Edward Wightman (1566 – 11 April 1612) was an English radical Anabaptist minister, who was known for his Nontrinitarian view.
He was executed at Lichfield on charges of heresy;Cobbett's complete collection of state trials and proceedings, 735–736. He was the last person to be burned at the stake in England by the crime of heresy.
Life Edward Wightman"In the King's letter, under the privy seal, as well as in the warrant for his execution, he is called 'Edward Wightman, of the parish of Burton-upon-Trent, in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield'". Robert Wallace, Antitrinitarian Biography, E. T. Whitfield, 1850, pp. 567–568. was born in 1566. He attended Burton Grammar School and entered the clothiers business of his mother's family. Eventually, he served an apprenticeship as a woollen draper in the town of Shrewsbury.A. Macdonald, A Short History of Repton, London, 1929, pp. 86, 91, 244. He married Frances Darbye of Hinckley in 1593Staffordshire Record Office, marriage recorded as 11 Sept. 1593. and settled in Burton upon Trent. Apart from his mercer's business in Burton he also became a minister of the local Anabaptist church.
Case of Thomas Darling Wightman became involved with the Puritans and in 1596 was chosen as one of the leaders assigned to the investigation of demonic possession of 13-year-old Thomas Darling.D. P. Walker, Unclean Spirits, London, 1981, p 56.J. Bruce (ed.), Diary of John Manningham, Camden Society, 1st series, 99, 1868, p 169. This suggests that by the mid-1590s Wightman was an important and well-respected public figure, taking part in the newly formed movement that began to hold sway over Burton's society and politics. His involvement in the Darling case proved a turning point in his life, making him entirely amenable to the possibility of unmediated spiritual intervention. Darling claimed not just to be possessed by the devil, but engaged in a series of 'spiritual wars' in which both demonic and angelic voices were said to emanate from him:
As I know at this present for a certainty, that I have the spirit of God within me: so do I with the like certainty believe, that in my dialogues with Satan, when I [quoted] sundry places of scripture, to withstand the temptations he assaulted me with: I had the spirit of God in me, and by that spirit resisted Satan at those times, by [quoting] the scriptures to confound him.S. Harsnett, A Discovery of the Fraudulent Practices of John Darrel, London, 1599, p 290.
Religious persecution Wightman's adoption of "heresy" commenced with his understanding of the mortality of the soul, adopting the "soul sleep" view of Martin Luther. In one of his early public messages he preached that "the soul of man dies with the body and participates not either of the joys of Heaven or the pains of Hell, until the general Day of Judgment, but rested with the body until then".M. W. Greenslade, "The 1607 Return of Staffordshire Catholics", Staffordshire Catholic History, 4, 1963–4, pp. 6–32.Clarke, Lives of Two and Twenty English Divines, p 147.
Between 1603/4 and 1610/11, he became more active and vocal. According to court records, he was a prolific writer, although none of his writings have been found to date.Robert Wallace, Antitrinitarian Biography, E. T. Whitfield, 1850, p 567-568. He came to the attention of the local church authorities and a warrant for his arrest was issued. The order instructed the constables of Burton to immediately bring him before the Bishop of Lichfield Richard Neile (or Neale) for interrogation.Durham Dean and Chapter Library, MS Hunter 44/17, fo. 216r.
Condemned by King James I Wightman set about putting together a compendium of his theology for his upcoming hearing and defence. Perhaps thinking that he would at least be allowed time to plead his case, he delivered copies of it to members of the clergy in an effort to shore up support but, perhaps as a last resort, he delivered a copy to King James I,Collections for a History of Staffordshire, Staffordshire Record Society, 1982, p. 176. a move that would ultimately seal his fate. No copy survives.
James I came to the English throne in 1603, "thinking himself a competent judge of religious questions and disposed to take seriously his title of 'Defender of the Faith'".Earl Morse Wilbur, A History of Unitarianism, Harvard, 1945, p 177. Since 1607 he had been engaged in a battle of books with Roman Catholic apologists over the Oath of Allegiance, both personally and by encouraging others to write in his defence. "One of the central planks of the king's case was the preservation of his catholic orthodoxy through his adherence to the three great creeds of the church, the Apostles', the Nicene and the Athanasian".F. Shriver, Orthodoxy and Diplomacy: James I and the Vorstius Affair, ante, lxxxv, 1970, pp. 453–4.James VI and I, The Workes of the Most High and Mightie Prince, Iames by the Grace of God, King of Great Britaine, London, 1616, p. 302.
