At this time, Protestant England commemorates Thomas Cranmer, the man who, as archbishop of Canterbury, on the one hand, influenced the reformation of the church in an exemplary way with an ever-increasing biblical perspective, but who, on the other hand, adapted himself to such an extent to the theological and political whims of his king Henry VIII that we would be inclined to regard him almost as a chameleon. And so the question is valid: Does Cranmer have a right to our esteem and appreciation? Or will we not get much further than to acknowledge understanding, and would our eliminating all the pluses and minuses against each other largely neutralize the evaluation?

Before we decide, we will first let the facts speak for themselves.

Henry VIII, the Tudor Dynasty, and Rome⤒🔗

When in mainland Europe the voice of the Reformer Luther was heard ever more clearly, and his break with Pope Leo X in 1521 appeared to be a definitive move, in England there was little agreement with the actions and behaviours of the German Reformer—except, perhaps, in secret circles of the dissident Lollards (followers of John Wycliffe, who had died in 1384). Erasmus’ humanism had also penetrated into England in the upper echelons of the population (Oxford was an important centre with men such as Thomas More and John Colet) and the influence of humanism was definitely noticeable at the court of Henry VIII. The king himself took a leading role in this environment. But no reformational confrontation with the Roman Catholic Church could be anticipated from the peace-loving Erasmus.

In the meantime the reaction of the theologically inclined king to Luther’s writing On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church was so strongly opposed to Luther that the pope in Rome could be at ease, because the seven Roman sacraments were safe, and in gratitude the pope added to Henry’s titles “Defensor fidei”: that is, defender of the faith.

For the time being, no one in England needed to expect a break with Rome. And yet it happened, through the intervention of the same king Henry VIII, assisted at some points by Thomas Cranmerl and partially influenced by the struggle, dating from the time of Wycliffe, for the independence of England from the pope in Rome. A powerful anti-clerical movement also played a large part in this. It was directed specifically against chancellor-cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII’s right-hand man. This cleric occupied numerous offices beside his top functions in church and state, counting on wealthy sources of income; his natural (!) son was appointed at the age of fifteen to a series of posts that resulted in an annual income of 2700 pounds, while a village priest needed to make ends meet with not only half of a percent of that amount.

Henry VIII, although a prince by blood, was destined to be a cleric. However, due to the early death of his older brother Arthur in 1502, he became the crown prince. This Arthur had married the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon in 1501.

 As was more commonly the case more commonly, here too it concerned a political marriage: besides raising the prestige of the Tudor family, it also brought the English significant peace of mind for the French king to know that his enemies were all around him! But when Catherine became a widow after just one year and made plans to return to her parents Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille, her father-in-law Henry VII made preparations to keep her in England: she should be engaged with the king’s second son, crown prince Henry. In this way, her extremely wealthy dowry would remain in England! But in order to be able to seal this marriage, according to ecclesiastical regulations, dispensation was required from the pope. Marrying the widow of your brother was deemed to be in contradiction with the decrees of Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21; but according to Deuteronomy 25:5, it would be possible to obtain dispensation. Pope Julius II extended this dispensation in 1503.

In the year of his coronation, 1509, the 18-year-old Henry VIII did indeed enter into marriage with Catherine of Aragon. However, after about ten years, the marriage partners grew more and more distant. The king saw that the Tudor dynasty would almost disappear, because Catherine did not bear him any sons; after giving birth six times, Catherine had only one young girl, Mary, still alive.

Henry’s wild, lusty nature, accompanied by a stubbornly absolutist urge for action, made its way toward a love affair with a lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn. But now there had to be a cancellation from the pope of the previous dispensation with regard to the marriage with Catherine. The pope who was confronted with this request was Clement VII, an extramarital son from the Medici family of Florence. At first he presented a rather positive attitude to Henry's request, but his attitude changed when Emperor Charles V—a young cousin of Catherine!—put heavy political and military pressure on the pope. Clement did not want a second detention (the first had lasted seven months!), nor a follow-up on the Sacco di Roma (1527) by Charles' troops. He simply left the English king with his problems.

When Henry VIII pressed forward with his will—the diplomatic pressure of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey having no effect and bringing him into disfavour with Henry (1529)—the man who served the king with excellent advice in this matter was the quiet scholarly Thomas Cranmer, theological professor in Cambridge.

