Ann Askew: Burned at the Stake in 1546 for Heresy

Anne Askew was born in 1521 at Stallingborough into what was a notable family of Lincolnshire. Her father Sir William Askew had forced her into a marriage with a Catholic man named Thomas Kyme when she was only 15. She was given to Kyme as a replacement for her sister that had died. Askew had rebelled against this marriage so far that she would not even take Thomas Kyme's last name when they married.

Askew was a member of the Reformed Church and it was her Protestant beliefs that had her burned at the stake for heresy. She would do much for the Protestant religion before being burned though.

Upon her return to London, Askew would go and preach out against the doctrine of transubstantiation. This made her husband basically throw her out of the house. She used the bible versus 1 Corinthians 7:15 as cause to ask for a divorce, claiming that her husband was non-believer. This did not work out for Askew.

When Askew went back to London she began to really push her Protestant beliefs by giving sermons and handing out Protestant books. Since these books were banned at the time, Askew as arrested. Her husband was ordered to take her back home to Lincolnshire. Askew would soon get away from her husband and be right back in London doing it all again.

Askew was arrested a second time and placed in the London Towers were Sir Anthony Kingston who was the Constable of the Towers at the time had been given orders to torture Askew. The torture was done to try and get Askew to start naming names. Askew was placed on the rack as part of her torture.

The rack was a torture device used in those days to extract a confession or other information they were seeking from the victim. The victim would be tied spread eagle to the rack and the interrogator would turn a handle and ratchet that was attached to the top roller. This would increase tension in the chains and induce pain in the victim's joints. With continued use of the rack a victim's limbs would not just merely be broken or dislocated, they would be completely ripped off the body.