Portal:Anglicanism/Selected biography/5
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Cranmer (July 2, 1489 – March 21, 1556) was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of the English kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was an influential theologian who, with Richard Hooker and Matthew Parker, was a co-founder of Anglican theological thought. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and guided the English Reformation, which denied papal authority over the English Church, during its earliest days. Following Henry's death, Cranmer became a key figure in Edward's regency government.
Scholars credit Cranmer with writing and compiling the first two Books of Common Prayer, which established the basic structure of Anglican liturgy for more than four centuries. Many phrases from its services passed into the English language, either as deliberate quotations or as unconscious borrowings. Cranmer was executed in 1556 for heresy after Queen Mary I reunited the Church of England with the Roman Catholic Church. Anglican culture, particularly the literature of John Foxe, later celebrated Cranmer as a martyr. His impact on religion in the United Kingdom was profound and lasting.
