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Rev. John Rogers "The Martyr"

Rev. John Rogers "The Martyr"'s Geni Profile

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John Rogers
Also Known As:	"John "The Martyr" Rogers", "Thomas Matthews -", "The Martyr", "the Martyr"
Birthdate:	February 04, 1507
Birthplace:	Deritend, Birmingham, England (United Kingdom)
Death:	February 04, 1554 (47) Smithfield, London, England (United Kingdom) (First martyr under Bloody Queen Mary I of England, clergyman, Bible translator, Commentator, Translator and printer of the English language bible. )
Place of Burial:	Smithfield, Greater London, UK
Immediate Family:	Son of John Rogers, of Deritend and Margaret Rogers Husband of Adriana Rogers Father of Susan Short; Daniel Rogers; John Rogers, Proctor of Civil Law; Ambrose Rogers; William Rogers and 10 others Brother of William Rogers, of Deritend; Eleanor Mylward; Joan Broke; George Rogers and Edward Rogers
Occupation:	First martyr under Queen Mary I of England, clergyman, Bible translator, Commentator, Translator and printer of the English language bible. The first person executed by Bloody Mary., Esq, Christian Minister, Married in Belguim, Roman Cardinal
Label:	Details: His parents were John Rogers, of Deritend and Margaret Rogers the daughter of John Wyatt, a tanner from Deritend, Birmingham. His mother was NOT Lady Margaret Lee (née Wyatt), lady-in-waiting.

Managed by:	Private User
Last Updated:	April 28, 2022

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Historical records matching Rev. John Rogers "The Martyr"

John Rogers in GenealogieOnline Family Tree Index

John Rev Rogers in GenealogieOnline Family Tree Index

Rev John "The Martyr" Rogers in GenealogieOnline Family Tree Index

John Rogers in GenealogieOnline Family Tree Index

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Immediate Family

About Rev. John Rogers "The Martyr"

His parents were John Rogers, of Deritend and Margaret Rogers the daughter of John Wyatt, a tanner from Deritend, Birmingham. His mother was NOT Lady Margaret Lee (née Wyatt), lady-in-waiting.

The will of John Rogers of Derrattend in the lordship of brymyncham & of the p'ishe of Ashton, dated 6 Dec 1540 and proved 25 Feb 1541, mentions: "my Son John Rogers p'ste if he Do c'm into theis p'ties to my tother oversear of this my p'sent will"

http://www.rogersdna.com/history/index.htm

Summary:

Relationships:

Special note from Ben M. Angel: The Thomas Rogers Society, Richmond Family Ancestry, and the Mayflower Society all regard the supposed descent from John "the Martyr" to Thomas Rogers, Mayflower passenger, as having been invented. Until that perception by these societies is changed, the field of John Rogers' descendants in this tree will likewise reflect this view. If you have primary source proof (and not the discredited suggestions of R. Walton, as given in the 1911 book "Lineage of the Rogers Family" by John Cox Underwood) showing this descent to actually exist, please feel free to present it.

Parents:

Father: John Rogers (he was a "lorimer" or a maker of bits and spurs, father from Sutton Vallens, Kent, England; had a brother named Nicholas and a nephew named William)
Mother: Margery Wyatt Rogers (daughter of a tanner from Erdington and Sutton Coldfield)

Siblings:

2. William Rogers
3. Edward Rogers
4. Ellenor Rogers Mylward, m. Robert Mylward of Alnechurch, Worcestershire, England
5 Joan Rogers, m. (Unknown)

Spouse:

Adriana Pratt, alias de Weyden (b. probably in Antwerpen, Herzogtum Brabant, Heiliges Römisches Reich, within present Région flamande, Belgium)

Children:

1. Daniel Rogers, b. 1538 - Wittenberg, Duchy of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire, graduated Oxford in August 1561; later of Sudbury, Middlesex, England; d. 1591. Served as Clerk of the Council to Queen Elizabeth, and as her Ambassador to the United Provinces of the Netherlands and Denmark. m. Susan Yetsworth (daughter of Nicasius Yetsworth, Clerk of the Signet, and Secretary for the French Tongue). Children: son Francis and daughter Posthuma Rogers Spears.
2. John Rogers, b. 1540 - Wittenberg, Duchy of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire. Entered St. John's College Cambridge 17 May 1558. Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College Cambridge 1563, becoming a Fellow. Entered Master of Arts program in 1567. Proctor of the Civil Law, became LLD in 1574, and on 21 November entered College of Advocates. Served as diplomat in the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, among other places. Knighted 23 July 1603, died shortly after. m. Mary Leete (daughter of William Leete, DCL of Everden, Cambridgeshire, England). Children (8): daughter Cassandra, daughter Elizabeth, Heckuba, son Constantine, son John, son Edward, daughter Mary, son Varro
3. Ambrose Rogers
4. Samuel Rogers
5. Philip Rogers
6. Bernard Rogers
7. Augustine Rogers
8. Barnaby Rogers
9. Susan Rogers Short, m. John Short (merchant of London)
10. Elizabeth Rogers Proctor, m. James Proctor (Chancellor of Salisbury)
11. Hester Rogers Ball b. c1554, m. Henry Ball (physician)

Basic information:

Birth: circa 1500 - Deritend (within present Birmingham), Aston Parish, Warwickshire (Present West Midlands), England

Baptism: Unknown

Marriage: Late 1536 or early 1537 (according to Joseph Lemuel Chester "not far from the time of the publication of the Matthews Bible").

Death: 4 February 1555 - Smithfield, London, Middlesex, England, burned at the stake for "heretically denying the Christian character of the Church of Rome and the real presence in the sacrament" (according to English Wikipedia).

Burial: Marian Martyrs' Memorial, Smithfield, London, Middlesex, England (according to Find A Grave)

Occupation:

To 1525 Student at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge.
1525-1532 Junior Canon at Cardinal's College (present Christ College) Oxford.
1532-1534 Rector at the Prior and Convent of St. Mary Overy in Southwark
1534-1537 Chaplain for the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London in Antwerpen, Duchy of Brabant, Holy Roman Empire.
1537-1548 Exile in Wittenberg, Duchy of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire.
1548-1550 Religious writer in London
1550-1551 Rector of St. Margaret Moyses in London
1550-1555 Vicar of St. Sepulchre in London
1551-1553 Prebendary of St. Pancras at St. Paul's
1553-1555 Prisoner at Newgate Prison, London.

Alternate names: John Rogers, Reverend John Rogers, John "The Martyr", Thomas Matthews (nom de plume for the English translation Bible he had printed in Antwerpen, could be said to be shared with fellow translators William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale), John Rogers alias Matthews (name under which he was charged for sedition).

Timeline:

