Hey, this is Heather from the Renaissance English History Podcast, and this is your Tudor Minute for July 23.
Today in 1584 John Day died. He was an English Protestant printer, and specialised in printing and distributing Protestant literature and pamphlets. Though he produced many smaller books like psalms and ABC books, he is most remembered as the publisher of John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments, also known as the Book of Martyrs, the largest and most technologically advanced book printed in sixteenth-century England thanks to its impressive woodcut illustrations.
He rose to prominence during the reign of Edward VI, and was encouraged by the government to put out propaganda supporting the Reformation. After Mary I many Protestant printers left England, but Day stayed and continued to risk his life printing Protestant books. In 1554 he was arrested for this. But he survived and under Queen Elizabeth he rose again. He has been called the Master Printer of the English Reformation.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.