Thomas Hitton

Thomas Hitton (died February 1530) is generally considered to be the first English Protestant martyr of the Reformation, although the followers of Wycliffe—the Lollards—had been burned at the stake as late as 1519.

Hitton was a priest who had joined William Tyndale and the English exiles in the Low Countries, returning to England briefly in 1529—to contact the supporters of Tyndale, and to arrange for the distribution of smuggled books such as the upcoming first English Psalter translated by George Joye.

Hitton believed in the supremacy of the Scriptures and denied the authority of bishops; only Scripture in good conscience was the basis for spiritual law (i.e. what is sinful), and all breaches of this law were mortal sins.

He was burned at the stake at Maidstone on 23 February 1530.

When Joye's second Primer (entitled Hortulus animae) appeared a year later, he included the feast of "Sainte Thomas mar." (referring to Hitton) in the calendar; new Lord Chancellor Thomas More had followed the case and saw this as an insult against his hero and name-saint, Thomas Becket, and described Hitton as "the devil's stinking martyr". He criticized George Joye for canonizing Hitton:

Tyndale also referred briefly to Hitton's execution:

John Foxe does not allege torture, or the involvement of More.