His arrival at the court caused an ever increasing distancing of England from Rome, so that, although very carefully and hesitantly, many opportunities were seized to lead to a true reformation of the English (Anglican) church.

Cranmer and the King←⤒🔗

How did Thomas Cranmer—as withdrawn, almost anonymous as he was—come into contact with the king? An epidemic of the plague in the summer of 1529 prompted Cranmer to leave Cambridge, along with several other students. They sought and found lodging in the abbey of the Waltham. There Cranmer met some influential people from the entourage of Henry VIII’s court. It did not take long before the conversation touched on the familiar turmoil surrounding the marriage of the king, in which Pope Clement and Emperor Charles made things rather difficult for the English monarch.

But did Cranmer perhaps know of an opening? His suggestion came down to this: to let the universities of Europe consider the various aspects of this marriage affair. And Cranmer gave the example, as in his own Cambridge he showed himself a master in a theologians’ dispute in which his arguments for the king sounded very favourable.

Shortly after, Henry allowed the scholar to come to him. He instructed him to provide a precise exegesis of the ban from Leviticus. The result was a document (drawn up in the home of Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne, the lady-in-waiting...), in which Cranmer indicated that the texts in Leviticus with respect to the levirate (brother-in-law) marriage were more valid than the text of Deuteronomy 25.

In 1530 a diplomatic mission to the European mainland was undertaken by Boleyn and Cranmer. The aim was to obtain political support for the divorce desired by Henry VIII. In 1532 Cranmer even became a diplomat at the court of Charles V in order to be able to exert direct influence on Henry’s strong opposition party. In this situation, Cranmer focused on connections with Johan Frederick, the Elector of Saxony and his advisor, Georg Spalatin, one of Luther's great friends.

It can hardly be denied that Cranmer had become a silent supporter of church reform; Boleyn too had Protestant inclinations (as did his daughter Anne!). The clearest proof for Cranmer's transition is his (secret) marriage with Margarete Osiander (a niece of the Lutheran theologian Andreas Osiander).

Whatever Henry may have known about this, it did not stop him from proclaiming Thomas Cranmer as archbishop of Canterbury, in the fall of 1532. Apparently Cranmer did not at first embrace this appointment. He stretched his stay on the continent for as long as he could. He returned to London in January of 1533. His official dedication was planned for March 30. The king was in a hurry. Anne Boleyn was expecting his child; it would be a good thing for the future of his dynasty if the hoped-for son could receive legal status...

Separate from Rome – but how?←⤒🔗

At the dedication as archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer pronounced the oath of loyalty to the pope and to Roman Catholic doctrine. But because Cranmer experienced ever greater difficulties both with the position of the pope as well as the doctrine of the Roman Catholic church, he connected some important conditions to his oath: that his loyalty would be subject to God’s law, to the loyalty to his English king and to the jurisprudence of the country. His Roman Catholic opponents never forgave him for these limitations.

One of the first matters that now needed to be brought to a conclusion was the separation of Henry and Catherine. They no longer wished to wait on the decisions that were (still) being prepared in Rome. Clement VII waited so long that he ended up promoting the loosening of England from Rome with his delay.

As early as 1531, under pressure from king Henry, a meeting of the clergy decided to make a donation of 100,000 pounds to the king under the formula of “guardian and supreme ruler of the church of England,” with the addition of “as far as the law of Christ allows it.” This financial gesture could also be made so smoothly because the church tax (the Saint Peter’s penny) of Rome would not be paid anymore from 1532 on!

Moreover, Parliament (later referred to as the Reformation Parliament, which would function until 1536) had issued a prohibition on appealing to Rome. Here in fact are the fault lines between England and the pope! Here the Anglican church shows its true face: changes in church government, but not in the doctrine. No doctrinal issue played any role up to that point. How different it had been with Luther and Zwingli.

A church court in Dunstable, chaired by Cranmer, declared in May 1533 that the papal dispensation from 1503 violated divine law and that it had been obtained under false pretences. So the first marriage of Henry VIII had never been lawful. On June 1,  Anne Boleyn could now be crowned solemnly in Westminster Abbey. In Greenwich, on September 7, she gave birth to... a daughter, Elizabeth (later the Queen of England, 1558–1603).

