1. Why were people willing to die for their
beliefs in the 16th Century?
The Martyrs
By Mr RJ Huggins
www.SchoolHistory.co.uk

2. What did people believe?
• Both Catholics and Protestants believed that
only members of their own religion would go
to heaven.
• Each tried to convince the other to change
religion in order to save their souls from Hell.
• Hell was a place of everlasting torture.

3. Source A

4. Source B

5. Source C
Who has been sent to Hell in this Source?

6. Why were there mass murders of
both Catholics & Protestants?
• Members of each faith believed that they
could save peoples’ souls by getting them to
change religion through torture.
However
Both Catholics and Protestants were prepared
to die for their beliefs in order to avoid Hell.

7. French Catholics Murdering
Protestants in Paris
• How has the artist made
the painting look
horrific?
• Was the artist a Catholic
or a Protestant? Why?

8. English Martyrs
• The execution of William Tyndale in 1536. He was executed
for translating the Bible into English so that ordinary people
could read it.

10. The Act of Supremacy
• Henry VIII had
everybody who refused
to accept him as head of
the Church of England
executed for treason.
• These monks are being
hung, drawn and
quartered

12. Cuthbert Simmons
All you have to do is become a
Catholic for the pain to stop.

13. What effect did the burning of the Martyrs
have during Mary’s Reign?
‘We shall this day light
such a candle, by God’s
Grace in England, as I
trust shall never be put out’

14. Extended Writing
• Why were people willing to die for their
beliefs?
• Remember to include:
• Peoples’ beliefs about Hell
• Why were people afraid to change their religion?
• What effect did the burning of the martyrs have on the
growth of Protestantism?
Illustrate your answer with a diagram of someone being burnt
to death with a thought bubble to show why they were willing
to die for their beliefs