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.
Suggested link:
Episode 62: Printing from Caxton to Shakespeare
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.