thomas cranmer and the book of common prayer

Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury:

Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury 2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556

The Early Years ...:

The Early Years ... Born on 2 July, 1489 in Aslockton, Notts. Parents Thomas & Agnes of modest wealth; brothers John (elder) and Edmund (younger). Father died 1501 and John inherited the estate. Thomas & Edmund destined for the Church and at 14 years old was sent by his mother to study at Jesus College in Cambridge. 1511 – Bachelor’s Degree, followed by Master’s Degree in 1515 and fellowship of Jesus College.

The Early Years ...:

The Early Years ... Sometime between 1515-19, he married a women called Joan. Joan died in childbirth and Thomas returned to his former way of life. This fellowship was restored and by 1520 he was ordained priest and university preacher. In 1526 he became a Doctor of Divinity and was appointed University examiner in Divinity. He became a prolific reader of just about every book he could lay his hands on, including the works of Luther. In particular he sought the truth of God`s word and was convinced  that the only infallible source was the Scriptures.

In the Service of Henry VIII ...:

In the Service of Henry VIII ... In summer 1529 an outbreak of plague in Cambridge and Cranmer went to Waltham Abbey. By chance King Henry VIII was visiting Waltham Abbey and some of his retinue stayed at the same lodgings. Two of these (Gardiner and Foxe) knew Cranmer from their time in Cambridge. 2 August 1529, over supper they had a discussion about the ‘King’s Great Matter’ – his proposed divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Cranmer asked why they wanted the Pope’s approval for the divorce instead of consulting the Scriptures, ‘If God has made this marriage sinful, the Pope cannot make it lawful’. Cranmer said that the Universities should pass judgement on what the Scriptures said on the issue ‘they will return a sounder verdict than the pope’.

In the Service of Henry VIII ...:

In the Service of Henry VIII ... Report of Cranmer’s reached the King and Cranmer was drafted in to canvas the great universities of Europe on the ‘King’s Great Matter’. The Collectanea satis copiosa (the sufficiently abundant collection) of 1530 was a collection of documents compiled by Cranmer and Foxe designed to prove that Kings of England, historically, had no superiors on Earth (including the Pope). With the legal arguments in hand, Cranmer was sent as part of the embassy to Rome and Pope Clement VII to seek sympathy for Henry. In the same year, Cranmer received a clerical promotion to become Archdeacon of Taunton Unfortunately, the Pope and powers in the Vatican were not swayed!

Ambassador to Charles V ...:

Ambassador to Charles V ... In the summer of 1531, the King sent Cranmer to the Holy Roman Empire as England's sole ambassador to the Emperor, Charles V Although his task was to obtain the removal of restrictions on English trade, the main benefit of this post for Cranmer was that it put him in contact with German Lutherans While in Nuremberg, he became acquainted with the Lutheran scholar Andreas Osiander Despite being an ordained Roman Catholic priest – an archdeacon – and thus supposedly celibate, Cranmer secretly married Osiander's niece, Margaret Needless to say, Cranmer initially kept their marriage secret. Mrs Cranmer's box was reference to the hidden existence of Cranmer's wifeand her means of concealment. The story is more apocryphal than historical and describes her travelling method between Cranmer's houses. The tale arose that: “ He kept his woman very close, and sometimes carried her about with him in a great chest full of holes, that his pretty nobsey might take breath at”

Archbishop of Canterbury ...:

Archbishop of Canterbury ... In August 1532, Archbishop William Wareham died and Henry arranged for Cranmer to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury to Cranmer's astonishment! As Cranmer was still on the Continent at the time with his new wife, he had an excuse to delay and duly did, in the hope that another would be selected. Cranmer finally arrived back in England in January 1533, just before Henry found out that Anne Boleyn was pregnant. Henry and Anne were secretly married 25 January 1533. Henry cleverly used the fact that the pope and the papal nuncio in England were desperate to avert a final break between England and Rome. Henry paid the huge cost of the papal bulls and thus obtaining papal authority needed to make Cranmer archbishop. The papal bulls of confirmation were dated February and March 1533 and the consecration took place on 30 March 1533.

