The only other occasion which places Henry of Monmouth, whilst Prince
of Wales, before us in conjunction with bigotry, intolerance, and
persecution, is the martyrdom of a condemned heretic, executed in
Smithfield. Fox, and those who follow him, say, that the martyr was
John Badby, an artificer of Worcester, condemned first in his own
county, and then definitively sentenced by the Archbishop, the Duke of
York, the Chancellor, and others in London; the Chronicle of London
records the same transaction, but speaks of the individual as a
"_clerk_, who believed nought of the sacrament of the altar!" There is
no doubt, however, that the two accounts, as well as the Archbishop's
record, refer to the same individual, though the Chronicle of London
is mistaken as to the sphere of life in which he moved. It will be
borne in mind that the question is not, whether John Badby ended his
life gloriously in defence and in testimony of the truth, nor (p. 339)
whether those who charged, and tried, and condemned him, were
merciless persecutors; the only point of inquiry immediately before us
is, Whether, at the death of John Badby, Henry of Monmouth showed
himself to be a persecutor. The circumstances, however, of this
martyr's charge and condemnation, independently of that question, are
by no means void of interest; though our plan precludes us from
detailing them further than they may throw more or less direct light
upon the subject of our investigation. The following statement is
taken from Archbishop Arundel's record.[260]

[Footnote 260: Wilkins' Concilia, Ex reg. Arundel,
i. fol. 15.]

* * * * *

John Badby was an inhabitant of Evesham, in the diocese of Worcester,
and by trade a tailor. He was charged before the bishop with heresy,
and was condemned in the diocesan court. The point on which alone his
persecutors charged him, was his denial of transubstantiation. His
trial took place on the 2nd of January, 1409, and he was subsequently
brought before the Archbishop and his court in London, as a heretic
convict. His examination began on Saturday, the 1st of March 1410, at
the close of which the court resolved that he should be kept a close
prisoner till the next Wednesday, in the house of the Preaching
Friars, where the proceedings were carried on. The Archbishop, for
greater caution, said that he would himself keep possession of (p. 340)
the key. When