Written by Wikipedia
Rowland Taylor (sometimes spelled "Tayler") (about 1510 – 9 February 1555) was an English Protestant martyr during the Marian Persecutions.
At the time of his death, he was Rector of Hadleigh in Sulfork. He was Burnt at the stake at the stake at nearby Aldham Common.
Left - Dr. Taylor teaching: "To the the Glory of God and in pious Memory ot" /
Center - his martyrdom:" Rowland Tayor D D Rector of Hadleigh Who" /
Right - trial before Stephen Gardiner: "Suffered Martyrdum for Christ Sake 9th Feb 1555"
Religious Career
In the late 1530s Taylor served as Hugh Latimer’s chaplain and commissary general of the Diocese of Winchester.
In March 1538 Taylor was collated by Latimer to the St Mary’s parish church of Hanbury, Worchestershire.
When Latimer resigned, Taylor was taken under the wing of Thomas Crammer, living with him and (1539) serving as his chaplain. He was ordained by Cranmer and admitted to the parish church of St Swithin's in Worcester. He was thus given his licence to preach and did so in the diocese of London.
On 16 April 1544, he was presented to the living of Hadleigh, Suffolk.
In 1543 the English Parliament banned Tyndale's English version and all public reading of the Bible by laymen. Religious persecution of Protestant clergy, especially by Roman Catholics, intensified in Britain at this time.
In 1546 the Council of Trent, an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, decreed that the Latin Vulgate was the authoritative version of the Bible.
In the summer of 1547, Taylor was employed as a preacher for the royal visitation within the dioceses of Lincoln, Oxford, Lichfield and Coventry.
On 15 August 1547, he became canon of Rochester, the same year during which King Henry VIII had died in January.
In 1548, Taylor was appointed archdeacon of Bury St Edmunds and preached at the request of the Lord Mayor at Whitsuntide or Pentecost.
Edward VI who reigned from 1547 to 1553, followed Henry VIII, and in 1549 the Book of Common Prayer became the Protestant liturgical text in England.
In 1550, Taylor was called to serve on a commission against Anabaptists. The same year, he also helped to administer the vacant diocese of Norwich.
In 1551, at age 41, Taylor was made archdeacon of Exeter in the diocese of Exeter, was also appointed one of the Six Preachers of Canterbury Cathedral appointed chancellor to Bishop Nicholas Ridley. His leadership was expanded by serving on a commission to revise the ecclesiastical laws.
In 1552, he helped administer the vacant diocese of Worcester.
Political troubles from 1553
Taylor's troubles began on 25 July 1553. He was arrested just six days after the new queen, Mary I, ascended the throne. Aside from the fact that Taylor had supported Lady Jane Grey, Mary's rival, he was also charged with heresy for having preached a sermon in Bury St. Edmunds denouncing the Roman Catholic practice of clerical celibacy, which required that a priest in holy orders be unmarried. Many English clergymen, including Taylor, had abandoned this teaching since the 1530s as a token of the English Reformation.
Taylor also denounced the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, which is the belief that the two elements (bread and wine) taken during Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ....
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Trial and martyrdom
January 1555 was an ominous month for Anglican clergy in England. After several years of separation from Roman worship and governance, the accession of Mary I in 1553 and her immediate reversion to Roman Catholic rule in obedience to the Pope (an attempt to turn back the Reformation of the English church) led her to unleash her wrath upon those whom she defined as treasonably minded heretics. On 22 January 1555, Rowland Taylor (rector of Hadleigh in Suffolk) and several other clergy, including John Hooper, were examined by a commission of leading bishops and lawyers. As Lord Chancellor, Gardiner presided at the hearings. Just two days previously, on 20 January, Parliament had revived the old statute for burning convicted heretics.
One of the men, Edward Crome, recanted and was thus pardoned. William Barlow equivocated and was sent to the Tower of London, but not executed. Rowland Taylor, who remained committed, was probably taken to Poultry Compter Prison in London after his examination by Gardiner. Taylor gave a fervent defence of clerical marriage, which put him at odds with the Roman Catholic Church.
On 29 January 1555, Taylor was brought before Gardiner again at St Mary's. The next day he was excommunicated and sentenced to death. He was stripped of his clerical garments in a symbolic manner, and offered a last supper with his family.
His reaction to his accusers, as recorded by the martyrologist John Foxe,, was this:
Final words
His wife awaited him in the early morning hours at St. Botolph's Aldgate churchyard in London; they exchanged a few last brief words and Margaret promised to be present for his burning in a couple of days. That same day, Taylor was handed over to the sheriff of Essex at Chelmsford. Before he was handed over, he spoke these words to his family:
Taylor was taken from London back to Hadleigh, and was held in the cellar of Lawenham Guildhall. Following [first] John Rogers on 4 February and Lawrence Saunders on 8 February, Taylor became Mary's third Protestant to be burned at the stake. His execution took place on 9 February 1555, at Aldham Common just north of Hadleigh. His wife, two daughters, and his son Thomas were present that day.
His final words to his son Thomas, as reported by Foxe:
A local butcher was ordered to set a torch to the wood but resisted. A couple of bystanders finally threw a lighted torch onto the wood. A perhaps sympathetic guard, named Warwick, struck Taylor's head with a halberd, which apparently killed him instantly. The fire consumed his body shortly thereafter. That same day, John Hooper was burned at the stake in Gloucester.
- Ancestral chain . . 13th great-grandfather
George Ensign SMITH 1898-1967 / Harriet Camilla ENSIGN / Martin Luther ENSIGN / Mary Bronson / Sylvanus Bronson / David Bronson / David Bronson / John (3) Taylor / John (Immigrant) (2) Taylor / John (I) Taylor / George William Taylor III / George Jr Taylor / Capt. Thomas Taylor Sr Taylor / Rev. Dr. Rowland "The Martyr" Taylor * Arch Deacon of Exeter, Canon of Rochester, Chancellor of London 1510-1555
See Also:
15th great-grandfather John Rogers 'the Martyr'
