Last words of the faithful
Anne Askew
Died 16 July 1546 · burned at Smithfield
Anne Askew, an English Protestant, was racked in the Tower of London, which left her unable to walk, and burned at Smithfield on 16 July 1546. Her own written examinations were smuggled out and published, so unusually for a martyr of that century we have her account in her own words rather than only a witness account of her death.
The last words
The story behind them
The rack was meant for information. They wanted her to name gentlewomen at court who believed as she did, and she would not, and so they kept going after the point at which the law and every custom said to stop. The Lieutenant of the Tower refused to continue and left; the Lord Chancellor of England is recorded as turning the handles himself. She wrote afterwards that she fainted, and that they revived her and went on, and that she sat on the bare floor for two hours afterwards reasoning with him.
She wrote it down. That is the extraordinary thing about her. The account was smuggled out and printed, so her voice survives instead of only a report of her silence.
She could not walk to her own execution. They carried her in a chair.
At Smithfield on 16 July 1546 she had to be carried to the stake in a chair and fastened to it with a chain, because her joints would no longer hold her upright. A pardon was brought and offered to her there, on the condition that she recant. It is recorded that she would not so much as look at it, and said she came not thither to deny her Lord and Master. She was twenty five.
What they died for, you can meet
None of these people died for an idea. They died holding onto a Person, convinced that death was not the end because he had already walked out of a tomb. The Living Bread is a quiet place to meet that same Jesus, read the Gospels for yourself, and ask your honest questions.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- What were Anne Askew's last words?
- When a pardon was offered at the stake on condition that she recant, it is recorded that she would not look at it and said she came not there to deny her Lord and Master.
- Was Anne Askew really tortured in the Tower?
- Yes. She is the only woman known to have been racked in the Tower of London. The torture left her unable to stand, and she was carried to her execution in a chair.
- How do we know her story?
- Unusually, from herself. Her First Examination and Latter Examination were written by her and smuggled out of prison, then printed. John Foxe records her execution.
