The holy maid of Kent

the long version

Was the Holy Maid of Kent a lunatic, a dupe, an imposter, or a saint? The question has puzzled historians for four centuries. The author answers it in the first full-length study of her life to be written. In reconstructing her life from fragmentary records, he has drawn the first authentic portrait of the gifted and courageous woman who was the first victim of Henry VIII's religious reformation. Later victims, notably her friends Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher, have achieved greater fame, but hers was the fearless example that inspired them. Stripping away the degrading and often nonsensical legends, the author has restored a forgotten martyr to Christendom and a lost heroine to English history.