Discourses of Martyrdom in English Literature, 1563–1694

Representations of persecution and martyrdom in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England helped shape a lasting ideal of Protestant heroism by recreating a drama of suffering learned from the Bible. This book examines the subversive potential of John Foxe's Acts and Monuments (the Book of Martyrs), alongside the work of Milton, Bunyan, George Fox and others.