Archbishop of Canterbury ...:

Archbishop of Canterbury ... On 23 May 1533, Cranmer declared Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon void. T wo days later, o n 25 May 1533, the secret marriage to Anne Boleyn was declared lawful. On 1 June 1533, Cranmer then crowned Anne in Westminster Abbey . Pope Clement VII responded to the marriage by excommunicating both Henry and Cranmer from the Roman Catholic Church. On 7 September 1533, the new queen gave birth to Henry's second daughter Princess Elizabeth; Cranmer was made her godfather. In 1536, Queen Anne miscarried a boy, which led to the king's decision to remove her from the throne. Seeing that Anne was doomed, Cranmer, who owed his position to Anne's initial support, claimed that she had misled him. He did express astonishment at the allegations to Henry and his belief that "she should not be culpable." Still, owing to the vulnerability wrought by his own closeness to Anne, he declared Henry's marriage to Anne to be void, like Catherine's before her. Anne was executed on 19 May 1536 .

Under the vice-gerency (1535–1538):

Under the vice- gerency (1535–1538) Cranmer was not immediately accepted by the bishops within his province. When he attempted a visitation, he had to avoid locations where a resident conservative bishop might make an embarrassing personal challenge to his authority. In 1535, Cranmer had difficult encounters with several bishops. They objected to Cranmer’s power and title and argued that the Act of Supremacy (1534) did not define his role. This prompted Thomas Cromwell , the King's chief minister, to activate and to take the office of the Vice-gerent , the deputy supreme head of ecclesiastical affairs. He created another set of institutions that gave a clear structure to the royal supremacy. Hence, the archbishop was eclipsed by Vice-gerent Cromwell in regards to the king's spiritual jurisdiction. There is no evidence that Cranmer resented his position as junior partner. Although he was an exceptional scholar, he lacked the political ability to outface even clerical opponents. Those tasks were left to Cromwell.

The Break from Rome ....:

The Break from Rome .... At this time England had begun to break from Rome.  In December 1533 the Privy Council declared that the Pope had no authority in England. In spring 1534 Parliament abolished all Papal powers in England and November, Henry introduced the ‘Act of Supremacy’ By 1536 it became clear that guidelines were needed for the Henrician Church of England as it became independent of Rome . Cranmer was the primary author of the Ten Articles – each article was a brief doctrinal statement of the new English Church. Issued with the approval of the Convocation, the articles denounced both Roman and Protestant practices. The first five articles dealt with doctrine and stated that the Bible, the three creeds – Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed – and the decisions of the Four Great Councils were the basis of faith. They went on to affirm three sacraments (baptism, the Eucharist, and penance) as being instituted by Christ. This was a Lutheran innovation and eliminated the additional Roman Catholic sacraments of Confirmation , Matrimony , Holy Orders and the Anointing of the Sick .

The Ten Articles...:

The Ten Articles... The second five articles were very Roman Catholic in tone, being concerned with maintaining ceremonies under attack on the continent. They permitted the use of icons and statues, allowed invocation of the saints, and encouraged prayers for the dead . The Articles were anti-papal and reforming in nature. They denounced Roman abuses connected with Purgatory and indulgences and pressed for royal supremacy over papal supremacy. Cranmer was forced to mediate between radical Protestant reformers, many of whom he would not tolerate, and reactionary Catholic conservatives who would ultimately execute him. They unified reforming and Catholic currents of thought in a pleasant linguistic style which showed Cranmer's considerable talent as a writer. The Articles, like the later Prayer Books Cranmer would largely author, provided unity without requiring uniformity. The Dissolution of the Monasteries was also started in 1536.

