With particular attention paid to the experience of the Marian exiles, this paper analyses the sixteenth-century Protestant debate about the rectitude of flight from persecution. It suggests that, although this debate must be located in a centuries-old Christian discussion about flight, contemporary understandings of the nature of God's will and providence were equally important. The paper contends that the Marian exiles largely succeeded in justifying their flight to their brethren, and that this success had a significant impact on the subsequent historical accounts of the period.