Lewes had the highest concentration of Protestant martyrs relative to population of any English town during the Marian persecution. Seventeen were burned there between 1555 and 1557, reflecting the deep Protestant character of the Sussex weald. The burnings were resisted by local Protestant sympathy that made it difficult to find willing executioners. Lewes martyrs are commemorated annually in the town bonfire celebrations that survive to the present day.
Seventeen Protestant martyrs burned
Sussex sheriff and Catholic officers
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