The Pilgrimage of Grace ...:

The Pilgrimage of Grace ... These reforms deeply divided the kingdom. Cranmer and the King's court were shocked when Catholics revolted in the ‘ Pilgrimage of Grace ’(October 1536), and the court began to see Roman Catholicism not simply as a religion but rather as treason against the state . Henry and Cranmer strongly feared another revolt, which caused them to target as "superstitious" any religious practices that brought together large numbers of people. For this reason, they banned pilgrimages, saints' days, and the display of relics. They were also certain that an army loyal to Rome would soon invade England . To raise funds for the defence of the kingdom, they looted the shrines of Walsingham, St Thomas Becket and others. This did not provide enough money, however, and the monasteries became the next target. Despite having little to do with imposing the Dissolution of the Monasteries, in 1538, Cranmer influenced public opinion against the monks. He preached, in his sermons at St. Paul's Cross, that if the abbeys went down, the king would never want to impose any taxes again .

The Six Articles -1539:

The Six Articles -1539 In 1538 three German theologians were sent to London and held conferences with the English bishops and clergy in the archbishop’s palace at Lambeth for several months. The Germans presented, as a basis of agreement, a number of Articles based on the Lutheran Confession of Augsburg. Several Bishops were not won over by these Protestant arguments and did everything they could to avoid agreement. Cranmer favoured a union with the Germans. Henry had felt uneasy about the appearance of the Lutheran doctors and their theology within his kingdom, and unwilling to break with Catholic practices, dissolved the conference. On 28 April 1539, Parliament met for the first time in three years. On 5 May, the House of Lords created a committee with the customary religious balance to examine and determine doctrine. Eleven days later, the Duke of Norfolk noted that the committee had not agreed on anything and proposed that the Lords examine six doctrinal questions which eventually became the basis of the Six Articles .

The Six Articles ...:

The Six Articles ... Passed by Act of Parliament in June 1539, The Six Articles marked the beginning of the reactionary period that continued until the close of Henry VIII's reign and was a setback for the reformers. Cranmer had argued against them in the House of Lord’s. They set out precisely and clearly six points of mediaeval doctrine and practice which the Protestants had begun to attack, and imposed severe penalties on all who would not accept them. Reassertion of transubstantiation. Reassertion of the reasonableness of withholding of the cup from the laity during communion. Reassertion of clerical celibacy. Reassertion of observance of vows of chastity. Reassertion of permission for private masses. Reassertion of the importance of confession. This Act, called by the Protestants, " the whip with six strings ," continued in force for the rest of Henry's reign.

The Six Articles ...:

The Parliamentary Act provided that all who denied the First Article (Transubstantiation) should be burned as heretics. Those who persistently refused assent  to the others should be hanged as felons. One immediate effect was that many zealous Reformers left the country and went to Germany and Switzerland where they joined with particularly the Zwinglian school. In England, it led to Latimer resigning the bishopric of Worcester and Shaxton that of Salisbury. It also compelled Cranmer to send his German (Lutheran) wife back to relatives and was only himself saved by the influence of the King. Although not enforced with relentless severity, the Act nevertheless resulted in over 500 people being imprisoned. It was under this Act that Anne Askew was prosecuted and burnt. The Six Articles ...

The Great Bible...:

The Great Bible... The setback for the reformers was short-lived. By September 1539, Henry was displeased with the results of the Act and its promulgators; the ever-loyal Cranmer and Cromwell were back in favour. The King asked his Archbishop to write a new preface for the Great Bible , an English translation of the Bible that had first been published in April 1539 under the direction of Cromwell. In May 1541, King Henry issued a Royal Proclamation that every parish was to have a copy of the Great Bible for public use by Ash Wednesday, 1541.

The Fall of Cromwell...:

The Fall of Cromwell... As for Cromwell, he was delighted that his plan of a royal marriage between Henry and Anne of Cleves, the sister of a German prince was accepted by the king. Henry was dismayed with Anne when they first met on 1 January 1540 but married her reluctantly on 6 January in a ceremony officiated by Cranmer. The marriage ended in disaster as Henry decided shortly thereafter that he would request a royal divorce. This resulted in Henry being placed in an embarrassing position and Cromwell suffered the consequences. His old enemies, took advantage of the weakened Cromwell and he was arrested on 10 June. He immediately lost the support of all his friends, including Cranmer. However, as Cranmer had done for Anne Boleyn, he wrote a letter to the king defending the past work of Cromwell. Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleves was quickly annulled on 9 July by the vice- gerential synod, now led by Cranmer and Gardiner.

Rise to prominence ...:

Rise to prominence ... Following the annulment, Cromwell was executed on 28 July. Cranmer now found himself in a politically prominent position, with no one else to shoulder the burden. Throughout the rest of Henry’s reign, he clung to Henry’s authority. Henry had total trust in him and in return, Cranmer could not conceal anything from the King. At the end of June 1541, Henry with his new wife, Catherine Howard, left for his first visit to the north of England. Cranmer was left in London as a member of a council taking care of matters for the King in his absence. His colleagues were Lord Chancellor Thomas Audley and Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. In October, while the King and Queen were away, a reformer named John Lascelles revealed to Cranmer that Catherine engaged in extramarital affairs. Cranmer gave the information to Audley and Seymour and they decided to wait until Henry’s return. On All Saints Day, Cranmer slipped a message to Henry during Mass. An investigation revealed the truth of the marital indiscretions and Catherine was executed in February 1542.

The Prebendaries’ Plot ...:

The Prebendaries ’ Plot ... The Prebendaries ' Plot was an attempt in 1543 made by religious conservatives in England to oust Thomas Cranmer from office as archbishop of Canterbury who they formally accused of being a heretic. It is named after the five prebendary canons of Canterbury Cathedral who formed its core. Others involved were two holders of the new cathedral office of "six preacher" (created in 1541), along with various local non-cathedral priests and Kentish gentlemen. Simultaneous agitation at the court in Windsor, and the conspiracy in general, was led covertly by Stephen Gardiner , Bishop of Winchester. Henry VIII's chaplain Richard Cox was charged with investigating and suppressing it, and his success (240 priests and 60 laypeople of both sexes were accused of involvement) led to his being made Cranmer's chancellor and later, under Elizabeth, Bishop of Ely. Bishop Gardiner survived, but is nephew German Gardiner , who had acted as his secretary and intermediary to the plotters in Kent, was made a scapegoat and was executed at Tyburn on 7 March, 1544.

Liturgical Reform...:

Liturgical Reform... The Exhortation and Litany to be said in Procession: This is the first officially sanctioned liturgy in English, and the only one published under the reign of Henry VIII. These processions were common at the time, and were typically used to pray for God's favour during times of troubles, such as bad weather, war, pestilence, etc. Henry noticed that people were not responding to these processions as he thought they should, and attributed this at least partially to the fact that the people " understode no parte of suche prayers or suffrages as were used to be songe and sayde ". Accordingly, he decreed in June, 1544, that there were to be "set forthe certayne godly prayers and suffrages in our natyve Englyshe tongue". This work was undertaken by Cranmer, and is partly his own composition, and partly drawn from the Sarum processional, from Luther's Litany, and from the Greek Orthodox Litany. It was good enough to endure, substantially unchanged, throughout the entire history of the Book of Common Prayer, down to modern times.

Death of Henry VIII ...:

Death of Henry VIII ... Cranmer performed his final duties for the Henry on 28 January 1547 when he gave a reformed statement of faith while gripping Henry’s hand instead of giving him his last rites. Cranmer mourned Henry’s death and it was later said that he demonstrated his grief by growing a beard. The beard was also a sign of his break with the past. Continental reformers grew beards to mark their rejection of the old Church and this significance of clerical beards was well-understood in England. On 31 January, Cranmer was among the executors of the king’s final will that nominated Seymour as Lord Protector and welcomed the boy king, Edward VI.

Cranmer & Edward VI...:

Cranmer & Edward VI... Cranmer came into his own in the reign of Edward VI, where as godfather, councillor and tutor he exercised great influence over the boy King`s upbringing. In particular he encouraged interest in the evangelical and protestant church which became an obsession with the King. During the coronation sermon Cranmer referred to the boy-king as “a new Josiah who was to reform the worship of God, destroy idolatry, banish the Bishop of Rome and remove images from the land.” During Edward’s short reign the laws about the burning of dissidents and alleged heretics were swept away and the atmosphere became by far more tolerant. Cranmer was now able to introduce radical changes which he had been nurturing  for this moment - a much more Scriptural worship that had the Romish superstitions removed.

‘Reforms’ Under Edward VI ...:

‘Reforms’ Under Edward VI ... Images in churches were to be dismantled; stained glass, shrines, statues were defaced or destroyed; roods and often their lofts and screens were cut down, bells were taken down; vestments were prohibited and either burned or sold; church plate was to be melted down or sold and the requirement of the clergy to be celibate was lifted; processions were banned; ashes and palms were prohibited. Chantries, means by which the saying of masses for the dead were endowed, were abolished completely. In 1550 stone altars were exchanged for wooden communion tables, a very public break with the past, as it changed the look and focus of church interiors. Outwardly, the destruction and removals for sale had changed the church forever. Many churches had concealed their vestments and their silver, and had buried their stone altars.

English Communion Rite - 1548:

English Communion Rite - 1548 Cranmer finished his work on an English Communion rite in 1548, obeying an order of Convocation of the previous year that Communion was to be given to the people as both bread and wine. The Mass made no provision for the congregation to receive Communion, so, Cranmer composed an additional rite of congregational preparation and Communion in English, to be undertaken immediately following the Priests Communion. The prayer of humble access makes its first a lasting appearance in this publication.

The Book of Common Prayer -1549:

The Book of Common Prayer -1549 Although a formal break with the Papacy came about during the time of Henry VIII , the Church in England continued to use old liturgies in Latin throughout his reign. In 1549, in a full prayer book, set out with a daily office, readings for Sundays and Holy Days, the Communion Service, Public Baptism, of Confirmation, of Matrimony, The Visitation of the Sick, At a Burial and the Ordinal (added in 1550) This prayer book was in use only for three years, However, much of its tradition and language remains in the prayer books of today.

The Book of Common Prayer -1549:

The Book of Common Prayer -1549 This Book of Common Prayer was not created in a vacuum, but derives from several sources. First and foremost was the Sarum Rite, or the Latin liturgy developed in Salisbury in the thirteenth century, and widely used in England. Two other influences were a reformed Roman Breviary of the Spanish Cardinal Quiñones , and a book on doctrine and liturgy by Hermann von Wied , Archbishop of Cologne Cranmer is credited with the overall structure and editorship of this ‘prototype’.

The Communion Service -1549:

The Communion Service -1549 The Communion Service of 1549 maintained the format of distinct rites of Consecration and Communion that had been introduced the previous year; but with the Latin of the Mass translated into English. By outwardly maintaining familiar forms, Cranmer hoped to establish the practice of weekly congregational Communion , and included exhortations to encourage this; and instructions that Communion should never be received by the priest alone. This represented a radical change from late medieval practice - the primary focus of congregational worship was taken to be attendance at the consecration , and adoration of the elevated Consecrated Host . In late medieval England, congregations only regularly received Communion at Easter ; otherwise lay people might expect to receive Communion only when gravely ill, or at their Nuptial Mass .

The Prayer Book Rebellion -1549:

The Prayer Book Rebellion -1549 The new prayer book was not uniformly liked or adopted particularly in areas of still firmly Catholic religious loyalty, for example, in Cornwall and Devon, but also in Lancashire. In December 1548 parliament approved the First Act of Uniformity which imposed a complete English-language Prayer Book to be used by all clergy from Whitsunday 1549 onwards. Magistrates were given the task of enforcing the change. Following the enforced change on Whitsunday, on Whitmonday the parishioners of Sampford Courtenay in Devon compelled their priest to revert to the old service. The rebels argued that the new English liturgy was "but lyke a Christmas game.“ Justices arrived at the next service to enforce the change. An altercation at the service led to a proponent of the change (William Hellyons ) being killed by being run through with a pitchfork on the steps of the church house.

The Prayer Book Rebellion -1549:

The Prayer Book Rebellion -1549 Following this confrontation a group of parishioners decided to march to Exeter to protest at the introduction of the new prayer book. As the group of rebels moved through Devon they gained large numbers of Catholic supporters and became a significant force. They laid siege to Exeter, demanding the withdrawal of all English liturgies In response, the Lord Protector, the Duke of Somerset, ordered an army composed largely of German and Italian mercenaries sent to impose a military solution .... There were many battles before the final defeat of the rebels back at Sampford Courtenay and it is estimated over 5,500 people lost their lives during the rebellion. Furthermore, proposals to translate the Prayer Book into Cornish were suppressed. The loss of life in the prayer book rebellion and subsequent reprisals as well as the introduction of the English prayer book is seen as a turning point in the Cornish language, for which — unlike Welsh — a complete bible translation was not produced.

42 Articles - 1552:

42 Articles - 1552 The Forty-Two Articles were intended to summarise Anglican doctrine, as it now existed under the reign of Edward VI, who favoured a more Protestant faith. Largely the work of Thomas Cranmer, they were to be short formularies that would demonstrate the faith revealed in Scripture and the existing Catholic creeds. Completed in 1552, they were issued by Royal Mandate on 19 June 1553. The articles were claimed to have received the authority of a Convocation, although this is doubtful. With the coronation of Queen Mary I and the reunion of the Church of England with the Roman Catholic Church, the Articles were never enforced. However, after Mary's death, they became the basis of the Thirty-Nine Articles .

The Prayer Book Revised-1552:

The Prayer Book Revised-1552 To many in the English religious establishment, the 1549 Prayer Book was only a first step in a movement towards a more Reformed and Protestant religion. Many, objected to not only the services themselves, but also to what they believed to be overly-elaborate altars and vestments for the clergy. Cranmer was himself one of these reformers, and the result was the revision of 1552, which intended to move the Church in a more "Protestant" direction. The policy of incremental reform was now unveiled: more Roman Catholic practices were now excised.

The Prayer Book Revised-1552:

The Prayer Book Revised-1552 The changes made in the 1552 prayer book were extensive: Introductory Sentences, Exhortation, Confession and Absolution were added to Morning and Evening Prayer. In the Eucharist, gone were the words Mass and altar ; the 'Lord have mercy' was interleaved into a recitation of the Ten Commandments and the Gloria was moved to the end of the service. The Eucharistic prayer was split in two so that Eucharistic bread and wine were shared immediately after the words of institution while its final element, the Prayer of Oblation, was moved, much changed, to a position after Communion, and was made optional with an alternative prayer of thanksgiving provided. The Elevation of the Host had been forbidden in 1549; all manual acts were now omitted. The Peace, at which in the early Church the congregation had exchanged a greeting, was removed altogether. Vestments such as the stole, chasuble and cope were no longer to be worn, but only a surplice.

The Prayer Book Revised-1552:

The Prayer Book Revised-1552 A rubric, called "the Black Rubric" (so-called as it was printed in black in 19th century versions) was added only days before final printing, over many objections, and sought to assure that kneeling at the Communion did not in any way imply adoration of the host. It was the final stage of the reformers' work of removing all elements of sacrificial offering from the Latin Mass; so that it should cease to be seen as a ritual at which the priest, on behalf of the faithful offered Christ's body and blood to God; and might rather be seen as a ritual whereby Christ shared his body and blood, according to a different sacramental theology, with the faithful. Nevertheless, Cranmer seems to have been resigned to being unable for the present to establish in parishes the weekly practice of receiving Communion; so he restructured the service so as to allow ante-Communion as a distinct rite of worship—following the Communion rite through the readings and offertory, as far as the intercessory "Prayer for the Church Militant".

