25/02/2026
The Man Who Signed His Name in His Own Blood
To force him to recant, they tortured him in a cruel and unusual way: they held his right hand — the very hand with which he had signed his confession of faith — over a candle flame.
Thomas Tomkins was no bishop — only a weaver from Shoreditch. A working man. A man of the loom. But he loved the Scriptures more than safety.
In 1555, under Queen Mary, he was brought before Bishop Bonner for denying transubstantiation. They demanded he return to Rome.
He refused.
To break him, they lit a candle and held his right hand — the hand that had signed his confession of faith — directly into the flame.
The flesh blistered.
The smell of burning skin filled the chamber.
Still he would not pull away.
He said that as Christ had suffered for him, he could endure this for Christ.
When at last they removed his scorched hand, they commanded him to write again — this time to recant.
With that same wounded hand, he took the pen… and signed his Protestant confession once more.
For that, he was condemned.
On March 16, 1555, at Smithfield, the fire that had first tasted his flesh now consumed his body. But the faith they tried to burn out of him burned brighter than their flames.
A weaver by trade.
A witness by fire.
“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” — Revelation 2:10
