John Bradford - wikipedia John Bradford For other people named John Bradford, see John Bradford ( disambiguation ). John Bradford 1510 Blackley, Manchester July 1, 1555 ( age 44 - 45 ) Smithfield, London Education Catharine Hall, University of Cambridge and Pembroke College, Cambridge Church Church of England Ordained 1550 Offices held prebendary John Bradford ( 1510 -- 1555 ) was an English Reformer, prebendary of St. Paul 's, and martyr. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for alleged crimes against Mary Tudor. He was burned at the stake on 1 July 1555. Contents 1 Life 2 Death 3 Phrase attribution 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Life Bradford in prison with bishops from Foxe 's Book of Martyrs Bradford was born in Blackley, Manchester in 1510. Owing to his financially stable family, he was educated at a good grammar school. Talented with numbers and money, he later served under John Harrington of Exton in Rutland as a servant. Through his good influence and abilities in auditing and writing, he gained favour and trust with his employer and at the Siege of Montreuil in 1544, occupied the office of paymaster of the English army during the wars of Henry VIII. Later, he became a law student at the Inner Temple in London. Through the contact and preachings of a fellow student, he became acquainted with and converted to the Protestant faith. This caused him to abandon his legal studies and in 1548, he took up theology at the Catharine Hall ( now St Catharine 's College ), University of Cambridge. In 1549 he was awarded his MA and in that same year was appointed to a fellowship at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Bradford Appeasing the Riot at St. Paul 's Cross At this institution he was often referred to with the nickname `` Holy Bradford '' not from malice but out of respect for his dedication to God and his unselfish attitude. In August 1550 he was ordained deacon by Bishop Nicholas Ridley and appointed as his personal chaplain. He began preaching in churches in London under the mentorship of Ridley and Hugh Latimer. His gifts in preaching the Biblical faith led to his appointment in 1551 as Chaplain to King Edward VI and Prebendary of St Paul 's Cathedral. He continued as a Fellow of Pembroke and as a roving preacher, mainly in London, Lancashire and Cheshire. Following the death of Edward in 1553, Mary Tudor ascended to the throne bringing the threat of reprisals against opponents of Papal Catholicism. In the first month of the new monarch 's reign, Bradford was arrested and imprisoned on the seemingly trivial charge of `` trying to stir up a mob '' and committed to the Tower of London. During his time in prison, he continued to write religious works and preach to all who would listen. For a time whilst in the Tower, Bradford was put in a cell with three other reformers, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer. Their time was spent in careful study of the New Testament. Death On 31 January 1555, Bradford was tried by the Roman Catholic Church and condemned to death. Bradford was taken to Newgate Prison to be burned at the stake on 1 July. A large crowd delayed the execution, which had been scheduled for 4 o'clock in the morning, as many who admired Bradford came to witness his death. He was chained to the stake at Smithfield with a young man, John Leaf. Before the fire was lit, he begged forgiveness of any he had wronged, and offered forgiveness to those who had wronged him. He then turned to Leaf and said, `` Be of good comfort brother ; for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night ! '' A century later, in his Worthies of England, Thomas Fuller wrote that he endured the flame `` as a fresh gale of wind in a hot summer 's day, confirming by his death the truth of that doctrine he had so diligently and powerfully preached during his life. '' Bradford is commemorated at the Marian Martyrs ' Monument in Smithfield, London. Phrase attribution There is a 19th - century tradition tracing to Bradford the idiomatic `` There but for the grace of God go I '' as an expression of humility and reliance on God 's grace rather than his own morality. The editor of The Writings of John Bradford, Aubrey Townsend, notes this in his preface : The familiar story, that, on seeing evil - doers taken to the place of execution, he was wont to exclaim, `` But for the grace of God there goes John Bradford '', is a universal tradition which has overcome the lapse of time. -- vol. 2 ( 1843 ) p. xliii The tradition of attribution of the phrase to Bradford dates to at least the early 19th century, as it is found in A treatise on prayer by Edward Bickersteth ( 1822 ) : The pious Martyr Bradford, when he saw a poor criminal led to execution, exclaimed, `` there, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford ''. He knew that the same evil principles were in his