The Book of Martyrs by John Foxe is an apocalyptically oriented English Protestant account of the persecutions of Protestants, mainly in England, and other groups from former centuries who were seen by Foxe and others of his contemporaries, such as John Bale, to be forerunners of the Protestant Reformation through whom the lineage of the Church of England could be traced. Though the work is commonly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, the full title is Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, touching Matters of the Church. The work was lavishly produced and illustrated with a large number of woodcuts. The first part of the book covered early Christian martyrs, a brief history of the medieval church, including the Inquisitions, and a history of the Wycliffite or Lollard movement, as Wycliffe was viewed by men such as Foxe to be the the "morning star" of the Reformation. The second part dealt with the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, and the third with the reign and persecutions of Mary. - Publisher's preface.