In the meantime Pope Clement VII came into action. In July of 1533 he threatened Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cranmer with ecclesiastical excommunication. One year later the Roman curia expressed that the first marriage of Henry VIII was in fact valid. But this pronouncement no longer made much of an impression in England. On November 3, 1534, the rather compliant Parliament concurred with the Act of Supremacy. With this the king received the title of “only and supreme head of the church of England.”

England protestantized: the pope had been dismissed, and reformational literature of the continent found (via merchants who did business in Antwerp) its way to many houses, also to the quarters of the Queen (who sometimes showed her husband something). Furthermore, every Englishman who did not want to take the oath regarding the supremacy of the king knew that he could be blamed for high treason. The death penalty was carried out in a number of cases. Among the victims were a bishop (John Fisher of Rochester) and lord-chancellor Thomas More (the well-known humanist and author of a.o. Utopia). The year was 1535.

In the place of the lord-chancellor came the ambitious Thomas Cromwell, a Protestant with a Machiavellian political approach. He was a great organizer, but would not be the right man to reform the church. Under the cautious direction of Thomas Cranmer, some things would sooner be changed in a reformational direction.

The fact that the reformationally minded people were still suspect is proven by the process against the 30-year-old "heretic" John Frith, in the summer of 1533. His denial of the doctrine of transubstantiation and of purgatory, including his fight against bishop Fisher, led to death at the stake. Thomas Cranmer—who started his career as an archbishop with this trial of heresy—still clung to Roman church doctrine in a great many ways. He would experience a rather gradual development in a reformational direction. The strong power of the king would remain perceptible in everything.

Did England become Protestant under Henry VIII?←⤒🔗

After his breach with Rome there are two distinct periods in the reign of Henry VIII: the first from 1534 to 1539, when some significant "protestant" changes came about, and after that the period of 1540 until the death of the king in 1547, a time when clearly a "catholic" reaction came about. It may be called a miracle that during this time Thomas Cranmer managed to stay alive.

This rather striking change in royal policy shows how little Henry VIII actually cared about a genuine religious reform of the Anglican church. However, it did become clear how much he subjected his church policy to his national and dynastic interests. The king was now in the pope’s place, but otherwise little had changed.

When we assume that Crammer, as an archbishop, wanted to bring the Anglican Church ever closer to God’s Word and the service of God, then we must have our eyes open to the limited leeway this man actually had. And although it must be said that between Henry VIII and Crammer a good relationship existed on a personal level, in all kinds of ecclesiastical developments we need to take into consideration Cranmer’s position, and that of other theologians as well: namely, the supremacy of the king. After all, is that not what had been legally arranged in 1534?

One of the most obvious measures in the Protestant movement was the abolition of the monasteries. Except for northern England (where the reformational ideas had not penetrated as much), hardly any opposition was expressed against this “reformation.” Incidentally, the resistance in the northern part was suppressed by spilling much blood under the name of “Pilgrimage of Grace.” Yet the large majority of the population had clearly had enough of the immoral behaviour of the monks, as recorded via visitations. Chancellor Thomas Cromwell, who was in charge of carrying out this program, was able with this abolition of the monasteries to provide the king with a great source of income: the agricultural properties of the monasteries accounted for at least ten percent of the whole of England. Many of these were sold to the gentry: not quite the nobility, but nevertheless the new aristocracy. The money that the king earned with this operation came to good use, both for the upkeep of his court as well as to pay for wars against France. Through all of this Henry VIII became financially much less dependent on Parliament. In other words, the already strong leaning toward absolutism of this English monarch was only reinforced.

A second trend toward protestantizing the church can be noted in the realization of the first Anglican confession of faith, the Ten Articles, of 1536. The drafting of it, in which Crammer became closely involved, was necessary in connection with a possible defensive alliance between England and the Protestant German princes. These had demanded a precondition that England would accept the Augsburg confession. With the Ten Articles the English king came very close to fulfilling the German desires: the Bible and the three ancient Christian creeds were professed as the foundation of faith; furthermore, just like Luther, they recognized three sacraments: baptism, supper and penance (also known as penitence); and it rejected the trade in indulgences. However, the doctrine of transubstantiation was (still) maintained, as was the view that images were conducive to piety. The saints could still be honoured as intercessors, and praying for the deceased was also admitted; these were regarded as “commendable habits.” This is a brief account of this first Anglican confession.

However, the political goal of these articles was not achieved.

When Henry VIII sought a rapprochement with France after a few years, the Ten Articles were replaced by the Six Articles that showed a strong Roman Catholic leaning. Under the most serious threats (the death penalty at the stake!), the English church people were obliged to hold on to the dogmas of transubstantiation, the cup for the laity (that in the Mass a layman receives no wine), celibacy for the priests as God's institution, the private mass, and the auricular confession (the personal confession before a priest). The English Parliament accepted this change in royal confession rather quickly, with the king himself presiding over the meeting....

The new provisions were given the name of the “Bloody Act.” No one less than Thomas Cromwell was put to death in 1540 because of his promotion of the Reformation, labelled as a “heretical heathen.” Cranmer did not have the courage to defend him.

Cranmer’s role in the introduction of the "Six Articles" was that of a consistent fighter against the royal ideas. Unfortunately, he lost; all that has been achieved thus far had to be started over. Henceforth, the “password,” pronounced by a former archbishop of Canterbury, was in force: Ira regis mors est, that is, the wrath of the king is death. Thomas Cranmer, fearful of a trial against heretics, sent his wife temporarily to the safer confines of Germany.

But one thing that a "wrathful" king could not undo was the effect of the most important contribution that Cranmer and many others had given to England: the translation of the Bible.

From Tyndale’s New Testament to Cranmer’s Bible←⤒🔗

Almost a century and a half after John Wycliffe's translation work in favour of an English-language Bible (a forbidden matter at the end of the fourteenth century), in the years after 1520, the humanistically educated (and identifying more with Luther and Zwingli later on) William Tyndale wished to give the Bible to the English people in the vernacular—the language they used. But the then Roman ecclesiastical authorities, including even the humanist Bishop Tunstall of London and Durham, refused to grant permission. Tyndale left for Hamburg in 1524 and carried out his big plan there, working together with William Roy. Correspondence with Luther in Wittenberg, further work in Cologne, and the flight of the English “heretics” to Worms led to the translation of the New Testament in 1526. Many of the copies printed in Germany that ended up in England were publicly burned in Cheapside, behind the St. Paul's church. But despite the difficult times, a very small group of English people owned the first Tyndale edition; according to a calculation three copies have escaped the fire. Also lady-in-waiting and future queen  Anne Boleyn owned a New Testament from Tyndale. The Zürcher Bibel, which had been translated in the circle of Zwingli, was used in the revision of this translation shortly afterwards.

The translation of the Old Testament was largely the work of the evangelically-minded Miles Coverdale. In 1535 the English Bible was completely finished by him. But in 1537 yet another translation was made, this time by John Rogers who had used the pseudonym Matthew. Because of this the translation became known as the Matthew Bible. It is this edition of the Bible that is most valued by Thomas Cranmer. Cranmer showed one of these to Chancellor Cromwell in the hope that the Bible would be made obligatory for use in the entire country. But would the request for this fall into good standing with Henry VIII? In 1533 the king had been quite involved in the arrest of William Tyndale, where even the cooperation of Charles V had been invoked! And they were able to actually capture the great Bible translator in Antwerp. He was defrocked, strangled and burned on October 6, 1536, in Vilvoorde in the southern Netherlands. These were anxious times for Bible translators, and for readers of the Bible as well.

But in the meantime Henry VIII had ended up in very different problems of his own: Anne Boleyn, falsely accused of adultery and incest, was executed (beheaded) on May 19, 1536; within fourteen days Jane Seymour was the new queen of England. On October 12, 1537, she became the mother of Edward VI, Henry’s only son! This child grew up in the fully Protestant environment of the Seymour family.

In this atmosphere, was it not to be expected that the king would grant permission for the free distribution of the Bible in the English language? The rule since 1538 was that in each parochial church a copy had to be present. But… which edition? It would end up not being an existing version, but a translation revised by Coverdale: the Great Bible. This large Bible would be found on the many pulpits throughout England; on the title page, prepared by Hans Holbein, we see Henry VIII, Cranmer and Cromwell pictured, each reaching out a Bible.