In 1525, obtained his bachelor of arts degree from Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. He was chosen that same year to attend the Cardinal's College (present Christ College), Oxford. Shortly after arrival there, he became a junior canon and went into the holy orders.
On 26 December 1532, he became Rector at the Prior and Convent of St. Mary Overy in Southwark. ("John Rogers, priest, was admitted to the parochial church of Holy Trinity the Less, in the City of London, vacant by the natural demise of Master Thomas Lane, the last rector of the same, at the presentation of those religious men, the Prior and Convent of the Blessed Mary Overy, in Southwark, in the Diocese of Winchester") He retained this position until 24 October 1534, being replaced by "Master John Darrell, Bachelor in Degrees" (who became rector at the "free resignation of Dominus John Rogers, the last rector" etc.).
In late 1534 (probably November), he joined the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London as its Chaplain, relocating to the home of English merchant Thomas Poyntz in Antwerpen, Duchy of Brabant, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, within present Région flamande, Belgium. This was not long after the execution of John Frith, who had been helping the exiled William Tyndale with an English translation of the New Testament.
Before April 1535 (according to Joseph Lemuel Chester), he converted to Protestantism, a faith in existence for only 18 years at the time, from Catholicism at the secret behest of the exiled William Tyndale (likely he had already been of a mind to do so when he resigned as Rector of St. Mary Overy), and began working with the elder clergyman to translate the Bible into English (thereby making it available to the masses, one of the distinguishing innovations to the faith made by Martin Luther) under the pen name of Thomas Matthew. Tyndale was arrested in either April or May, and executed in the following year for "heresy" (adherence to the Protestant faith).
In 1537, not long after his marriage with Adriana Pratt, alias de Weyden, he published his Bible translation under the pen name of Thomas Matthew (in actuality, the New Testament was translated by William Tyndale, much of the Old Testament by Myles Coverdale - still in England under the protection of Lord Thomas Cromwell -, and the Prayer of Manasses by John Rogers, who also wrote up a preface, some marginal notes, a calendar and almanac before arranging publication). Once printed by Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch (before July, when the first copies reach England), he relocated to Wittenberg, Herzogtum Sachsen, Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation, birthplace of Martin Luther and location of the Schlosskirche where he posted his 95 Theses that started the Protestant faith, then under the rule of co-Electors Johann Friedrich I. "der Großmütige" ("the Magnanimous") von Sachsen and Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Coburg. Likely this was out of concerns for the safety of both his new family and himself following Tyndale's martyrdom in Vilvoorde, Duchy of Brabant.
In 1542, the Thomas Matthews Bible is suppressed as a "prohibited dangerous book" in England.
On 28 January 1547, King Henry VIII dies and the 9-year-old Edward VI succeeds to the throne of England. Rogers delays his return to the now-friendlier England from Wittenberg in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
By 1 August 1548, John returns to England and stays with printer Edward Whitchurch in London. Likely he was by himself, scouting out the atmosphere in England before sending for his family to follow.
In the 5 days before 2 May 1550, John Rogers is approached by a friend of Joan Bocher (or Knel) of Kent, who had been convicted of heresy for her adherence to Anabaptist ideas. The friend begged Rogers to assist in convincing the court for a pardon and for assistance in keeping her in isolation while priests continue to convince her to return to the faith. Rogers refused, saying that she deserved death. When the friend asked for help in finding another method other than burning at the stake that would be more humane, Rogers suggested that this was the "most gentle" means of execution for her crime. The friend in anger warned that Rogers himself might yet "have his hands full of this so gentle fire." (Likely, his intervention, had he so desired to intervene, would not have changed anything, despite his possible former classmate Nicholas Ridley becoming Bishop of London only weeks before.)
On 10 May 1550, hardly a month after fellow future Marian martyr Nicholas Ridley becomes Bishop of London, John Rogers is appointed Rector of St. Margaret Moyses and Vicar of St. Sepulchre in that city. The latter was presented to him by Nicasius Yertswiert, whose daughter would one day marry John's son Daniel. He replaced the deceased Robert Johnson and William Copeland, respectively.
On 24 August 1551, John Rogers is made Prebendary of St. Paul's in London (he was assigned the stall of St. Pancras, following the death of John Royston). He is later chosen as Divinity Reader.
On 10 September 1551, John Rogers resigns as Rector of St. Mary Moyses to concentrate more fully as Prebendary at St. Paul's.
In 1552, John Rogers' family are naturalized by Act of Parliament.
On 1 November 1552, under the Act of Uniformity, the Protestant Reformation under Edward VI reached its height, implementing the use of a prayer book created by Thomas Cranmer, soon-to-be Archbishop of Canterbury. This serves as the height of pre-Marian protestantism in England.
In February 1553, the 15-year-old King Edward VI comes down with consumption.
On 7 May 1553, after months of difficulty breathing and near death conditions, King Edward VI appears to recover.
On 21 May 1553, aware that he probably did not have long to live despite his recent recovery, the young King Edward VI draws up a "Devise for the Succession" naming 16-year-old Lady Jane Grey as his designated heir to the throne, passing over his 37-year-old sister Princess Mary. In part, this is based on Mary's support of a return of English Catholicism, and Jane's support of Protestantism. Further, Mary and her sister Elizabeth were declared "bastards" by Henry VIII.
On 21 June 1553, after much fighting, Parliament signs off on the Devise for the Succession.
On 6 July 1553, five days after making a final public appearance at Greenwich Palace, King Edward VI dies. Rumors abound that his death was actually by poison, even though doctors opening his chest cavity describe the cause of death as a "disease of the lungs". Princess Mary takes refuge at her estates in Norfolk, and four days later, Lady Jane Grey is taken to the Tower of London and proclaimed Queen.
On 9 July 1553, Bishop of London Nicholas Ridley, in his Sunday sermon at Paul's Cross, condemns Princess Mary as being a Papist who would deliver England to the hands of foreigners, and throws his support behind Lady Jane Grey. Despite this, murmurs of discontent spread in the English capital.
On 19 July 1553, as Princess Mary advances from Framlingham Castle in Surrey against London with 20,000 men, the Privy Council abandons Lady Jane Grey and proclaims Mary Queen. The streets of London rejoice.
On 26 July 1553, Queen Mary orders the arrest of several Reformers, including Bishop of London Nicholas Ridley. Anti-Reformist Gilbert Bourne is appointed to succeed him as Bishop of London, and a couple weeks later becomes her leading counsel on religious matters.
On 3 August 1553, Mary makes her entrance to London.
On 6 August 1553, John Rogers preaches on last time at Paul's Cross, exhorting the need to remain loyal to the Reformation as they had been so under Edward VI. According to Joseph Lemuel Chester, he had already accepted his fate as a martyr. Bishop of London Gilbert Bourne begins preaching at Paul's Cross the following week.
On 16 August 1553, John Rogers is brought before a tribunal to be tried on charges for which he had been acquitted a couple days before. He is placed under house arrest as a result of the proceedings. Two days later, on a Friday, Queen Mary issues a proclamation prohibiting open reading of scripture by any parish curate unless given license to do so by the Queen herself.
On 21 August 1553, Queen Mary prohibits any questions of decisions by her and her council over religion. Effectively, Reform in England ends for the duration of Mary's reign.
On 10 October 1553, the arrested John Rogers is removed as Prebendary of St. Pancras at St. Paul's and is replaced by Thomas Chetteham. This removes the financial means by which he can support his home incarceration.
On 13 November 1553, Lady Jane Grey is tried and sentenced to death by burning at the stake. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, intervenes on Lady Jane's behalf, and the execution is stayed. Three days later, as Queen Mary prepares to marry Philip II of Spain, Parliamentarian leaders attempt to sway the Queen to choose an English suitor instead. When she refuses, Sir Thomas Wyatt prepares an uprising.
On 26 January 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt marches on Rochester in Kent and declares an uprising against Queen Mary. Trained bands sent from Norfolk end up joining the uprising, creating an army of 4,000 that marches on London. The day after Wyatt's arrival in Rochester, John Rogers is taken from his home and put into prison at Newgate.
On 3 February, 1554, after delivering terms that the Tower of London be surrendered and Queen Mary be put under Sir Thomas Wyatt's control, London elects to support the Queen and defend London Bridge from Wyatt's army. He is driven from Southwark by additional supporters of the Queen. The rebellion fails, and two months later, after capture and trial, Wyatt is executed, drawn, and quartered.
On 12 February 1554, after the ambassador of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, advises the response to Wyatt's Rebellion, Lady Jane Grey is taken from the Tower of London and beheaded in private on Tower Green. Several other executions followed as the Queen begins earning her epitaph of "Bloody Mary".
On 10 April 1554, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley, deposed leaders of the English Reformation, are taken from London to Oxford to interrogated by leading doctors of the university there about their religious doctrine.
On 12 November 1554, a petition is read in Parliament asking that the various prelates, including John Rogers, who were arrested during Queen Mary's reign, be freed of their own recognizance. The plea is denied as Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, prepares for further actions against the imprisoned reformers.
On 30 November 1554, Parliament receives Papal Legate Cardinal Reginald Pole, who grants absolution to the government of England for its earlier participation in the Reformation Schism. England is effectively Catholic again.
On 20 January 1555, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, is granted power by Parliament to dispatch leaders of the English Reformation as he saw fit. Two days later, the trials start with 11 of the leading Reformers, Rogers included, brought before his court, held at Gardiner's house in Southwark. Rogers regarded himself as still a member of the Catholic Church, but said that he considered Christ to be the head of the Church, with the Bishop of Rome (Pope) having no more spiritual authority than any other bishop. He further declares that he had never offended or disobeyed the Queen, but that he was willing to receive her mercy. He is ordered back to Newgate.
On 25 January 1555, those priests that declared their subordination to the Pope are given a celebration in London near the place where those Reformation leaders still resisting were being held.
On 28 January 1555, John Rogers is examined by a panel led by Papal Legate Cardinal Reginald Pole, who carries out two days of similar questioning in front of a crowd. His answers are essentially the same as was given before. He is given a night in the Southwark Compter to reconsider his position with respect to the "Romish Church".
On 29 January 1555, in front of a screened anti-Reformist crowd, after refusing to recant his answers from the day before, John Rogers is found guilty of "heretically denying the Christian character of the Church of Rome and the real presence in the sacrament" (the former conviction based on his lack of regard for the supremacy of the Pope, and the latter conviction being a mis-interpretation of his disregard of the importance of the question about whether the communion bread and wine were really the body and blood of Christ). He is excommunicated and then sentenced to burn at the stake. He is denied the right to speak with his wife, Adriana Pratt (alias de Weyden) Rogers, about what would be best to do for her and their 10 children. He is sent to the Clink Prison in Southwark for the evening.
Early morning on 30 January 1555, John Rogers is led from the Clink Prison down a darkened street (all lamps were extinguished to mask the identity of the condemned). The route of travel led through the house of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester (to disguise the route of travel), then through the churchyard of St. Mary Overy and then across the London Bridge to Newgate Prison. Despite orders to convey the prisoner in darkness, Rogers' followers lined the route, lighting the streets with candles and committing prayers for the prisoner as he passed. He is kept in solitary confinement for the duration of his stay at Newgate.
On the morning of 4 February 1555, John Rogers is woken from deep sleep, and is ordered from his cell ("if this be the day, I needn't tie my points"). Despite this, without the chance for morning ablutions, he is dressed in full canonicals of his former office and then publicly stripped of them. One last time, Rogers asks to see his wife, and once again, the request is denied. He was taken from Newgate Prison to the stake by David Woodroffe, a sheriff with little mercy for those left to him for execution (particularly, among other Reformers as with Rogers). When told that he was a heretic by Woodroffe, who then said, "I will never pray for you," Rogers responded "But I will pray for you." They leave the prison between 9 and 10 a.m., and the way is lined with his supporters who shout words of praise and weep at his passing. Also along the route is his wife Adriana with 10 children and one infant that was born after his imprisonment. As he is tied to the stake and wood laid at his feet, he exhorts to his followers to remain true to the faith and remember his teachings. He is presented with a written pardon from Queen Mary, which would have been executed if he had accepted the Roman Church; naturally he refused. When the fires are lit, and his hands are freed, he gestures as if he is washing his hands in the flames, and then stretches his arms toward heaven, where they remain until he loses consciousness. A week after his death at Smithfield, George Bullock is appointed to succeed him as Vicar of St. Sepulchre in London. Despite the terror of the regime of "Bloody Mary," it is said that few Reformers defected to the Roman religion following the death of John Rogers, and after the Queen's death, England became a Protestant country.

