Joan Boughton (original) (raw)

Joan Boughton (c. 1410s – 28 April 1494) was an English martyr. Boughton was a widow of 80 years or more who held views associated with John Wycliffe. She was said to be the mother of a woman named Young, also suspected of following Wycliffe. She was burnt at Smithfield, London on 28 April 1494. In Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy of historical novels, Thomas Cromwell witnesses her execution as a boy. Cromwell helps the Lollards who gather remains of Boughton after the execution crowd has departed.