This was...the most intense period of persecution in English history, in which overall about the same number of Catholics and Protestants died. It produced a celebrated band of martyrs: More and Fisher [Catholics]...,Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer [C of E]...Were they "men for all seasons"? Not entirely for ours. None of them defended the values we cherish - freedom of speech, pluralism and liberty of conscience. They died not for tolerance, but for truth. All had been to some extent persecutors before being persecuted.
I am smocked and bewildered by the constant stream of articles by Catholics bemoaning the Reformation and today’s Protestants on this forum, at a time where all Christians, no matter their tradition nor even the strength of their faith, should be locked arm in arm against the forces who wish to destroy their shared heritage. I mean complaining about oppression during the reign of the Tudors? There was a reason the Catholic queen became known as “Bloody Mary!”