http://www.rogersdna.com/history/index.htm

From the visitation of Warwick, 1563 it is recorded that John and Adrian Rogers had eleven children, thus given:

1. Susan Rogers, born in 1537 at Branbant, Antwerp, Belgium who married John Short, merchant of London
2. Daniel Rogers, was born abt 1538 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland. He came to England with his family in 1548 and was naturalized with them, by special Act of Parliament, in 1552. After his father’s death, he returned to Wittenberg and studied for some time under Melancthon, but came back to England eary in Elizabeth’s reign, and completed his education at Oxford where he took his degrees as early as August 1561. He was of Sunbury, county of Middlsex, clerk of the council to Queen Elizabeth (ob. 1591), married Susan, daughter of Nicasius Yetsworth/Yetswiert, clerk of the signet, and secretary of the French tongue. He died 11 January 1590. The children of Daniel and Susan Rogers were a son and a daughter, viz:
- a. Francis Rogers who married a daughter of _______ Cory and had a son, also Francis Rogers
- b. Posthuma Rogers, (daughter) who married _______ Spears
3. John Rogers, born about 1540 in Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland. He came to England with the family in 1548 and was naturalized with them, by special Act of parliament in 1552. It is doubtful if he left the country after his father’s death, as he matriculated as a pensioner of St. John’s College, Cambridge, May 17th , 1558, only about three years after his father was martyred. He afterwards migrated to Trinity College, of which he became a scholar. He proceeded B.A. in 1562-3, was soon after elected Fellow, and commenced M.A. in 1567. In some old pedigrees he is styled as “Proctor of the Civil Law,” but, in 1574, he was created LL.D., and on the 21st of November in that year, he was admitted to the College of Advocates. He married Mary Leete, daughter of William Leete, of Everden, county of Cambridge, D.C.L. He died 3 Jul 1601 at Moulsham, Chelmsford, Essex, England (will probated) was a proctor of the civil law. The children of John and Mary Leete Rogers were:
- a. Cassandra
- b. Elizabeth
- c. Hecuba
- d. Constantine
- e. John
- f. Edward
- g. Mary
- h. Varro (a son)

---

Another source at (http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/FGS/R/RogersJohn- MaryLeete-JoanGarlinge.shtml - note, no longer at this location) has a second wife for John: Joan Garlinge – Will proved 10 Nov 1612, brother: William Garlinge of Totham, ESS. Joan married 2nd in 1604, John Hamond, surgeon of Mouisham, Chelmsford Parish, ESS. Five other children are thought to be children of this John Rogers at this source:

*a. Thomas Rogers, baptized 30 Jan 1574
- b. Mary Rogers, baptized 28 Apr 1576, m. William Griffin
- c. Elizabeth Rogers, baptized 21 Jul 1577
- d. Richard Rogers, baptized 15 Apr 1579
- e. John Rogers

---

4. Augustine Rogers, born at Wittenburg, Saxony, Prussia
5. Ambrose Rogers, born 1542 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland
6. Bernard Fitz Rogers, was born 1543 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland, married Mary abt 1564 at Scotland, moved from Scotland to England and died in 1583. Barnard's children were:
- a. Thomas Matthew Rogers b. 1565
- b. Jiles [Giles] Rogers
- c. Samuel Rogers -- was father of Robert Rogers who married Francis Russell -- Robert and Francis were parents of Hugh Rogers
7. Samuel Rogers, born 1545 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland
8. Philip Rogers, born 1547 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland
9. Elizabeth Rogers, born 1551 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland, married James Proctor, chancellor of Salisbury
10. Hester Rogers, born 1553 in London, Middlesex, England, married Henry Ball, physician
11. Barnaby Rogers, born 1554 at London, Middlesex, England
12. Susannah Rogers,* born 15??; died 29 Sep 1565; buried St Mary Woolnoth Parish, London, married William SHORTE (Could this be the Susan Rogers married to John Shorte listed as child no. 1? It is recorded that there were only 11 children born to this family.)

Source: "Genealogical Gleanings in England." New England Historical and Genealogical Register, by Henry F. Waters, 1890. 44(3): 296-308 lists a 12th child: 1565. Sep. 29, Susanna, wife of William Shorte, grocer, and daughter to Mr. Rogers, late burned in Smithfield. [Parish Register of St. Mary Woolnoth, Burials, p. 188]

[Footnote:] If Col. Chester had seen the [above] entry he might have been spared much labor in proving the family of the proto-martyr. This entry, taken with the pedigree found in the British Museum, constitutes proof positive.--Editor.

[http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/FGS/R/RogersJohn-AdryanDeWeyden.shtml]

One of the pedigrees mentioned in the book “John Rogers” by Joseph Lemuel Chester would seem to indicate that Daniel was the fifth child, the three daughters and a son, Ambrose, preceding Daniel in birth order. The other mentions Daniel distinctly as the oldest child. The Will of Daniel Rogers, preserved at Doctors’ Commons, describes Ambrose as his youngest brother and, of course, is authoritative on this point.

The father of James Rogers, the martyr, it would seem, was John Thomas Rogers of Deritend, Aston Parish-- the fifth generation of descent from John Fitz Rogers, who married a daughter of Sir Simon Furnseup, descended from the Earls of Bush;” – who by his wife, Margery M. Wyatt, had three sons and two daughters:

1. John
2. William
3. Edward
4. Eleanor who married Robert Mylward of Alnechurch
5. Joan also married

--------------------------------------------------

History and Genealogy of the Mayflower Planters By Leon C. Hills, Leon Clark Hills Pg.131

http://books.google.com/books?id=7R9FrcTCswMC&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq...

Children of John Rogers and Adriana Pratt alias de Weyden. According to Chester in his history of the Martyrs family, 1861, there were 11 children, as follows:

I. Susan, b. Brabant (Antwerp) m. John Short.
II. John, b. Saxony (Wittenberg) m. Mary Leete.
III. Daniel, b. Saxony abt. 1740 (MUST BE TYPO) d. Jan., 1590.
IV. Ambrose.
V, Bernard, b. 1543 at Whittenbert, Saxony.
VI. Samuel.
VII. Philip.
VIII. Augustine.
IX. Barnaby.
X. Elizabeth, m. James Potter.
XI. Hester, m. Henry Ball.

