Feminist is a modern term and, while it cannot be applied to Anne Askew, she was a young woman who certainly exhibited some of the qualities closely identified with modern feminists.

She was born to a well-to-do family in Lincolnshire, England. Apparently her family even had connections at the court of King Henry VIII. Like many young women of her social station, Askew was expected to agree to an arranged marriage. Her elder sister was betrothed to a man named Thomas Kyme. She died not long before the marriage was to take place, and Askew's parents insisted on the younger sister taking the place of the elder. Askew was furious but bent to parental will. She was miserable in the marriage, and eventually her husband threw her out of his house, mainly due to her strong Protestant convictions.

It is important to remember that while King Henry had broken with Rome, most English men and women remained largely Roman Catholic in their thinking and worship. Indeed, even Henry's chapel services were Catholic in every way minus the Pope. Askew was part of what became known as Protestant dissenters; or, Christians who wanted a complete break with the Roman church and all of their dogma and practices. While it is true that Henry's successor, his daughter, Mary, burned many non-Catholics at the stake, Henry and even his other daughter, Elizabeth I tortured and killed not only Catholics, but Protestant Dissenters. In other words, anyone who deviated either direction from the Church of England.

When Anne Askew left Lincolnshire for London seeking a divorce, she exposed herself to a variety of dangers, not the least of which was exposure as a hated Dissenter. She attempted to obtain a divorce on scriptural grounds, claiming that her marriage was a fraud since her husband was a nonbeliever. She convinced no judge or priest. It was at about this time that she was brought up on charges of heresy against the Church of England, whose leader was King Henry himself. She then turned to her court connections for assistance, one of whom was Katherine Parr, Henry's sixth and final queen. Parr was sympathetic and was able to obtain a pardon for Askew. Parr was herself of dissenting views, though held quite privately and without the king's knowledge. Parr must indeed have been fond of or beholden to Askew, because to assist such an outspoken dissenter was to invite serious accusations.

Parr was well aware of what could befall a queen during Henry's reign, and there were abundant Papal, as well as Church of England spies and supporters working to incriminate any highly-placed troublemaker. Yet, Parr came to the aid of Askew. When Askew was arrested a second time for heresy, Parr was unable to help. Askew was taken to the Tower of London for torture. She was placed on the rack and underwent horrendous torture, with her torturers demanding she implicate the queen. Askew confessed to nothing. The chief torturer could no longer bear to continue his assignment, and turned her torturing over to another. Her sufferings continued for months and to the point that her body was thoroughly broken and crippled. She arrived to her trial on a stretcher, and was carried to her execution, where she was burned at the stake.