November 12 in Church History
John Bunyan’s Arrest
November 12 in church history: John Bunyan’s arrest in 1660, the killing of Josaphat Kuntsevych at Vitebsk and the death of Stephen Gardiner.
A brazier from Bedford named John Bunyan was arrested on November 12, 1660. Offered freedom if he would not preach, he refused, and remained jailed for most of the next twelve years. The Bible and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs were his main reading in the cell. There he wrote Grace Abounding. Most importantly the imprisonment gave him the discipline and impetus to write The Pilgrim’s Progress, a book considered the most widely read in English after the Bible.
Today’s feast honors Josaphat, a Ruthenian monk and archbishop who worked to bring Orthodox believers into union with Rome. He was killed by a mob in 1623 and became a saint of the Greek Catholic church.
On this day
- 1555Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester and Mary I’s chancellor, dies
- 1623Josaphat Kuntsevych is killed by a mob at Vitebsk
- 1660John Bunyan is arrested for preaching at Lower Samsell, Bedfordshire
- 1882Cambridge student Arthur Polhill-Turner is converted
Feast days
Josaphat, Ukrainian archbishop and martyr
Also kept today: Cadwaladr, Cunibert, Lebuin, Machar
November calendar
Sources. David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints; standard reference works; Rusten and Rusten, The One Year Christian History.
Last updated November 2, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.