Construction of Martyrdom in the English Catholic Community, 1535–1603

Anne Dillon, Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, UK

• Contents: Introduction; The pseudomartyr debate; Spectaculum facti sumus Deo: the scaffold as text; Spectaculum facti sumus Deo: the scaffold as image; Martyrs and murals; Theatrum crudelitatum: the theatre of cruelties; A trewe reporte of the li(fe) and marterdome of Mrs Margarete Clitherowe; The treatise of the three conversions; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

'Anne Dillon writes about a fascinating topic in a lucid, accessible and straight-forward style....a pleasure to read...marks a major advance on previous scholarship and is the finest book on English Catholic martyrs and martyrologies in or out of print.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History '... the work, a mine of information on so many topics, is provided with excellent bibliographies, including manuscript sources, contemporary printed workds and 'second works' with a significant list of 'unpublished dissertations and theses'. The footnotes likewise are of excellent quality... the book is a worthy companion to the publications of Patrick Collinson, David Loades and others on the Protestant propagandists and publicists working on the same theme.' Recusant History '... a major addition to the field of early modern studies.' Heythrop 'Anne Dillon has contributed to a deeper understanding of the significance of martyrdom in Tudor times.' Church History ’Anne Dillon's important book, the first to look at the subject of the presentation of martyrdom from the English Catholic perspective, is greatly benefited by a considerable number of illustrations of images used in 16th and 17th century writings, and has an impressive bibliography and index.’ Revue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique