Richard Bayfield

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Richard Bayfield (died 27 November 1531) was an English Protestant martyr. A Cambridge graduate, he became a Benedictine monk and worked at the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. Around 1522 an Augustinian priest, Robert Barnes, gave him a Latin translation of the New Testament. After two years of study his interpretations alarmed his superiors, and he was imprisoned. Barnes helped secure his release and brought him back to Cambridge. Later he was imprisoned and questioned by Bishop Tunstall; he recanted but fled to the Low Countries with English exiles, where he helped William Tyndale. He returned to England and circulated the New Testament and other forbidden books, including works by Luther, Zwingli, and Melanchthon. He was discovered, imprisoned, tortured, and burned at the stake at Smithfield on 27 November 1531, by Thomas More.