Thomas Bilney: A forgotten hero

Early converts and their friends

A curiosity of the English Reformation is that so little has been written about Thomas Bilney of Cambridge. He was converted through reading Erasmus’ edition of the New Testament in Greek.

He was a friend of Hugh Latimer and was arrested for his preaching of the biblical gospel. He recanted and was released. Filled with remorse he began to preach in the open air and distribute the New Testament. Arrested again, he was executed in 1531, perhaps the first English Reformation martyr; a forgotten hero.