MANY CHURCHMEN would have jumped at the chance to become Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest position in the English church. When Archbishop William Warham died in August 1532, King Henry VIII’s choice of a successor was Thomas Cranmer. However, Cranmer was not consecrated until this day 30 March 1533, seven months later. Partly, this was because Cranmer was in Germany on the king’s business when news of the appointment came. Mostly, however, it was because Cranmer dawdled, hoping the king would change his mind.
He knew he was walking into trouble. Henry was bent on getting an annulment of his marriage to his queen, Catherine. Catherine had borne him no male heir, although she had given birth to a daughter, Mary. The king suspected his marriage was under a curse because of incest, since Catherine had originally been the wife of Henry’s older brother Arthur before Arthur’s death. The pope, under obligation to Catherine’s nephew, Emperor Charles V, would not grant an annulment. Cranmer suggested that the universities could just as well settle the question of incest as the Pope. Henry swore Cranmer had “the right sow by the ear,” and sent him with a delegation to the continent to win support for an annulment.
Soon after he finally became archbishop, Cranmer granted Henry his divorce from Catherine. In so doing, he made an enemy of Mary. Meanwhile, he conducted himself under the theory that the king was the earthly head of the Church of England. Acting on the king’s shifting whims, Cranmer often appeared weak. For instance, he ruled Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn lawful and six months later ruled it unlawful.
Nonetheless, Cranmer edged England in the direction of the Reformation. He convinced Henry to place English-language Bibles in all churches, implemented a liturgy in English, and drafted a reform of the canon laws. He seldom balked at the king’s whims, although he testified against Henry’s Six Articles and pleaded for the lives of Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher whom Henry wanted to execute. His twists and turns kept him alive under Henry while the royal wrath destroyed many others. Henry even saved Cranmer’s life from one plot, playfully appointing him head of a commission to examine himself.
When Henry’s son Edward VI came to the throne, Cranmer continued to advance Protestantism in England, developing new doctrinal standards and issuing the Book of Common Prayer. When it became obvious Edward was dying, Cranmer joined those who wanted to make Lady Jane Grey, Edward’s Protestant cousin, the new queen rather than the staunchly Catholic Mary (Edward’s half-sister).
Mary ascended the throne despite the opposition. She executed Lady Jane and charged Cranmer with treason and heresy. Faced with the stake, Cranmer recanted his Protestant opinions. When he discovered that he was going to be burned to death anyway, he publicly shifted back to Protestant views, saying, “As for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine.” He held the hand that had signed the recantation in the flame, burning it off and calling it “This unworthy right hand.” His last words, repeated several times, were “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
—Dan Graves