Wightman was fully aware of the king's firmly orthodox stance, yet he set about to combat both his State and Church. Of the handful of fragments of his defence treatise that have survived, he refers to the doctrine and "heresies of the Nicolaitan;... most of all hated and abhorred of God himself ... the common received faith contained in those three inventions of man, commonly called the Three Creeds ... the [Apostles'], Nicene and Athanasius Creed, which faith within these 1600 years past hath prevailed in the world".Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole, "A True Relation of the Commissions and Warrants for the Condemnation and Burning of Bartholomew Legate and Thomas Withman", 1521 B, 7, 1a–1b, London, 1651, p. 8.
Wightman had by now isolated himself from all orthodox groups, calling into question many tenets of orthodox belief, arguing "that the baptizing of infants is an abominable custom ... the practice of the Sacraments as they are now used in the Church of England are according to Christ his Institution ... [and affirming that] only the sacrament of baptism [is] to be administered in water to converts of sufficient age of understanding converted from infidelity to the faith".Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole, "A True Relation of the Commissions", pp. 8–9, 23.
However what finally spelled his end was his public rejection of Trinitarianism. It was presumably on these points that he so vehemently rejected the formulae of the Nicene Creed of 325 and the Athanasian Creed of 381.Both of the Creeds had been structured primarily as responses to Arian denials of the Trinity. And like the Arians of the 4th century, Wightman flatly denied them. He claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity was a total fabrication, stating that Christ was only a man "and a mere Creature and not both God and man in one person... [Although this did not mean that Christ was a man like all others but] only a perfect man without sin".All quotes, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole, "A True Relation of the Commissions", p 5. King James was by now more set than ever in securing the execution of Wightman, since in the intervening years he had launched a dual campaign against heresy at home and abroad.
Trial and death Edward Wightman's examination and hearing was addressed in 16 points: That there is no Trinity; That Jesus Christ is not God, perfect God and of the same substance, eternity and majesty with the Father in respect of his God-head; That Jesus Christ is only man and a mere creature and not both God and man in one person; That Christ was never incarnate and did not fulfill the promise that the seed of the woman shall break the serpents head; The person of the Holy Ghost is not God, co-equal, co-eternal and co-essential with the Father and the Son; That the three creeds of the apostolic church are the heresies of the Nicolaitanes; That he, Edward Wightman, is the prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy 18 in the words "I will raise them up a prophet" and in Isaiah "I alone have trodden the wine press" and in that place "Whose fan is in his hand"; That he was the Holy Spirit, the Comforter spoken of in John 16; That the words of Jesus on the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit refer to him; That the fourth of Malachi refers to his person (the prophecy of Elijah); That the soul and body does sleep and this sleep is the first death, and that the soul and body of Jesus did also sleep in the sleep of death; That the souls of the elect departed (that is dead) are not in heaven; That the baptizing of infants is an abominable custom; That the practice of the Church of England in reference to the Lord’s Supper and baptism are incorrect and baptism of water should be administered only to those with sufficient age and understanding; That God has ordained and sent him, Edward Wightman, to do his part in the work of the Salvation of the world, (to admonish the heresy of the Nicolaitanes); in comparison to Christ, who was sent to save the world and by his death to deliver it from sin and to reconcile it to God; That Christianity is not wholly professed and preached in the Church of England, but only in part.Cobbet's.
Execution Wightman's trial was played out against the backdrop of the so-called "Vorstius Affair", involving the intense opposition on the King's part to block the appointment of the German academic Conrad Vorstius to the University of Leiden. Vorstius was being accused of atheism, Arianism and heretical opinions about the Holy Spirit.
After months of being subjected to a series of conferences with "learned divines", Wightman was finally brought before Bishop Neile for the last time. According to Wightman, the Bishop told him "that unless I did recant my opinions he would burn me at a stake in Burton before Allholland day next".Lincolnshire Archives, D & C, Ciij/13/1/2/2, fo. 1r.
He was ordered to be placed "in some public and open place below the city aforesaid [and] before the people burned in the detestation of the said crime and for manifest example of other Christians that they may not fall into the same crime".All quotes, Robert Wallace, Antitrinitarian Biography, E. T. Whitfield, 1850, pp 567–568.
When he was finally brought to the stake his courage left him, and as the fires were lit he is said to have quickly cried out to recant and was pulled from the fire, although by then he had been "well scorched". Two or three weeks later he was again brought before the courts and, no longer fearing the searing flames, refused and "blasphemed more audaciously than before".
The King quickly ordered his final execution: the written official order was dated 9 March 1611/12. On 11 April 1612, Wightman was once more led to the stake.
Legacy
In the months that followed Wightman's execution, a number of religious radicals nearly met the same fate,Champlin Burrage, The Early Dissenters in the Light of Recent Research (1550–1641), vol. I, pp. 169–171. even though the downfall of the bishops and abolition of the High Commission in 1640–2 did not bring about any changes to the constitution: