NEN Gallery

John Rogers was the first Religious Martyr burned at the stake at Smithfield, England under the rule of Queen Mary I. He was born in 1507 at Aston, Warwickshire and executed on February 4th, 1555. He took Holy Orders in the Roman Catholic Church but, in 1534, he was called to Antwart Brabant, and was converted to the Protestant faith. He translated the Bible into the English language and edited the publication of the first complete edition of both the Old and New Testament in English. He returned from Saxony to England in 1548, and was made rector of St. Margaret Moyses, vicar of St. Pancras in the Cathedral of St. Paul, London. He was held in the Clink Gaol until being taken to his execution.