---------------------------------------------------------

DISCLAIMER:

The notoriety of John Rogers (1505-1555) has led a number of biographers to attribute lineage to him. There is enough doubt to argue either way. The martyr Rev. John Rogers in this "Geni"ology attributes him to two wives. The Rev. being married to Adrianna PRATT and the other (non infamous John Rogers http://books.google.com/books/pdf/The_New_England_Historical_and_Ge... ), to Agnes CARTER. The lineage above and below the Rev. John Rogers is believed to be correct as it stems from the association to Agnes CARTER. What follows is the history of Rev. John Rogers, the Martyr!

John Rogers (c. 1505 – 4 February 1555) was a minister, Bible translator and commentator, and the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England. He was born in Deritend in the parish of Aston, near Birmingham, and was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge University, where he graduated B.A. in 1526. In 1532, he was rector of Holy Trinity, Queenhithe, London, and in 1534, he went to Antwerp as chaplain to the English merchants of the Company of the Merchant Adventurers.

The pseudonym "Matthew" is associated with Rogers, but it seems more probable that Matthew stands for Tyndale's own name, which, back then, was dangerous to employ. Rogers had little to do with the translation; his own share in that work was probably confined to translating the prayer of Manasses (inserted here for the first time in a printed English Bible), the general task of editing the materials at his disposal, and preparing the marginal notes collected from various sources. These are often cited as the first original English language commentary on the Bible. Rogers also contributed the Song of Manasses in the Apocrypha, which he found in a French Bible printed in 1535. His work was largely used by those who prepared the Great Bible (1539-40), and from this came the Bishops' Bible (1568) and the King James Version.

The quotation that follows is from Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Chapter 16. The text is biased towards Protestantism. However, it is included here because of its historical significance, being the vehicle by which the story of Rev. John Rogers has been most widely disseminated.

"John Rogers was educated at Cambridge, and was afterward many years chaplain to the merchant adventurers at Antwerp in Brabant. Here he met with the celebrated martyr William Tyndale, and Miles Coverdale, both voluntary exiles from their country for their aversion to popish superstition and idolatry. They were the instruments of his conversion; and he united with them in that translation of the Bible into English, entitled "The Translation of Thomas Matthew." From the Scriptures he knew that unlawful vows may be lawfully broken; hence he married, and removed to Wittenberg in Saxony, for the improvement of learning; and he there learned the Dutch language, and received the charge of a congregation, which he faithfully executed for many years. On King Edward's accession, he left Saxony to promote the work of reformation in England; and, after some time, Nicholas Ridley, then bishop of London, gave him a prebend in St. Paul's Cathedral, and the dean and chapter appointed him reader of the divinity lesson there. Here he continued until Queen Mary's succession to the throne, when the Gospel and true religion were banished, and the Antichrist of Rome, with his superstition and idolatry, introduced.

The circumstance of Mr. Rogers having preached at Paul's cross, after Queen Mary arrived at the Tower, has been already stated. He confirmed in his sermon the true doctrine taught in King Edward's time, and exhorted the people to beware of the pestilence of popery, idolatry, and superstition. For this he was called to account, but so ably defended himself that, for that time, he was dismissed. The proclamation of the queen, however, to prohibit true preaching, gave his enemies a new handle against him. Hence he was again summoned before the council, and commanded to keep his house. He did so, though he might have escaped; and though he perceived the state of the true religion to be desperate. He knew he could not want a living in Germany; and he could not forget a wife and ten children, and to seek means to succor them. But all these things were insufficient to induce him to depart, and, when once called to answer in Christ's cause, he stoutly defended it, and hazarded his life for that purpose.

After long imprisonment in his own house, the restless Bonner, bishop of London, caused him to be committed to Newgate, there to be lodged among thieves and murderers.

After Mr. Rogers had been long and straitly imprisoned, and lodged in Newgate among thieves, often examined, and very uncharitably entreated, and at length unjustly and most cruelly condemned by Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, the fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord 1555, being Monday in the morning, he was suddenly warned by the keeper of Newgate's wife, to prepare himself for the fire; who, being then sound asleep, could scarce be awaked. At length being raised and awaked, and bid to make haste, then said he, "If it be so, I need not tie my points." And so was had down, first to bishop Bonner to be degraded: which being done, he craved of Bonner but one petition; and Bonner asked what that should be. Mr. Rogers replied that he might speak a few words with his wife before his burning, but that could not be obtained of him.

When the time came that he should be brought out of Newgate to Smithfield, the place of his execution, Mr. Woodroofe, one of the sheriffs, first came to Mr. Rogers, and asked him if he would revoke his abominable doctrine, and the evil opinion of the Sacrament of the altar. Mr. Rogers answered, "That which I have preached I will seal with my blood." Then Mr. Woodroofe said, "Thou art an heretic." "That shall be known," quoth Mr. Rogers, "at the Day of Judgment." "Well," said Mr. Woodroofe, "I will never pray for thee." "But I will pray for you," said Mr. Rogers; and so was brought the same day, the fourth of February, by the sheriffs, towards Smithfield, saying the Psalm Miserere by the way, all the people wonderfully rejoicing at his constancy; with great praises and thanks to God for the same. And there in the presence of Mr. Rochester, comptroller of the queen's household, Sir Richard Southwell, both the sheriffs, and a great number of people, he was burnt to ashes, washing his hands in the flame as he was burning. A little before his burning, his pardon was brought, if he would have recanted; but he utterly refused it. He was the first martyr of all the blessed company that suffered in Queen Mary's time that gave the first adventure upon the fire. His wife and children, being eleven in number, ten able to go, and one sucking at her breast, met him by the way, as he went towards Smithfield. This sorrowful sight of his own flesh and blood could nothing move him, but that he constantly and cheerfully took his death with wonderful patience, in the defence and quarrel of the Gospel of Christ."

Source(s):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rogers_%28religious%29

http://www.mgmorey.com/gen/notes1507_JohnRogers.html

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/2364/page4.htm

See the event of his death for the story of his Martyrdom under Bloody Mary.

John "Thomas Matthew" Rogers

John Rogers went on to print the second complete English Bible in 1537. It was, however, the first English Bible translated from the original Biblical languages of Hebrew & Greek. He printed it under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew", (an assumed name that had actually been used by Tyndale at one time) as a considerable part of this Bible was the translation of Tyndale, whose writings had been condemned by the English authorities. It is a composite made up of Tyndale's Pentateuch and New Testament (1534-1535 edition) and Coverdale's Bible and some of Roger's own translation of the text. It remains known most commonly as the Matthew-Tyndale Bible. It went through a nearly identical second-edition printing in 1549.

John Rogers was born in 1500 in the parish of Aston, near Birmingham. He was a minister, Bible translator and commentator. John Rogers was the first English Protestant martyr to be executed by Mary I of England, a.k.a. “Queen Bloody Mary”. He was burned at the stake on February 4, 1555 at Smithfield.

Early Years of John Rogers

John Rogers, was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge University, where he graduated with a B.A. in 1526. Six years later he was rector of Holy Trinity, Queenhithe, London, and in 1534 went to Antwerp as chaplain to the English merchants of the Company of the Merchant Adventurers. Here he met William Tyndale, under whose influence he abandoned the Roman Catholic faith. Rogers took a wife named Adriana, a native of Antwerp, who eventually bore him ten children.

John Rogers / Thomas Matthew and the 1537 Bible

After Tyndale's death Rogers pushed on with his predecessor's English version of the Old Testament, which he used as far as Second Chronicles, employing Myles Coverdale's translation of 1535 for the remainder and for the Apocrypha. The complete Bible was put out under the pseudonym of Thomas Matthew in 1537. John Rogers used the assumed name “Thomas Matthew” to avoid persecution and prosecution by the authorities who continued to forbid under penalty of death, the printing of the scriptures in the English language. As the work could obviously not be done safely in England, the Bible was printed in Paris and Antwerp by his wife Adriana's uncle, Sir Jacobus van Meteren.

John Rogers had little to do with the translation, but he contributed some valuable prefaces and marginal notes -- often cited as the first original English language commentary on the Bible. Rogers also contributed the Song of Manasses in the Apocrypha which he found in a French Bible printed in 1535. His work was largely used by those who prepared the Great Bible of1539-40, out of which in turn came the Bishops' Bible of 1568 and the Authorized Version of King James in 1611.

