English Protestant historian and martyrologist, most famous for his Acts and Monuments, popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, first published in 1563.
Foxe studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, and became a fellow of Magdalen from 1539 to 1545. He was ordained a deacon in 1550. When Mary I became queen in 1553 and restored the English church to Roman Catholicism, Foxe fled to the Continent. By then he had already compiled parts of a manuscript for a history of the Reformation. In Frankfurt, Foxe met another English refugee, Edmund Grindal, who was then making a record of the martyrs of the faith.
Grindal, followed by Foxe a short while later, returned to England on Mary's death. Foxe was ordained by Grindal, who had since been appointed bishop of London. With the help of Grindal's material, Foxe had already finished his draft of a new work, Acts and Monuments; its first English edition was published in 1563. It became exceedingly popular and profoundly influenced the shape of religious thoughts in Elizabethan England. It underwent three revisions during Foxe's lifetime.
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