, it was now left to Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor, Thomas Wriothesley and Richard Rich, to take over.
According to Anne's own account - and that of gaolers within the Tower - she was tortured only once. It was usual to take a prisoner to see someone being put to the question before their turn came, and this often resulted in an immediate confession. In Anne's case however it was not thought decent for her to see a man naked on the rack, so her first visit to the chamber involved the actual application of the torture. She was taken from her cell to the lower room of the White Tower to where the torture chamber was situated, at about ten in the morning. She was shown the rack and asked if she would name those who believed as she did. Although she never said so, she could have realized that the intention of her interrogators was to implicate Catherine Parr, the Queen Consort. Anne declined to name anyone at all, and she was asked to remove all her clothing except her shift, which she did. Anne then climbed onto the rack and lay quite still as she was spreadeagled and her wrists and ankles were fastened. Again, she was asked for names, but she would say nothing. The wheel of the rack was turned, pulling Anne along the device and lifting her so that she was held taut about 5 inches above its bed and slowly stretched. In her own account written from prison, Anne said that she fainted with the pain and that she was then lowered and revived. This procedure was repeated twice more before the Lieutenant of the Tower stopped it, and went to complain to the king.
Left on their own Wriothesley and Rich may have been worried: they had put a noble woman to torture with no result. They were unable to persuade the professional torturers to carry on, so they set to work themselves. The rack was worked by a wheel at the head, and in the first stage this was turned and held taught by hand. For more reluctant prisoners, a ratchet could be applied which stopped the rack going slack between turns. Wriothesley and Rich put the ratchet on, and went to work stretching Anne. Apart from the pain of stretching muscles and cracking joints, the rack also constricted the wrists and ankles, causing blood to flow from the finger nails. Anne's cries could be heard in the garden next to the White Tower where the Lieutenant's wife and daughter were walking. So piteous were the cries that they turned indoors and shut the windows. In spite of this terrible treatment, Anne gave no names and her ordeal was ended when the Lieutenant returned and ordered her to be returned to her cell.
During the ordeal, she wrote a first-person account of her ordeal and her beliefs, which was published as the Examinations by Protestant bishop John Bale, and later in John Foxe's Acts and Monuments of 1563 which proclaims her as a Protestant martyr. Several ballads were written about her in the 17th century. She was burnt at Smithfield, London aged 25, on 16 July 1546. As Fuller described it, "she went to heaven in a chariot of fire."
Anne Askew was carried to execution in a chair, as she could not walk after her torture. She was dragged from the chair to the stake which had a small seat attached to it, which she sat astride. Those who witnessed her execution (including Lady Jane Grey) were very impressed by her bravery, and many witnesses reported that throughout the long execution she did not scream until the flames reached her chest whereas the 3 men burned with her cried out from the first touch of the fire. Undoubtedly Anne was very brave but she may also have been so badly damaged on the rack that she had lost the feeling in her legs and perhaps even below the waist. Although she was a Protestant martyr Anne is principally famous as the only woman in the recorded history of the Tower of London to have experienced the tortures of the rack. There was a resurgence of interest in her story during Victorian times, and the Bleets company produced an Anne Askew doll complete with rack and stake. One is on show at the Leeds Toy Museum.
maybe they should have tried waterboading.
was going thru one of the books before i squirrel them away, and read a bit about religious martyrs of henry VIII. saw a woman- Anne askew. googled her and she popper right up on wiki-
Anne Askew (also spelled Anne Ayscough) (1521 - 16 July 1546) was an English poet and Protestant who was persecuted as a heretic. She is the only woman on record to have been tortured in the Tower of London, before being burnt at the stake. Born at Stallingborough into a notable family of Lincolnshire, she was forced by her father, Sir William Askew (1490-1541), to marry Thomas Kyme when she was just fifteen, as a substitute for her sister Martha who had recently died. Anne rebelled against her husband by refusing to adopt his surname. It is also speculated that Anne had two children, their sex and names unknown. Even the Dictionary of National Biography can tell us no more than that she left her children to go "gospelling".
Her marriage did not go well, not least because of her strong Protestant beliefs. When she returned from London, where she had gone to preach against the doctrine of transubstantiation, her husband turned her out of the house. She then went again to London to ask for a divorce, justifying it from scripture (1 Corinthians, 7.15), on the grounds that her husband was not a believer.