After taking charge of a Protestant congregation in Wittenberg for some years, John Rogers returned to England in 1548, where he published a translation of Philipp Melanchthon's Considerations of the Augsburg Interim. In 1551, John Rogers was made a prebendary of St. Paul's Church, where the Dean and Chapter soon appointed him as the divinity lecturer. He courageously denounced the greed shown by certain courtiers with reference to the property of the suppressed monasteries, and defended himself before the privy council. He also declined to wear the prescribed vestments, donning instead a simple round cap.

John Rogers Preaches Boldly Against Catholicism

As Queen Mary took the throne, John Rogers preached at Paul's Cross commending the "true doctrine taught in King Edward's days," and warning his hearers against the "pestilent Popery, idolatry and superstition." Of the Roman Catholic Church. Ten days after this bold public display, on August 16, 1553, John Rogers was summoned before the council and bidden to keep within his own house. In January 1554 Bonner, the new bishop of London, sent him to Newgate Prison, where he lay with John Hooper, Laurence Saunders, John Bradford and others for a year, where their petitions were disregarded. In December 1554 parliament re-enacted the penal statutes against Lollards, and on January 22, 1555, two days after they took effect, Rogers with ten others came before the council at Gardiner's house in Southwark, and held his own in the examination that took place. On January 28 & 29, he came before the commission appointed by Cardinal Pole, and was sentenced to death by Gardiner for heretically denying the Christian character of the Church of Rome and the physical presence of the body of Christ in the sacrament of communion.

The Death of John Rogers

When the time came that he should be brought out of Newgate Prison to Smithfield, the place of his execution, Mr. Woodroofe, one of the sheriffs, first came to John Rogers, and asked him if he would revoke his abominable doctrine, and the evil opinion of the Sacrament of the altar. Rogers answered, "That which I have preached I will seal with my blood." Then Mr. Woodroofe said, "Thou art an heretic." Rogers replied "That shall be known at the Day of Judgment." Mr. Woodroofe added, "I will never pray for thee." Though Rogers responded "But I will pray for you.”

John Rogers awaited and met death on the 4th of February 1555 at Smithfield cheerfully, though he was denied even a last moment with his wife. Rogers stands as the first blood on the hands of Queen “Bloody” Mary… and the first of hundreds more to come. Noailles, the French ambassador, speaks of the support given to John Rogers by the majority of the people commenting, "even his children assisted at it, comforting him in such a manner that it seemed as if he had been led to a wedding rather than an execution."

Born about 1506, John Rogers was educated at Cambridge where he graduated with a BA in 1526.. He became a Catholic priest and was given a church position at the time that the Protestant Reformation was in full swing. His conscience told him that certain teachings of his Church were wrong and he resigned, moving to Antwerp, Holland, where he ministered to English merchants. In Holland, he became friends with William Tyndale, a reformer who was translating the Bible into English. Tyndale converted Rogers to Protestant views and Rogers married. Nine months later, Tyndale went to prison and was executed as a heretic. But Tyndale left a precious manuscript in John Rogers's keeping. This was his English translation of the books from Joshua to Chronicles which had never before been printed.Rogers was determined to see that Tyndale's valuable work was not lost. For the next twelve months he labored to put together a complete Bible. Its text was based on Tyndale and Coverdale, and its two thousand notes were borrowed from the writings of dozens of different reformers who were active on the Continent.Tyndale had been declared a heretic, and his name could not go on the Bible. Rogers could not honestly claim the work as his own, and so he used a pseudonym--Thomas Matthews. When Bishop Cranmer saw a copy of the new Bible, he was so excited that he asked Chancellor Thomas Cromwell to see if the king would license it. Henry VIII did, and the Matthew Bible became the first officially authorized version in the English language. After sickly Edward VI became king of England, John Rogers came home from the continent and fetched his wife to England. He was given high positions in the Church of England. Regrettably, he was one of those who agreed to allow the insane woman Joan of Kent to be burned to death (some of her claims were blasphemous). He was urged to show her mercy because some day he might need it himself, but did not listen.Edward VI died. Mary, a Roman Catholic, became queen. John Rogers preached a stirring message, urging his congregation to remain loyal to the Reformation principles that they had been taught. Mary's Catholic bishops questioned Rogers about this sermon, but he answered well and was released.However, when a Catholic was appointed to speak at Paul's Cross, churchgoers rioted. The Mayor was present and could not restore order. Bishop Bonner, an eminent supporter of Queen Mary, was attacked. Rogers shouted to the crowd to calm down and helped hustle Bonner to safety. But the Queen's council was upset. They told the Mayor that he must prove he could keep order, or give up his office. The Mayor arrested Rogers and some others. Rogers spent over a year in prison, questioned several times about his beliefs by Lord Chancellor Stephen Gardiner. When the sentence of death was passed, Rogers begged Gardiner to let him speak a few words with his wife. Gardiner refused, telling Rogers he was not legally married because he had once been a priest. Monday morning, February 4, 1555, in Smithfield, England, Rogers walked to the stake, singing psalms, he saw his wife at the roadside, holding their youngest baby, whom he had never met. At the stake, Rogers was offered a pardon if only he would recant his beliefs and return to the Catholic church. He refused. The fire was lit and Rogers washed his hands in the flames as though he did not feel them. He was the first of many martyrs to Protestantism in Mary's reign.

Martyr. Burned at the Stake for His Resistance to Queen Mary! He Wrote The King James Version Of The Holy Bible.

John Rogers (Bible editor and martyr) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bible translator and commentator, Protestant martyr, by Willem de Passe Born c. 1500[1][2] Deritend, Birmingham, England Died 4 February 1555(1555-02-04) Smithfield, London, England

John Rogers (c. 1500 – 4 February 1555) was a clergyman, Bible translator and commentator, and the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England. Contents [hide]

   * 1 Biography

         o 1.1 Early life

         o 1.2 Antwerp and the Matthew Bible

         o 1.3 Imprisonment and martyrdom

   * 2 John Rogers, Vicar of St. Sepulchre's, and Reader of St. Paul's, London

   * 3 Notes

   * 4 References

Biography

Early life

Rogers was born in Deritend, an area of Birmingham then within the parish of Aston. His father was also called John Rogers and was a lorimer – a maker of bits and spurs – whose family came from Aston; his mother was Margaret Wyatt, the daughter of a tanner with family in Erdington and Sutton Coldfield.[3]

Rogers was educated at the Guild School of St John the Baptist in Deritend,[4] and at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge University, where he graduated B.A. in 1526.[5] Between 1532 and 1534 he was rector of Holy Trinity the Less in the City of London,[6] [edit] Antwerp and the Matthew Bible

In 1534, Rogers went to Antwerp as chaplain to the English merchants of the Company of the Merchant Adventurers. Blue plaque and other plaque in Deritend, Birmingham.

Here he met William Tyndale, under whose influence he abandoned the Roman Catholic faith, and married Antwerp native Adriana de Weyden (b. 1522, anglicised to Adrana Pratt in 1552) in 1537. After Tyndale's death, Rogers pushed on with his predecessor's English version of the Old Testament, which he used as far as 2 Chronicles, employing Myles Coverdale's translation (1535) for the remainder and for the Apocrypha. Although it is claimed that Rogers was the first person to ever print a complete English Bible that was translated directly from the original Greek & Hebrew, there was also a reliance upon a Latin translation of the Hebrew Bible by Sebastian Münster and published in 1534/5.

Tyndale's New Testament had been published in 1526. The complete Bible was put out under the pseudonym of Thomas Matthew in 1537; it was printed in Paris and Antwerp by Adriana's uncle, Sir Jacobus van Meteren. Richard Grafton published the sheets and got leave to sell the edition (1500 copies) in England. At the insistence of Archbishop Cranmer, the "King's most gracious license" was granted to this translation. Previously in the same year, the 1537 reprint of the Myles Coverdale's translation had been granted such a license.

The pseudonym "Matthew" is associated with Rogers, but it seems more probable that Matthew stands for Tyndale's own name, which, back then, was dangerous to employ. Rogers had little to do with the translation; his own share in that work was probably confined to translating the prayer of Manasses (inserted here for the first time in a printed English Bible), the general task of editing the materials at his disposal, and preparing the marginal notes collected from various sources. These are often cited as the first original English language commentary on the Bible. Rogers also contributed the Song of Manasses in the Apocrypha, which he found in a French Bible printed in 1535. His work was largely used by those who prepared the Great Bible (1539–40), and from this came the Bishops' Bible (1568) and the King James Version.