The Prayer Book Revised-1552:

The Prayer Book Revised-1552 The exorcism, anointing, the chrysom robe, and triple immersion were omitted from the Baptism service. The use of reserved sacrament was left ambiguous in the Visitation of the Sick. Most drastic of all was the removal of the Burial service from church: it was to take place at the graveside. In 1549, there had been provision for a Requiem and prayers of commendation and committal, the first addressed to the deceased, and a number of psalms. All that remained in the 1552 Prayer Book was a single reference to the deceased, giving thanks for their delivery from 'the myseryes of this sinneful world'. The book was introduced towards the end of 1552, and only preceded the death of the young and sickly King Edward by six months. Edward was succeeded by Queen Mary, who quickly outlawed the Book of Common Prayer and restored the Latin rites of the Roman Catholic Church. So this prayer book never came into general usage in England.

Trials, Recantations, and Martyrdom (1553–1556):

Trials, Recantations, and Martyrdom (1553–1556) Edward fell ill in January 1553,and when it was discovered to be terminal, he and his Council drew up a "Devise for the Succession", attempting to prevent the country being returned to Catholicism. Edward named his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his heir and excluded his half sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. Cranmer’s decision to support Jane must have occurred before 19 June 1553 when royal orders were sent to convene the Convocation for the recognition of the new succession. Edward died on 5 July 1553 and Lady Jane Grey was declared Queen. By mid-July, there were serious provincial revolts in Mary’s favour and support for Jane in the council fell. As Mary was proclaimed queen, those who supported Jane arrested and were imprisoned. However, no action was taken against the archbishop, and on 8 th August he presided at Edward’s Funeral.

Trials, Recantations, and Martyrdom (1553–1556):

Trials, Recantations, and Martyrdom (1553–1556) Reformed bishops were removed from office and conservative clergy had their old positions restored. The Latin Mass and Roman Liturgies where restored. Altars, Rood Lofts, Vestments and Statues were ordered to be restored. Cranmer spoke out publically against the changes and as result on 14 September Cranmer was arrested and sent straight to the Tower to join Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. On 13 November 1553 Cranmer and four others were brought to trial for treason, found guilty, and condemned to death. Throughout February 1554 Jane Grey and other rebels were executed. It was now time to deal with the religious leaders of the reformation and so on 8 March 1554 the Privy Council ordered Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer to be transferred to Bocardo prison in Oxford to await a second trial for heresy.

Trials, Recantations, and Martyrdom (1553–1556):

Trials, Recantations, and Martyrdom (1553–1556) Cranmer remained isolated in Bocardo prison for seventeen months before the trial started on 12 September 1555. Although it took place in England, the trial was under papal jurisdiction and the final verdict would come from Rome. Under interrogation, Cranmer admitted to every fact that was placed before him, but he denied any treachery, disobedience, or heresy. The trial of Latimer and Ridley started shortly after Cranmer's but their verdicts came almost immediately and they were burnt at the stake on 16 October, 1555. On 4 December, Rome deprived Cranmer of the archbishopric and gave permission to the secular authorities to carry out their sentence. In his final days Cranmer's circumstances changed, which led to several recantations. On 11 December, he was taken out of prison and placed in the house of the Dean of Christ Church. Here is issued several recantations submitting himself to the authority of the king and queen and recognised the pope as head of the church.

