Anthony Brookby (executed 19 July 1537) was an English Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 theologian. He offended Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

, and became a Catholic martyr.

Brookby was a lecturer in theology at Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

. He was well versed in Greek and Hebrew, and enjoyed a reputation as an eloquent preacher. In a sermon of Brookby's, he attacked the king's actions and mode of living.

He was arrested, put to the rack, and tortured in order to make him retract what he had said. Disabled as a result of his tortures, Brookby was cared for by a pious woman for a fortnight. By the command of the king, an executioner strangled him to death, with the Franciscan cord which he wore around his waist.

The year of his death has been questioned, with the Victoria County History

Victoria County History

The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 and was dedicated to Queen Victoria with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of...

for Kent placing the event in 1534..