Rogers matriculated at the University of Wittenberg on 25 November 1540, where he remained for three years, becoming a close friend of Philipp Melanchthon and other leading figures of the early Protestant Reformation.[7] On leaving Wittenberg he spent four and a half years as a superintendent of a Lutheran church in Meldorf, Dithmarschen, near the mouth of the River Elbe in the north of Germany.[8]

Rogers returned to England in 1548, where he published a translation of Philipp Melanchthon's Considerations of the Augsburg Interim.

In 1550 he was presented to the crown livings of St Margaret Moses and St Sepulchre in London, and in 1551 was made a prebendary of St. Paul's, where the dean and chapter soon appointed him divinity lecturer. He courageously denounced the greed shown by certain courtiers with reference to the property of the suppressed monasteries, and defended himself before the privy council. He also declined to wear the prescribed vestments, donning instead a simple round cap. On the accession of Mary he preached at Paul's Cross commending the "true doctrine taught in King Edward's days," and warning his hearers against "pestilent Popery, idolatry and superstition." [edit] Imprisonment and martyrdom Illustration in Foxe's Book of Martyrs of Rogers' execution at Smithfield

Ten days later (August 16, 1553), he was summoned before the council and bidden to keep within his own house. His emoluments were taken away and his prebend was filled in October. In January 1554, Bonner, the new Bishop of London, sent him to Newgate Prison, where he lay with John Hooper, Laurence Saunders, John Bradford and others for a year. Their petitions, whether for less rigorous treatment or for opportunity of stating their case, were disregarded. In December 1554, Parliament re-enacted the penal statutes against Lollards, and on January 22, 1555, two days after they took effect, Rogers (with ten other people) came before the council at Gardiner's house in Southwark, and defended himself in the examination that took place. On January 28 and January 29, he came before the commission appointed by Cardinal Pole, and was sentenced to death by Gardiner for heretically denying the Christian character of the Church of Rome and the real presence in the sacrament. He awaited and met death cheerfully, though he was even denied a meeting with his wife. He was burned at the stake on February 4, 1555 at Smithfield. Noailles, the French ambassador, speaks of the support given to Rogers by the greatest part of the people: "even his children assisted at it, comforting him in such a manner that it seemed as if he had been led to a wedding." [edit] John Rogers, Vicar of St. Sepulchre's, and Reader of St. Paul's, London

The circumstance of Mr. Rogers having preached at Paul's cross, after Queen Mary arrived at the Tower, has been already stated. He confirmed in his sermon the true doctrine taught in King Edward's time, and exhorted the people to beware of the pestilence of popery, idolatry, and superstition. For this he was called to account, but so ably defended himself that, for that time, he was dismissed. The proclamation of the queen, however, to prohibit true preaching, gave his enemies a new handle against him. Hence he was again summoned before the council, and commanded to keep to his house. He did so, though he might have escaped; and though he perceived the state of the true religion to be desperate. He knew he could not want a living in Germany; and he could not forget a wife and ten children, and to seek means to succor them. But all these things were insufficient to induce him to depart, and, when once called to answer in Christ's cause, he stoutly defended it, and hazarded his life for that purpose.

After long imprisonment in his own house, the restless Bonner, bishop of London, caused him to be committed to Newgate, there to be lodged among thieves and murderers.

  1. ^ Chester 1861, p. 1

  2. ^ Daniell 2004

  3. ^ Hill 1907, pp. 5–6

  4. ^ Hill 1907, p. 4

  5. ^ Rogers, John in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.

  6. ^ Chester 1861, pp. 3–5

  7. ^ Daniell 2003, p. 191

  8. ^ Daniell 2003, p. 191

[edit] References Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Rogers (Bible editor and martyr)

   * Chester, Joseph Lemuel (1861), John Rogers: the Compiler of the First Authorised English Bible, London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, OCLC 257597540, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-oALAAAAYAAJ, retrieved 2009-02-14

   * Daniell, David (2003), The Bible in English, Yale University Press, ISBN 0300099304

   * Daniell, David (2004), "Rogers, John (c.1500–1555)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online ed.), Oxford University Press, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23980, retrieved 2009-02-14

   * Hill, Joseph (1907), The book makers of old Birmingham; authors, printers, and book sellers, Birmingham: Printed at the Shakespeare Press for Cornish Bros., OCLC 3773421

   *  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Persondata Name Rogers, John Alternative names Short description Date of birth Place of birth Deritend, Birmingham, England Date of death February 4, 1555 Place of death Smithfield, London, England Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rogers_(Bible_editor_and_martyr)" Categories: Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge | Translators of the Bible into English | People executed for heresy | People executed by burning | People of the Tudor period | People executed under the Tudors | 1500s births | 1555 deaths | Executed English people | Burials at the Marian Martyrs' Monument | 16th-century Protestant martyrs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rogers_%28Bible_editor_and_martyr%29

Smithfield, London, Middlesex, England, (Present UK) (First Martyr of Queen Marys reign burned at the stake in Smithfield)

Parents:

   Father: John Rogers (he was a "lorimer" or a maker of bits and spurs, father from Sutton Vallens, Kent, England; had a brother named Nicholas and a nephew named William)

   Mother: Margery Wyatt Rogers (daughter of a tanner from Erdington and Sutton Coldfield)

Siblings:

   2. William Rogers

   3. Edward Rogers

   4. Ellenor Rogers Mylward, m. Robert Mylward of Alnechurch, Worcestershire, England

   5 Joan Rogers, m. (Unknown)

Spouse:

   Adriana Pratt, alias de Weyden (b. probably in Antwerpen, Herzogtum Brabant, Heiliges Römisches Reich, within present Région flamande, Belgium)

Children:

   1. Daniel Rogers, b. 1538 - Wittenberg, Duchy of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire, graduated Oxford in August 1561; later of Sudbury, Middlesex, England; d. 1591. Served as Clerk of the Council to Queen Elizabeth, and as her Ambassador to the United Provinces of the Netherlands and Denmark. m. Susan Yetsworth (daughter of Nicasius Yetsworth, Clerk of the Signet, and Secretary for the French Tongue). Children: son Francis and daughter Posthuma Rogers Spears.

   2. John Rogers, b. 1540 - Wittenberg, Duchy of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire. Entered St. John's College Cambridge 17 May 1558. Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College Cambridge 1563, becoming a Fellow. Entered Master of Arts program in 1567. Proctor of the Civil Law, became LLD in 1574, and on 21 November entered College of Advocates. Served as diplomat in the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, among other places. Knighted 23 July 1603, died shortly after. m. Mary Leete (daughter of William Leete, DCL of Everden, Cambridgeshire, England). Children (8): daughter Cassandra, daughter Elizabeth, Heckuba, son Constantine, son John, son Edward, daughter Mary, son Varro

   3. Ambrose Rogers

   4. Samuel Rogers

   5. Philip Rogers

   6. Bernard Rogers

   7. Augustine Rogers

   8. Barnaby Rogers

   9. Susan Rogers Short, m. John Short (merchant of London)

   10. Elizabeth Rogers Proctor, m. James Proctor (Chancellor of Salisbury)

   11. Hester Rogers Ball b. c1554, m. Henry Ball (physician)

Basic information:

Birth: circa 1500 - Deritend (within present Birmingham), Aston Parish, Warwickshire (Present West Midlands), England

Baptism: Unknown

Marriage: Late 1536 or early 1537 (according to Joseph Lemuel Chester "not far from the time of the publication of the Matthews Bible").

Burial: Marian Martyrs' Memorial, Smithfield, London, Middlesex, England (according to Find A Grave)

Occupation:

   To 1525 Student at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge.

   1525-1532 Junior Canon at Cardinal's College (present Christ College) Oxford.

   1532-1534 Rector at the Prior and Convent of St. Mary Overy in Southwark

   1534-1537 Chaplain for the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London in Antwerpen, Duchy of Brabant, Holy Roman Empire.

   1537-1548 Exile in Wittenberg, Duchy of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire.

   1548-1550 Religious writer in London

   1550-1551 Rector of St. Margaret Moyses in London

   1550-1555 Vicar of St. Sepulchre in London

   1551-1553 Prebendary of St. Pancras at St. Paul's

   1553-1555 Prisoner at Newgate Prison, London.

Timeline:

   In 1525, obtained his bachelor of arts degree from Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. He was chosen that same year to attend the Cardinal's College (present Christ College), Oxford. Shortly after arrival there, he became a junior canon and went into the holy orders.

