Mrs Prest

morte en 1558 16th century

The faith of an unlettered woman, held alone against her own household.

Who was Mrs Prest?

A Cornish spinner, married and the mother of several children, she left her home because her husband and children forced her to a worship she no longer believed, and earned her living spinning from village to village. Brought to Exeter and questioned by the bishop, she held her ground without flinching; she was at first taken for a simpleton, which won her a few months of watched liberty. She was burned at Exeter in 1558, the last year of Mary's reign.

In their own words

I have upon the Sundays visited the sermons, and there have I learned such things as are so fixed in my breast, that death shall not separate them.

Examination before the bishop of Exeter, as reported by John Foxe

My housewifery is but small; but God gave me grace to go to the true church.

Examination before the bishop of Exeter, as reported by John Foxe

No, I have but one husband, who is here already in this city, and in prison with me, from whom I will never depart.

Answer to the bishop when he would send her home to her husband, as reported by John Foxe