I asked Google Gemini to tell me about an ancestor on my mother’s-side of our family, the Rev, John Rogers, Proto-martyr of the Marian Persecution in 1755, and here is their response:

The Reverend John Rogers was indeed the “proto-martyr” of the Marian Persecutions—the very first person executed under the revived heresy laws of Queen Mary I.

His execution on February 4, 1555, at Smithfield set a dark precedent for the remaining three and a half years of Mary’s reign, during which nearly 300 Protestants would meet the same fate. Far from a minor historical footnote, Rogers was a major intellectual driving force behind the English Reformation.

1. The Man Behind “Thomas Matthew”

Born around 1500 near Birmingham, Rogers graduated from Cambridge in 1526 and initially served as a Catholic priest. However, his life changed dramatically in 1534 when he moved to Antwerp to serve as a chaplain to English merchants.

In Antwerp, Rogers met William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale, both living in exile. Under Tyndale’s influence, Rogers abandoned Catholicism and embraced Protestantism. When Tyndale was betrayed and executed in 1536, he left behind an incomplete translation of the Old Testament.

Rogers courageously salvaged Tyndale’s manuscripts and compiled them with Coverdale’s work to publish a complete English Bible in 1537. Because Tyndale’s name was politically radioactive in England, Rogers published the work under the pseudonym “Thomas Matthew.” The resulting Matthew Bible featured the very first English commentary and prefaces, directly laying the groundwork for the later Great Bible and the King James Version.

2. The Conflict with Queen Mary

After spending several years leading a Lutheran congregation in Wittenberg, Germany—where he married and had a large family—Rogers returned to England in 1548 during the Protestant reign of Edward VI. He was appointed a prebendary and divinity lecturer at St. Paul’s Cathedral.

When the staunchly Catholic Queen Mary I ascended the throne in July 1553, Rogers did not flee. Instead, he preached a bold sermon at Paul’s Cross, warning the public against what he termed “pestilent Popery, idolatry, and superstition.”

The Crown reacted swiftly:

• August 1553: Placed under strict house arrest and stripped of his financial means.
• January 1554: Transferred to the notorious Newgate Prison, where he languished for a year alongside other prominent reformers.
• December 1554: Parliament re-enacted the medieval penal statutes against heresy.

3. Trial and Condemnation

In January 1555, Rogers was brought before a commission led by Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester. He was tried primarily for two “heretical” stances: denying the spiritual supremacy of the Pope and rejecting the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation (the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the Eucharist).

Rogers steadfastly refused to recant. He requested a final visit with his wife, Adriana, to make arrangements for their eleven children (the youngest of whom was a newborn nursing infant he had never seen), but Bishop Gardiner cruelly denied the request, stating that as a priest, Rogers’ marriage was unlawful.

4. Execution at Smithfield

On the morning of Monday, February 4, 1555, Rogers was formally stripped of his clerical garments and led to Smithfield.

As he was marched through the streets of London, an immense crowd gathered. Surprisingly to the authorities, the mood was not one of condemnation but of overwhelming support. Antoine de Noailles, the French Ambassador, witnessed the procession and wrote that the crowd cheered Rogers on to strengthen his resolve, noting that he walked “as if he was being led to a wedding.”

Along the route, his wife and eleven children stood waiting to say goodbye. The sight of his family did not break his resolve. When he reached the stake, a written royal pardon was placed before him on the condition that he recant. Rogers famously declared:

“That which I have preached, I will seal with my blood.”

As the fire took hold of his legs and shoulders, John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs records a striking detail: Rogers acted “as one feeling no smart,” rubbing his hands in the flames as if washing them in cold water. He held his hands toward heaven until the fire consumed them, remaining resolute until the end.

By breaking the ice, Rogers proved to the English Protestant movement that the resolve of their convictions could withstand the literal fires of the state, serving as a powerful symbol of resistance for those who followed him to the stake.