Thomas Brice (martyrologist) facts for kids

Thomas Brice (born 1536, died 1571) was an English writer and a religious leader. He lived in the late 1500s. He was a Church of England clergyman, which means he worked for the church. He also wrote about people who died for their beliefs, and he was a poet.

Thomas Brice's Life

During the time of Queen Mary I, Thomas Brice was involved in an important and risky job. Queen Mary was a Catholic ruler, and she did not like Protestant ideas. Brice helped bring Protestant books from a city called Wesel (in modern-day Germany) into places like Kent and London in England. These books shared Protestant beliefs.

Because of this, the government watched him very closely. They tried to catch him, but he managed to escape many times.

Later, after Queen Mary's reign, Brice became an official church leader. On April 25, 1560, he was made a deacon. Then, on June 4, 1560, he became a priest. This was done by Edmund Grindal, who later became a very important bishop in London. After this, Brice worked as a curate (a type of assistant priest) in a village called Ramsden Bellhouse in Essex.

Thomas Brice's Writings

Thomas Brice is best known for a book he wrote in 1559 called A Compendious Regester. This book was dedicated to a nobleman named William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton.

The Register of Martyrs

The main part of A Compendious Regester is called the Register of Martyrs. This section lists people who were killed for their Protestant beliefs between February 4, 1555, and November 17, 1558. It is written in 77 short poems, each with six lines. These poems are sometimes called "doggerel" because they have a simple, often humorous, or rough style.

A famous writer named John Foxe found Brice's Register very helpful. Foxe used it when he was writing his own much larger and more famous book, Acts and Monuments, which was also about martyrs.

Other Works and Editions

At the end of Brice's book, there is a religious poem titled The Wishes of the Wise. It has 20 verses, each with four lines.

The first version of A Compendious Regester was printed by a man named Richard Adams. However, Adams was fined by the Stationers' Company (a group that controlled printing) because he printed it without permission. Another secret version might have been printed around the same time, but no copies of it exist today.

A second edition of the book was printed in 1597. It was made "at the earnest request of divers godly and well-disposed citizens," meaning many religious and good people wanted it reprinted. Parts of Brice's book can be found in other collections of poetry from that time. The entire work was also reprinted in a collection by Edward Arber.

Lost Books and an Epitaph

Records from the Stationers' Company mention two other books that are thought to be by Thomas Brice, but we don't know anything about them today. One was called The Courte of Venus moralized, and the other was Songs and Sonnettes.

In 1570, a printer named John Allde received permission to print An Epitaphe on Mr. Brice. An epitaph is a short text written in memory of a dead person. This Mr. Brice was very likely the same Thomas Brice who wrote the Register.