Fox's Book of Martyrs: Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant; Deaths of the Primitive Protestant MartyrsFoxe, John
HistoryHistory
Fox's Book of Martyrs: Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant; Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs
Foxe, John
Church history; Martyrs; Persecution
Lord Schilik was about fifty years of age, and was possessed of great
natural and acquired abilities. When he was told he was to be quartered,
and his parts scattered in different places, he smiled with great
serenity, saying, The loss of a sepulchre is but a trifling
consideration. A gentleman who stood by, crying, courage, my lord; he
replied, I have God's favour, which is sufficient to inspire any one
with courage: the fear of death does not trouble me; formerly I have
faced him in fields of battle to oppose Antichrist; and now dare face
him on a scaffold, for the sake of Christ. Having said a short prayer,
he told the executioner he was ready, who cut off his right hand and his
head, and then quartered him. His hand and head were placed upon the
high tower of Prague, and his quarters distributed in different parts of
the city.
Lord Viscount Winceslaus, who had attained the age of seventy years, was
equally respectable for learning, piety, and hospitality. His temper was
so remarkably patient, that when his house was broke open, his property
seized, and his estates confiscated, he only said, with great composure,
The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away. Being asked why he
could engage in so dangerous a cause as that of attempting to support
the elector Palatine Frederic against the power of the emperor, he
replied, I acted strictly according to the dictates of my conscience,
and, to this day, deem him my king. I am now full of years, and wish to
lay down life, that I may not be a witness of the farther evils which
are to attend my country. You have long thirsted for my blood, take it,
for God will be my avenger. Then approaching the block, he stroked his
long grey beard, and said, Venerable hairs, the greater honour now
attends ye, a crown of martyrdom is your portion. Then laying down his
head, it was severed from his body at one stroke, and placed upon a pole
in a conspicuous part of the city.
Lord Harant was a man of good sense, great piety, and much experience
gained by travel, as he had visited the principal places in Europe,
Asia, and Africa. Hence he was free from national prejudices and had
collected much knowledge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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