Final Days ...:

Final Days ... On 14 February 1556, Cranmer was stripped of holy orders and returned to Prison. He had conceded very little and the authorities were not satisfied with these admissions. On 24 February a writ was issued to the mayor of Oxford and the date of Cranmer's execution was set for 7 March. Two days after the writ was issued, a fifth statement, the first which could be called a true recantation was issued. Cranmer repudiated all Lutheran and Zwinglian theology, fully accepted Catholic theology including papal supremacy and transubstantiation, and stated that there was no salvation outside the Catholic Church. He announced his joy of returning to the Catholic faith, asked for and received sacramental absolution, and participated in the mass. This last statement was issued on 18 th March. Cranmer's burning was postponed and under normal practice of canon law, he should have been absolved. However, Mary was unwilling to believe that the submission was sincere, and he was ordered to be burned at Oxford on 21 March 1556. Cranmer was a broken man .....

Execution – 21 March 1556:

Execution – 21 March 1556 Cranmer was told that he would be able to make a final recantation but this time in public during a service at the University Church. He wrote and submitted the speech in advance and it was published after his death. At the pulpit on the day of his execution, he opened with a prayer and an exhortation to obey the king and queen, but he ended his sermon totally unexpectedly, deviating from the prepared script. He renounced the recantations that he had written or signed with his own hand and as such he stated "I have sinned, in that I signed with my hand what I did not believe with my heart. When the flames are lit, this hand shall be the first to burn." He then said, "And as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ's enemy, and Antichrist with all his false doctrine.” He was pulled from the pulpit and taken to where Latimer and Ridley had been burnt six months before. When the fire was lit around his feet, he fulfilled his promise by placing his right hand into the heart of the fire and held his right hand in the fire until it was charred to a stump. His dying words were, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit... I see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God."

Cranmer’s Legacy ...:

Cranmer’s Legacy ... Immediately after Cranmer’s death the Marian government produced a pamphlet with all six recantations plus the text of the speech he was to have made in the University Church. No mention was made that he had withdrawn his recantations. However what had actually happened soon became common knowledge and the account of the event ceased to be effective propaganda. When Elizabeth I came to power on 7 September 1533, she restored the Church of England's independence from Rome under the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. The church that she re-established was, in effect, a snapshot of the Edwardian Church from September 1552.

The Prayer Book - 1559:

The Prayer Book - 1559 The Elizabethan Prayer Book of 1559 was based on Cranmer's 1552 with alterations, which though minor, were however to cast a long shadow. One related to what was worn. Instead of the banning of all vestments save the rochet (for bishops) and the surplice for parish clergy, it permitted 'such ornaments...as were in use...in the second year of K. Edward VI'. This allowed substantial leeway for more traditionalist clergy to retain at least some of the vestments which they felt were appropriate to liturgical celebration. It was to be the basis of claims in the 19th Century that vestments such as chasubles, albs, and stoles were legal.

The Prayer Book - 1559:

The Prayer Book - 1559 At the Communion, the words from the 1549 book 'the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ' etc. was combined with the words of Edward's second book, 'Take eat in remembrance.' etc. The instruction to the congregation to kneel at the Communion was retained; but the accompanying Black Rubric denying any "real and essential presence" of Christ's flesh and blood, was removed. The petition against the Pope was removed from the Litany. This book was in use much longer than either of its predecessors - nearly 100 years, until the Long Parliament of 1645 outlawed it as part of the Puritan Revolution.

The 39 Articles - 1571:

The 39 Articles - 1571 In 1563, Convocation met under Archbishop Matthew Parker, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, to revise Cranmer’s 42 articles. The Convocation pulled back from some of the more extreme Calvinist thinking and created the peculiar English reformed doctrine and passed only 39 of the 42. Elizabeth I reduced the number to 38 by throwing out Article XXIX to avoid offending her subjects with Catholic leanings. In 1570, the Pope excommunicated Queen Elizabeth who in response had the XXIXth Article, re-inserted, to the effect that ‘the wicked do not eat the Body of Christ’. This act destroyed any hope of reconciliation with Rome and it was no longer necessary to fear that Article XXIX would offend Catholic sensibilities. The Articles, increased to Thirty-nine, were ratified by the Queen in 1571, and the bishops and clergy were required to assent.