JOHN HOOPER
JOHN HOOPER
During the reign of King Edward, John Hooper served as bishop of two dioceses, always acting as Paul instructed bishops to act in his Epistle to Timothy. He never looked for personal gain, only for the care and salvation of his flocks, giving away any money that came his way. Twice I [Foxe] saw Hooper’s house filled with beggars and poor people who were eating at a table filled with meat, an event a servant told me took place every evening before Hooper sat down to eat his own dinner.
Hooper served as bishop for more than two years under Edward. When Edward died and Mary was crowned queen, Hooper was one of the first ordered to report to London and imprisoned. He remained there for eighteen months, gravely ill most of the time, forced to spend his own money to obtain food. On March 19, 1554, Hooper was called before the bishops of Winchester, London, Durham, Llandaff, and Chichester and deprived of his bishoprics. On January 22, 1555, the bishop of Winchester called him in to demand he forsake his Protestant beliefs and accept the pope as the head of the Church of England. If he did so, he would be pardoned—as many other English churchmen had been. Hooper refused.
On January 28, 1555, Hooper appeared before the bishop of Winchester and others and was given another chance to accept the Catholic Church. This was the same day that Rogers was appearing, and they met outside as they left the church with their guards.
“Brother Rogers!” Hooper exclaimed. “Should we take this matter in hand and begin to fry these bundles of wood?”
“Yes, sir,” Rogers replied, “by God’s grace.”
“Be sure, God will give strength.”
Hooper was returned to Newgate Prison for six days on January 29; on February 4 the bishop of London stripped him of all church offices, and Hooper was transported to Gloucester to be burned.
On February 5, Hooper was brought to the stake. He had been given packages of gunpowder by the guard to hasten his death and lessen his suffering. These he put under his arms and between his legs. Three irons were brought to fasten him to the stake—one for his neck, one for his waist, one for his legs—but Hooper said they weren’t necessary. Just the one around his waist was used.
After Hooper forgave the men who made the fire, it was lit, but the fire builder had used green wood, and even when it finally caught, the wind blew the flames away from Hooper. A second fire was lit, but it only burned low, not flaring up as it should have. When the fire was lit the third time, the gunpowder on Hooper went off, but even that didn’t do much good because of the wind.
Even when Hooper’s mouth was black and his tongue swollen, his lips continued to move until they shrank to the gums. He knocked on his breast with his hands until one of his arms fell off. Then he knocked with the other—fat, water, and blood dropping off the ends of his fingers—until his hand stuck to the iron around his waist.
Hooper was in the fire for over forty-five minutes, suffering patiently even when the lower part of his body burned off and his intestines spilled out. Now he reigns as a blessed martyr in the joys of heaven that are prepared for the faithful in Christ.