Several have been burned at the stake for having something to do with the Bible. Actually, there were many that were burned at the stake for either selling or translating the Bible. One - a French bookseller so the story goes – was talking to the Catholic Bishop of AIX in France who was walking the streets of Avignon trying to purchase obscene pictures. When met by the bookseller who tried to sell him Bibles, he had him arrested and he was burned at the stake for selling Bibles.
John Wycliffe (1320-1384) translated the Bible into English and, although he died a natural death, his body was disinterred and burned 41 years after he was buried. Those who studied the writings of Wycliff and followed his attempt to reform the Catholic Church were known as Moravians.
You are possibly referring to John Hus who was brought to trial by the Council of Constance and burned at the stake on July 6, 1415. He was convicted of trying to reform the Catholic Church.
William Tyndale who issued the first English translation of the Bible in 1526 was strangled and then burned at the stake in 1536. Interestingly enough, his last words were, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”
Thomas Hawkes, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, Thomas Cranmer were all burned at the stake in the 16th century.
Ann Due Bourge of Paris defied papal authority and was burned at the stake.
The numbers and kinds of abuses that took place at the hands of the Church from its earliest formative years through the period of the inquisition are almost inconceivable. We are not talking about thousands or tens of thousands. We are talking about millions! A book that you might find interesting and illuminating is Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which I imagine you could find in almost any library. Be prepared to be shocked.
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