The improved reprint of 1540 contained an introduction written by Thomas Cranmer –hence the name "Cranmer Bible," in which he made a strong plea for the reading of the Bible in the common language of the people. He denied the idea that it would be dangerous to put the Bible in the hands of every believer. He also stressed that it was not at all a heretical curiosity to read the Bible. It had already happened in the early Middle Ages. Henry VIII had given his permission for the restoration of this good practice. But it did not last much longer, because from December 1541 on, no more English Bibles were allowed to be produced. The tide had turned to the Catholic side. After Jane Seymour died giving birth, at the advice of Cromwell the king had married in 1539 with the German, Protestant, Anne of Cleves. However, right from the start, this marriage was a failure. Also from an international perspective, it suited Henry better to divorce her. A potential rapprochement to Charles V should not be made impossible on account of her. The fall of Cromwell, which we noted earlier, is connected also to this marriage affair.

The Roman Catholic party of the Council was successful in convincing the king to enter into a marriage with Catherine Howard, of noble descent. And so Henry set out on a "catholic" course.

Already soon Thomas Cranmer came into action against the sensual Catherine Howard. He informed the king of her immoral practices and urged him to remove her. The king allowed her and her lovers to be beheaded in 1542.

From Henry VIII to Edward VI←⤒🔗

For Cranmer, the final years of Henry VIII were years fraught with risks. A sharp opposition arose from the Roman Catholics in the royal council after the execution of queen Catherine. Many Protestants fled to cities such as Strasbourg and Zürich. However, Henry took Cranmer under his personal protection! A ring, presented to him by the king, would serve to protect him from potential arrest. It did mean however that any thought of further favours toward the Protestants was futile, even though the sixth and final wife of Henry, Catherine Parr, did try. She was Protestant, very tolerant, and aimed to move her husband toward a more moderate policy of religion.

In the meantime Edward VI grew up in a distinctly Protestant environment; Cranmer was the highest authority in taking care of the education of the successor to the throne. When his father died in 1547, Edward VI passed his older sisters Mary and Elisabeth, according to English royal inheritance rights, and according to royal decree. He was not even nine years old yet, and for many people it reminded them of the Old Testament king Josiah, who had become king at an even earlier age. But the hope of many was mostly directed toward an anticipated ongoing reformation, just as had been done by young king Josiah under the watchful eye of the priest Jehoiada.

At the coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey Thomas Cranmer mentioned in his speech the example of this Josiah: he destroyed the worship of images and again restored the true worship of God!

Guarantees that now in England things would move in this direction were given by the fact that the majority of the council of the king now consisted mainly of those who favoured reform. With almost unanimous votes this council elected Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (and Earl of Hertford), an uncle of the young king, as Lord Protector, the highest political "protector" of the kingdom. And so the highest authority, aside from Edward VI himself, rested with two men (Somerset and Cranmer) who both had a warm heart for ongoing reformation in England.

No one less than John Calvin wrote to Somerset in the summer of 1548 that the task rested on him to promote England’s wellbeing by the destruction of the images of idols and the introduction of the pure religion. This would happen by listening to the true gospel which, according to Calvin, has been suppressed for too long by the tyranny of the antichrist in Rome. Now was the time to exalt Christ on his throne.

Soon after this letter (in which Calvin dedicated to Somerset his particularly current commentary on the letters to Timothy), Calvin sent a very extensive letter to this Lord Protector, which dealt with the topic of the right methods of reformation. Two main lines of the Reformation clearly come to the fore: the implementation of the genuine gospel and the breakdown of all satanic institutions and abuses.

Reformation of the Liturgy←⤒🔗

Already in his address at the coronation ceremony of Edward VI, archbishop Thomas Cranmer clarified the task of the king in regard to the church: the restoration of the true worship of God. The comparisons with King Josiah and his actions of reform led, in many English cities, to a short but fierce iconoclasm. However, more would be changed behind the doors of the church buildings. We mention the following matters:

a. The Lord’s Supper←↰⤒🔗

In the matter of the doctrine concerning the Lord’s Supper Cranmer, who had already broken with the Roman Catholic doctrine and who took more or less a Lutheran view, now came much closer to the Reformed view. This happened especially after conversations with Nicholas Ridley, Cranmer’s chaplain, who had been appointed bishop of Rochester in 1547. They expressed themselves in favour of a Zwinglian oriented view of the Lord’s Supper: bread and wine were symbols of Christ’s body and blood; Christ in heaven feeds the believers without being physically present.

