2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556
Priest who lived under the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and was burned at the stake by Mary I of England
Cranmer was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1533-1556, who had an influence on the religious practices of England during the Tudor era. In May 1533, Cranmer declared Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon null and void. Cranmer, a protestant, enabled the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and by doing so England split from Rome. Henry wanted out of the marriage and Boleyn was accused of infidelity, Cranmer wrote to the king, expressing doubts that she was guilty. He visited Boleyn in the Tower of London and heard her confession, she pled innocence. Boleyn was beheaded, and Cranmer mourned her death.
Cranmer helped Henry VIII get divorced from Anne of Cleves, the king’s fourth wife. The king married the young Catherine Howard, who was having an affair with Thomas Culpepper. It was Cranmer who broke the news that Howard was a sinner and unworthy of being queen.
After Henry VIII died, his young son Edward VI became king; Cranmer moved along with the reformation and was responsible for the issue of the First English Prayer Book. When Edward VI became ill, Cranmer helped prevent Princess Mary of becoming Queen due to her Catholic beliefs, and instead enabled Edward’s cousin protestant Lady Jane Grey to be queen instead.
When Mary I came to the throne in 1553 she had Cranmer burned at the stake. Cranmer, 66, was just one of the hundreds of heretics that ‘Bloody Mary’ had executed. Mary had him arrested and tried for treason and he was condemned to death. He was imprisoned for two years and during this time he attempted to save his own life by writing a confession, denying his protestant beliefs. Nobody believed him, and on the day of his death, he withdrew the confession. Whilst on the stake, he thrust his right hand into the fire, as this was the hand that signed the confession.