   On 26 December 1532, he became Rector at the Prior and Convent of St. Mary Overy in Southwark. ("John Rogers, priest, was admitted to the parochial church of Holy Trinity the Less, in the City of London, vacant by the natural demise of Master Thomas Lane, the last rector of the same, at the presentation of those religious men, the Prior and Convent of the Blessed Mary Overy, in Southwark, in the Diocese of Winchester") He retained this position until 24 October 1534, being replaced by "Master John Darrell, Bachelor in Degrees" (who became rector at the "free resignation of Dominus John Rogers, the last rector" etc.).

   In late 1534 (probably November), he joined the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London as its Chaplain, relocating to the home of English merchant Thomas Poyntz in Antwerpen, Duchy of Brabant, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, within present Région flamande, Belgium. This was not long after the execution of John Frith, who had been helping the exiled William Tyndale with an English translation of the New Testament.

   Before April 1535 (according to Joseph Lemuel Chester), he converted to Protestantism, a faith in existence for only 18 years at the time, from Catholicism at the secret behest of the exiled William Tyndale (likely he had already been of a mind to do so when he resigned as Rector of St. Mary Overy), and began working with the elder clergyman to translate the Bible into English (thereby making it available to the masses, one of the distinguishing innovations to the faith made by Martin Luther) under the pen name of Thomas Matthew. Tyndale was arrested in either April or May, and executed in the following year for "heresy" (adherence to the Protestant faith).

   In 1537, not long after his marriage with Adriana Pratt, alias de Weyden, he published his Bible translation under the pen name of Thomas Matthew (in actuality, the New Testament was translated by William Tyndale, much of the Old Testament by Myles Coverdale - still in England under the protection of Lord Thomas Cromwell -, and the Prayer of Manasses by John Rogers, who also wrote up a preface, some marginal notes, a calendar and almanac before arranging publication). Once printed by Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch (before July, when the first copies reach England), he relocated to Wittenberg, Herzogtum Sachsen, Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation, birthplace of Martin Luther and location of the Schlosskirche where he posted his 95 Theses that started the Protestant faith, then under the rule of co-Electors Johann Friedrich I. "der Großmütige" ("the Magnanimous") von Sachsen and Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Coburg. Likely this was out of concerns for the safety of both his new family and himself following Tyndale's martyrdom in Vilvoorde, Duchy of Brabant.

   In 1542, the Thomas Matthews Bible is suppressed as a "prohibited dangerous book" in England.

   On 28 January 1547, King Henry VIII dies and the 9-year-old Edward VI succeeds to the throne of England. Rogers delays his return to the now-friendlier England from Wittenberg in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.

   By 1 August 1548, John returns to England and stays with printer Edward Whitchurch in London. Likely he was by himself, scouting out the atmosphere in England before sending for his family to follow.

   In the 5 days before 2 May 1550, John Rogers is approached by a friend of Joan Bocher (or Knel) of Kent, who had been convicted of heresy for her adherence to Anabaptist ideas. The friend begged Rogers to assist in convincing the court for a pardon and for assistance in keeping her in isolation while priests continue to convince her to return to the faith. Rogers refused, saying that she deserved death. When the friend asked for help in finding another method other than burning at the stake that would be more humane, Rogers suggested that this was the "most gentle" means of execution for her crime. The friend in anger warned that Rogers himself might yet "have his hands full of this so gentle fire." (Likely, his intervention, had he so desired to intervene, would not have changed anything, despite his possible former classmate Nicholas Ridley becoming Bishop of London only weeks before.)

   On 10 May 1550, hardly a month after fellow future Marian martyr Nicholas Ridley becomes Bishop of London, John Rogers is appointed Rector of St. Margaret Moyses and Vicar of St. Sepulchre in that city. The latter was presented to him by Nicasius Yertswiert, whose daughter would one day marry John's son Daniel. He replaced the deceased Robert Johnson and William Copeland, respectively.

   On 24 August 1551, John Rogers is made Prebendary of St. Paul's in London (he was assigned the stall of St. Pancras, following the death of John Royston). He is later chosen as Divinity Reader.

   On 10 September 1551, John Rogers resigns as Rector of St. Mary Moyses to concentrate more fully as Prebendary at St. Paul's.

   In 1552, John Rogers' family are naturalized by Act of Parliament.

   On 1 November 1552, under the Act of Uniformity, the Protestant Reformation under Edward VI reached its height, implementing the use of a prayer book created by Thomas Cranmer, soon-to-be Archbishop of Canterbury. This serves as the height of pre-Marian protestantism in England.

   In February 1553, the 15-year-old King Edward VI comes down with consumption.

   On 7 May 1553, after months of difficulty breathing and near death conditions, King Edward VI appears to recover.

   On 21 May 1553, aware that he probably did not have long to live despite his recent recovery, the young King Edward VI draws up a "Devise for the Succession" naming 16-year-old Lady Jane Grey as his designated heir to the throne, passing over his 37-year-old sister Princess Mary. In part, this is based on Mary's support of a return of English Catholicism, and Jane's support of Protestantism. Further, Mary and her sister Elizabeth were declared "bastards" by Henry VIII.

   On 21 June 1553, after much fighting, Parliament signs off on the Devise for the Succession.

   On 6 July 1553, five days after making a final public appearance at Greenwich Palace, King Edward VI dies. Rumors abound that his death was actually by poison, even though doctors opening his chest cavity describe the cause of death as a "disease of the lungs". Princess Mary takes refuge at her estates in Norfolk, and four days later, Lady Jane Grey is taken to the Tower of London and proclaimed Queen.

   On 9 July 1553, Bishop of London Nicholas Ridley, in his Sunday sermon at Paul's Cross, condemns Princess Mary as being a Papist who would deliver England to the hands of foreigners, and throws his support behind Lady Jane Grey. Despite this, murmurs of discontent spread in the English capital.

   On 19 July 1553, as Princess Mary advances from Framlingham Castle in Surrey against London with 20,000 men, the Privy Council abandons Lady Jane Grey and proclaims Mary Queen. The streets of London rejoice.

   On 26 July 1553, Queen Mary orders the arrest of several Reformers, including Bishop of London Nicholas Ridley. Anti-Reformist Gilbert Bourne is appointed to succeed him as Bishop of London, and a couple weeks later becomes her leading counsel on religious matters.

   On 3 August 1553, Mary makes her entrance to London.

   On 6 August 1553, John Rogers preaches on last time at Paul's Cross, exhorting the need to remain loyal to the Reformation as they had been so under Edward VI. According to Joseph Lemuel Chester, he had already accepted his fate as a martyr. Bishop of London Gilbert Bourne begins preaching at Paul's Cross the following week.

   On 16 August 1553, John Rogers is brought before a tribunal to be tried on charges for which he had been acquitted a couple days before. He is placed under house arrest as a result of the proceedings. Two days later, on a Friday, Queen Mary issues a proclamation prohibiting open reading of scripture by any parish curate unless given license to do so by the Queen herself.

   On 21 August 1553, Queen Mary prohibits any questions of decisions by her and her council over religion. Effectively, Reform in England ends for the duration of Mary's reign.

   On 10 October 1553, the arrested John Rogers is removed as Prebendary of St. Pancras at St. Paul's and is replaced by Thomas Chetteham. This removes the financial means by which he can support his home incarceration.

   On 13 November 1553, Lady Jane Grey is tried and sentenced to death by burning at the stake. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, intervenes on Lady Jane's behalf, and the execution is stayed. Three days later, as Queen Mary prepares to marry Philip II of Spain, Parliamentarian leaders attempt to sway the Queen to choose an English suitor instead. When she refuses, Sir Thomas Wyatt prepares an uprising.

   On 26 January 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt marches on Rochester in Kent and declares an uprising against Queen Mary. Trained bands sent from Norfolk end up joining the uprising, creating an army of 4,000 that marches on London. The day after Wyatt's arrival in Rochester, John Rogers is taken from his home and put into prison at Newgate.

   On 3 February, 1554, after delivering terms that the Tower of London be surrendered and Queen Mary be put under Sir Thomas Wyatt's control, London elects to support the Queen and defend London Bridge from Wyatt's army. He is driven from Southwark by additional supporters of the Queen. The rebellion fails, and two months later, after capture and trial, Wyatt is executed, drawn, and quartered.

