During the final years of King Henry VIII's reign, Catholics were in charge and Protestantism was illegal. Despite this danger, Anne Askew very proudly and publicly shared her Protestant beliefs around London. Up until her imprisonment at the Tower of London, torturing women on the rack was also illegal. Anne refused to reveal the names of her fellow Protestant friends (perhaps including Queen Catherine Parr herself) and her inquisitors felt the need to take extra measures. Shockingly, this could have been the only incident on record where King Henry VIII believed in equal rights for women. Unfortunately for Anne, that meant getting her limbs slowly and painfully pulled apart.  At only 25 years, Anne Askew was the first women to have been both tortured at the Tower of London and burnt at the stake. 

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