The Elizabethan times were extremely dangerous for those who disagreed with Elizabeth I's reforms with regards to religion. The Tudor period is synonymous with religious turmoil due to the English Reformation, and during the era many heretics were murdered by the axe, or even worse by being burned at the stake. Henry VIII and Bloody Mary I would have a legacy for being bloodthirsty and for ordering brutal executions, but the death of Margaret Clitherow would shock the then Queen Elizabeth I.

Elizabeth I's religious settlement aimed to sort out any divisions between Catholics and Protestants, but those Catholics who did practice in illegal ways did face severe punishments. One of these was Margaret Clitherow, who has been known as the 'Pearl of York.' She would be found guilty of harbouring and hiding Catholic priests, and would refuse to admit guilt and implicate herself or her family.

For this she was sentenced to a horrific execution known as 'Death by your own door.' The pregnant Margaret Clitherow would be forced to lie down on a bridge, with a sharp rock jabbing into her spine with her door laid ontop her her, and almost a tonne of weight added to the door. This was a horrendous ordeal, which even shocked Elizabeth I who was appauled at her death. Join us today as look at the horrific execution of Margaret Clitherow, the Pearl of York.