own heart which had brought the criminal to that shameful end. -- p. 60 While the phrase, or its attribution to Bradford, can not be traced to before 1800, Townsend notes that there is a 17th - century attribution of a similar sentiment to Bradford, demonstrating how `` by the sight of others ' sins, men may learn to bewail their own sinfulness ''. According to this tradition, Bradford, `` when he saw any drunk or heard any swear, &c., would railingly complain, ' Lord I have a drunken head ; Lord, I have a swearing heart. ' '' But there are other attributions for the phrase `` there but for the grace of God '' ; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ( in the voice of Sherlock Holmes ) attributes the phrase to Richard Baxter ( 1615 -- 1691 ) in The Boscombe Valley Mystery ( 1891 ) : Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms ? I never hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baxter 's words, and say, `` There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes. '' The phrase has also been attributed to John Newton ( 1725 -- 1807 ) and in Catholic tradition to Philip Neri ( 1515 -- 1595 ). See also List of people burned as heretics Protestant Reformers References Jump up ^ `` Bradford, John ( BRDT548J ) ''. A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Jump up ^ Alumni Cantabrigienses : A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates... By John Venn Jump up ^ From an 1887 edition of Foxe 's Book of Martyrs illustrated by Kronheim. According to Foxe, a Catholic speaker, Mr. Bourne, had nearly driven his Protestant listeners to riot, but Bradford came to his rescue and calmed the mob. Jump up ^ John Foxe ( 1887 republication ), Book of Martyrs, Frederick Warne and Co, London and New York, pp. 160 -- 61 ^ Jump up to : `` John Bradford ''. Britannia.com. Britannia Biographies. Retrieved 2014 - 10 - 10. Jump up ^ see C.H. Stuart, Latimer : Apostle to the English. Zondervan, 1986. Jump up ^ Stoeffler, F. Ernest. 1971. The rise of evangelical pietism. ) p. 43. Jump up ^ John Bradford 's memorial page on Find A Grave. Retrieved on 29 January 2008. Jump up ^ also mentioned by The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ( vol. 6 ( 1885 ), p. 159 ), `` There is a tradition that on seeing some criminals going to execution he exlaimed : ' But for the grace of God there goes John Bradford. ' '' Jump up ^ Ralph Venning, The heathen improved, an appendix to Canaan 's Flowings, sect. 110, p. 222, London. 1653. Jump up ^ the suggestion was put forward, apparently from memory, by George Borrow in his influential Lavengro : The Scholar -- the Gypsy -- the Priest, Part 2, 1851, p. 37 : `` it was old John Newton, I think, who, when he saw a man going to be hanged, said : ' There goes John Newton, but for the grace of God ! '' Jump up ^ `` There thou goest, Philip, but for the grace of God ! '' Patrick Augustine Sheehan, Under the Cedars and Stars ( 1903 ), Part H, chapter 20. John Bradford ( 1853 ). The writings of John Bradford Volume 1. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. John Bradford ( 1853 ). The writings of John Bradford Volume 2. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. External links Look up there but for the grace of God go I in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikiquote has quotations related to : John Bradford Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Bradford. Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about John Bradford. Extensive Biography, Writings, and a picture of John Bradford A brief article on the life and martyrdom of JohnBradford Biography of Bradford Sketch of the execution of John Bradford Bradford in Foxe 's Book of Martyrs Image Collection of Bradford from the National Portrait Gallery The Old Man and the New by Bradford John Bradford at Find a Grave VIAF : 62756065 LCCN : n81020212 ISNI : 0000 0000 6324 1398 GND : 134119444 SUDOC : 079549993 IATH : w66w9gd7 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Bradford&oldid=796739285 '' Categories : Protestant Reformers 16th - century English Anglican priests English theologians Executed British people People executed for heresy People executed under Mary I of England Alumni of St Catharine 's College, Cambridge People educated at Manchester Grammar School 1510 births 1555 deaths Executed people from Greater Manchester 16th - century Protestant martyrs People executed by the Kingdom of England by burning People from Blackley Protestant martyrs of England Hidden categories : Articles with hCards Find a Grave template with ID not in Wikidata Use dmy dates from December 2011 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Hrvatski Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 22 August 2017, at 19 : 37. 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Question: who wrote there but for the grace of god go i
Answer: Bradford