   On 12 February 1554, after the ambassador of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, advises the response to Wyatt's Rebellion, Lady Jane Grey is taken from the Tower of London and beheaded in private on Tower Green. Several other executions followed as the Queen begins earning her epitaph of "Bloody Mary".

   On 10 April 1554, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley, deposed leaders of the English Reformation, are taken from London to Oxford to interrogated by leading doctors of the university there about their religious doctrine.

   On 12 November 1554, a petition is read in Parliament asking that the various prelates, including John Rogers, who were arrested during Queen Mary's reign, be freed of their own recognizance. The plea is denied as Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, prepares for further actions against the imprisoned reformers.

   On 30 November 1554, Parliament receives Papal Legate Cardinal Reginald Pole, who grants absolution to the government of England for its earlier participation in the Reformation Schism. England is effectively Catholic again.

   On 20 January 1555, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, is granted power by Parliament to dispatch leaders of the English Reformation as he saw fit. Two days later, the trials start with 11 of the leading Reformers, Rogers included, brought before his court, held at Gardiner's house in Southwark. Rogers regarded himself as still a member of the Catholic Church, but said that he considered Christ to be the head of the Church, with the Bishop of Rome (Pope) having no more spiritual authority than any other bishop. He further declares that he had never offended or disobeyed the Queen, but that he was willing to receive her mercy. He is ordered back to Newgate.

   On 25 January 1555, those priests that declared their subordination to the Pope are given a celebration in London near the place where those Reformation leaders still resisting were being held.

   On 28 January 1555, John Rogers is examined by a panel led by Papal Legate Cardinal Reginald Pole, who carries out two days of similar questioning in front of a crowd. His answers are essentially the same as was given before. He is given a night in the Southwark Compter to reconsider his position with respect to the "Romish Church".

   On 29 January 1555, in front of a screened anti-Reformist crowd, after refusing to recant his answers from the day before, John Rogers is found guilty of "heretically denying the Christian character of the Church of Rome and the real presence in the sacrament" (the former conviction based on his lack of regard for the supremacy of the Pope, and the latter conviction being a mis-interpretation of his disregard of the importance of the question about whether the communion bread and wine were really the body and blood of Christ). He is excommunicated and then sentenced to burn at the stake. He is denied the right to speak with his wife, Adriana Pratt (alias de Weyden) Rogers, about what would be best to do for her and their 10 children. He is sent to the Clink Prison in Southwark for the evening.

   Early morning on 30 January 1555, John Rogers is led from the Clink Prison down a darkened street (all lamps were extinguished to mask the identity of the condemned). The route of travel led through the house of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester (to disguise the route of travel), then through the churchyard of St. Mary Overy and then across the London Bridge to Newgate Prison. Despite orders to convey the prisoner in darkness, Rogers' followers lined the route, lighting the streets with candles and committing prayers for the prisoner as he passed. He is kept in solitary confinement for the duration of his stay at Newgate.

On the morning of 4 February 1555, John Rogers is woken from deep sleep, and is ordered from his cell ("if this be the day, I needn't tie my points"). Despite this, without the chance for morning ablutions, he is dressed in full canonicals of his former office and then publicly stripped of them. One last time, Rogers asks to see his wife, and once again, the request is denied. He was taken from Newgate Prison to the stake by David Woodroffe, a sheriff with little mercy for those left to him for execution (particularly, among other Reformers as with Rogers). When told that he was a heretic by Woodroffe, who then said, "I will never pray for you," Rogers responded "But I will pray for you." They leave the prison between 9 and 10 a.m., and the way is lined with his supporters who shout words of praise and weep at his passing. Also along the route is his wife Adriana with 10 children and one infant that was born after his imprisonment. As he is tied to the stake and wood laid at his feet, he exhorts to his followers to remain true to the faith and remember his teachings. He is presented with a written pardon from Queen Mary, which would have been executed if he had accepted the Roman Church; naturally he refused. When the fires are lit, and his hands are freed, he gestures as if he is washing his hands in the flames, and then stretches his arms toward heaven, where they remain until he loses consciousness. A week after his death at Smithfield, George Bullock is appointed to succeed him as Vicar of St. Sepulchre in London. Despite the terror of the regime of "Bloody Mary," it is said that few Reformers defected to the Roman religion following the death of John Rogers, and after the Queen's death, England became a Protestant country.

http://www.rogersdna.com/history/index.htm

From the visitation of Warwick, 1563 it is recorded that John and Adrian Rogers had eleven children, thus given:

   1. Susan Rogers, born in 1537 at Branbant, Antwerp, Belgium who married John Short, merchant of London

   2. Daniel Rogers, was born abt 1538 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland. He came to England with his family in 1548 and was naturalized with them, by special Act of Parliament, in 1552. After his father’s death, he returned to Wittenberg and studied for some time under Melancthon, but came back to England eary in Elizabeth’s reign, and completed his education at Oxford where he took his degrees as early as August 1561. He was of Sunbury, county of Middlsex, clerk of the council to Queen Elizabeth (ob. 1591), married Susan, daughter of Nicasius Yetsworth/Yetswiert, clerk of the signet, and secretary of the French tongue. He died 11 January 1590. The children of Daniel and Susan Rogers were a son and a daughter, viz:

       a. Francis Rogers who married a daughter of _______ Cory and had a son, also Francis Rogers

John Rogers was an English Protestant martyr best known for his inclusion in the volume familiarly known as John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which was first published in 1563 and was well known to early generations of New Englanders. Beginning in the late seventeenth century, New England children learning to read were likely to encounter in their primers the story of Rogers’s struggle against the crown and his martyrdom.1 His story became part of the American Protestant tradition and was kept alive in Boston by the Rogers and Ellis families, who claimed to have descended from the minister.2

Rogers began his clerical life as a Roman Catholic but in 1535 denounced Rome and followed the teachings of the Protestant minister William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536). Working with Tyndale and other clergy in Holland, Rogers translated the Bible into English for publication in 1537. He returned to England in 1548, and five years later, during the reign of Mary Tudor [1553-1558], preached a sermon in St. Paul’s Cathedral warning against the dogma and rituals of Catholicism. Shortly afterwards, Rogers was arrested and imprisoned. After serving several years of his sentence, he received a second trial, was found guilty of heresy, and was burned at the stake in 1555.3

The Last Days of John Rogers, The Martyr

The quotation that follows is from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, Chapter 16.

John Rogers, Vicar of St. Sepulchre's, and Reader of St. Paul's London

The circumstance of Mr. Rogers having preached at Paul's cross, after Queen Mary arrived at the Tower, has been already stated. He confirmed in his sermon the true doctrine taught in King Edward's time, and exhorted the people to beware of the pestilence of popery, idolatry, and superstition. For this he was called to account, but so ably defended himself that, for that time, he was dismissed. The proclamation of the queen, however, to prohibit true preaching, gave his enemies a new handle against him. Hence he was again summoned before the council, and commanded to keep to his house. He did so, though he might have escaped; and though he perceived the state of the true religion to be desperate. He knew he could not want a living in Germany; and he could not forget a wife and ten children, and to seek means to succor them. But all these things were insufficient to induce him to depart, and, when once called to answer in Christ's cause, he stoutly defended it, and hazarded his life for that purpose.

After long imprisonment in his own house, the restless Bonner, bishop of London, caused him to be committed to Newgate, there to be lodged among thieves and murderers.

Noailles the French ambassador, speaks of the support given to Rogers by the greatest part of the people: "even his children assisted at it, comforting him in such a manner that it seemed as if he had been led to a wedding." He was the first Protestant martyr of Mary's reign, and his friend Bradford wrote that "he broke the ice valiantly."

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Rev. John Rogers "The Martyr"'s Timeline

1507	February 4, 1507	Birth of Rev. John Rogers "The Martyr" Deritend, Birmingham, England (United Kingdom)
1532	1532	Birth of Susan Short Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Vlaanderen, Belgium
1538	November 21, 1538	Birth of John Rogers, Proctor of Civil Law Wittenberg, Kurfürstentum Sachsen, Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation
	1538	Birth of Daniel Rogers Wittenberg, Kurfürstentum Sachsen, Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation
1541	1541	Birth of Ambrose Rogers Wittenberg, Duchy of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
1543	1543	Birth of Bernard Rogers Wittenburg, Kurfürstentum Sachsen, Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation
	1543	Birth of William Rogers Watford, Hertfordshire, UK
1546	1546	Birth of Samuel Rogers Wittenberg, Sachsen, Prussia
	1546	Birth of Philip Rogers Wittenberg, Sachsen, Prussia

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