Eventually Anne left her husband and went to London where she gave sermons and distributed Protestant books. These books had been banned and so she was arrested. Her husband was sent for and ordered to take her home to Lincolnshire. Anne soon escaped and it was not long before she was back preaching in London.
Anne was arrested again. This time, Sir Anthony Kingston, the Constable of the Tower of London, was ordered to torture Anne in an attempt to force her to name other Protestants, and so Anne was put on the rack. However, Kingston refused to carry on torturing her on the grounds that it was not the custom to torture women, and especially one from a noble family, thus he could no longer partake in such an abominable act. Kingston ran away from the Tower and sought a meeting with the King at his earliest convenience to explain his position, and also to seek his pardon for not continuing with the torture. Henry VIII listened, pardoned Kingston, but did not put an end to the torture. Instead, it was now left to Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor, Thomas Wriothesley and Richard Rich, to take over.
According to Anne's own account - and that of gaolers within the Tower - she was tortured only once. It was usual to take a prisoner to see someone being put to the question before their turn came, and this often resulted in an immediate confession. In Anne's case however it was not thought decent for her to see a man naked on the rack, so her first visit to the chamber involved the actual application of the torture. She was taken from her cell to the lower room of the White Tower to where the torture chamber was situated, at about ten in the morning. She was shown the rack and asked if she would name those who believed as she did. Although she never said so, she could have realized that the intention of her interrogators was to implicate Catherine Parr, the Queen Consort. Anne declined to name anyone at all, and she was asked to remove all her clothing except her shift, which she did. Anne then climbed onto the rack and lay quite still as she was spreadeagled and her wrists and ankles were fastened. Again, she was asked for names, but she would say nothing. The wheel of the rack was turned, pulling Anne along the device and lifting her so that she was held taut about 5 inches above its bed and slowly stretched. In her own account written from prison, Anne said that she fainted with the pain and that she was then lowered and revived. This procedure was repeated twice more before the Lieutenant of the Tower stopped it, and went to complain to the king.
Left on their own Wriothesley and Rich may have been worried: they had put a noble woman to torture with no result. They were unable to persuade the professional torturers to carry on, so they set to work themselves. The rack was worked by a wheel at the head, and in the first stage this was turned and held taught by hand. For more reluctant prisoners, a ratchet could be applied which stopped the rack going slack between turns. Wriothesley and Rich put the ratchet on, and went to work stretching Anne. Apart from the pain of stretching muscles and cracking joints, the rack also constricted the wrists and ankles, causing blood to flow from the finger nails. Anne's cries could be heard in the garden next to the White Tower where the Lieutenant's wife and daughter were walking. So piteous were the cries that they turned indoors and shut the windows. In spite of this terrible treatment, Anne gave no names and her ordeal was ended when the Lieutenant returned and ordered her to be returned to her cell.
During the ordeal, she wrote a first-person account of her ordeal and her beliefs, which was published as the Examinations by Protestant bishop John Bale, and later in John Foxe's Acts and Monuments of 1563 which proclaims her as a Protestant martyr. Several ballads were written about her in the 17th century. She was burnt at Smithfield, London aged 25, on 16 July 1546. As Fuller described it, "she went to heaven in a chariot of fire."
Anne Askew was carried to execution in a chair, as she could not walk after her torture. She was dragged from the chair to the stake which had a small seat attached to it, which she sat astride. Those who witnessed her execution (including Lady Jane Grey) were very impressed by her bravery, and many witnesses reported that throughout the long execution she did not scream until the flames reached her chest whereas the 3 men burned with her cried out from the first touch of the fire. Undoubtedly Anne was very brave but she may also have been so badly damaged on the rack that she had lost the feeling in her legs and perhaps even below the waist. Although she was a Protestant martyr Anne is principally famous as the only woman in the recorded history of the Tower of London to have experienced the tortures of the rack. There was a resurgence of interest in her story during Victorian times, and the Bleets company produced an Anne Askew doll complete with rack and stake. One is on show at the Leeds Toy Museum.
maybe they should have tried waterboading.
