John Bradford - Life

Life

Bradford was born in Blackley, Manchester in 1510. Owing to his financially stable family, he was educated at a good grammar school. Talented with numbers and money, he later served under John Harrington of Exton in Rutlandshire as a servant. Through his good influence and abilities in auditing and writing, he gained favour and trust with his employer and at the siege of Montreuil in 1544, occupied the office of paymaster of the English army during the wars of Henry VIII of England. Later, he became a law student at the Inner Temple in London. Through the contact and preachings of a fellow student, he became acquainted with and converted to the Protestant faith. This caused him to abandon his legal studies and in 1548, he took up theology at the Catharine Hall (now St Catharine's College), University of Cambridge and then later a fellowship at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

At this institution he was often referred to with the nickname "Holy Bradford" not from malice but out of respect for his dedication to God and his unselfish attitude. In 1550, during the reign of Edward VI of England, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Nicholas Ridley to serve as a roving chaplain, preaching mainly in Lancashire and Cheshire. Following Edward VI's early death in 1553, the Catholic Mary Tudor ascended to the throne.

In the first month of the new monarch's reign, Bradford, who had become somewhat well known for his devotion to the Church of England, was arrested and imprisoned on a seemingly trivial charge of "trying to stir up a mob". Whilst confined to the Tower of London, it was known he would not be released. During his time in prison, he continued to write religious works and preach to all who would listen. At one point, he was put in a cell with three other reformers, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, Bishop Nicholas Ridley (the same Bishop who had ordained him), and Hugh Latimer. Their time was spent in careful study of the New Testament. All of them, including Bradford, were to become martyrs.