Cranmer also came to the conviction that from then on, the cup needed to be distributed to the laity as well. As well, he deemed it very desirable that all liturgical texts pertaining to the Supper would be spoken in the English language.

b. The Sermon←↰⤒🔗

Pushing back on the Roman Catholic liturgy brought the sermon more than ever into focus. In order to assist the preachers, who were often not very experienced in this, an official edition with sermons for the Anglican Church was published, with the cooperation of Cranmer himself: The Book of Homilies. Each Sunday a sermon from this book had to be read, because there was no better way to promote the reformation of the people’s lives. In the meantime there was also a secondary reason, and not an unimportant one at that: it was intended also to prevent any wild growth in the preaching.

c. The (first) Book of Common Prayer←↰⤒🔗

The most significant contribution to the liturgical renewal came about through the implementation of the Book of Common Prayer. This was intended both for the worship service in the church as well as for religious exercises at home. The first edition of it still contained such broad formulations that clerics inclined toward Roman-Catholicism could also agree with it! The book also contained an adoration of the saints and Mary, and included a prayer for the dead as well.

In spite of this, criticism arose from the Roman Catholics, who could not accept the abolition of the mass and also deemed that it was not permissible to read the Bible in English. Cranmer responded to this by saying that these changes had come about through the legal government, so that opposition to them implied sin—yes, even rebellion!

Objections were also voiced by Cranmer’s supporters. This received so much recognition that it resulted in the second Book of Common Prayer in 1552.

We will take a closer look at those who expressed their concerns, what these implied, and what Cranmer decided to do with these.

Reformational Influences from the European Continent←⤒🔗

At the request of the king, the first Book of Common Prayer was presented to a committee of Reformed theologians. The members of this committee were not English, but were "continental" theologians who had fled or defected to England:

• Martin Bucer (born 1491), the Reformer and liturgical innovator of Strasbourg; at the invitation of Cranmer he became lector of the Holy Scriptures in Cambridge; his colleagues there dealt with the kingship of Christ ("De regno Christi") and envisioned a plan for the reformation, which Bucer dedicated to King Edward VI.
   
• Peter Martyr Vermigli (born 1500), an Italian Reformer who lectured in Strasbourg on the Old Testament. He fled to Oxford, also at the invitation of Cranmer.
   
• John a Lasco (Jan Łaski, born 1499), the Polish Reformer, who in his previous period had accomplished much for the organization of the Reformed church of Emden ("the Geneva of the north"); he too came at Cranmer’s request to London and became the superintendent of the Strangers’ Church, a conglomeration of various refugees from the continent.
   
• Valérand Poullain (Latin name; Valerandus Pollanus, born 1520), from the southern Netherlands; a supporter of Bucer who crossed over with him to England. He became superintendent of the Wallonian refugee church of Glastonbury.

All of these men had been forced to leave their hometowns because of the increased power of Charles V, who through the Augsburg Interim forced his will in the countries where he reigned. In their new environment, these scholars met many people they knew and who were like them, welcomed in England as it was on its way toward further reformation. We will mention some of them as well:

• Tremellius, a Jewish Christian having joined the Reformation in Switzerland. He became a lecturer in Cambridge, 1548-1553.
   
• Bernardino Ochino, the Italian proponent of the Reformation, who had published a commentary on Romans in Geneva, with Calvin. He worked in Oxford, 1547 – 1553.
   
• Enzinas (also called Dryander), a Spanish Reformer who had been imprisoned in Brussels on account of a dedication of a Spanish translation of the New Testament to Charles V; he escaped, and for a short time lectured in Greek in Cambridge.

There were as yet also many Dutch refugees in England, of whom the leading figures were:

• Johannes Utenhove from Ghent; he often worked together with A Lasco and was corresponding with men like Bucer, Bullinger and Calvin.
   
• Marten Micron, also hailing from Ghent, who became the preacher of the Dutch refugee church in London, by permission of the king. Their meetings were held in the former convent church of the Augustinians, Austin Friars, in the heart of London, taking into account the only condition the king had set: the pure preaching of the gospel.

Among all these reformational workers stood Cranmer. He would have liked to see that also Melanchton and Bullinger would cross over to the British Isle. But they remained in their own country; their influence on England would be limited to their letters, or in the case of Bullinger, via books (sermons) about Bible passages. Calvin did the same from Geneva, writing several letters to English leaders and dedicating more than one commentary on the Bible to the English king or to his protector. Throughout Europe many people took a warm interest in the developments in England.

The recommendations of the four foreign theologians led to the fact that different portions of the Book of Common Prayer that gave cause to misunderstanding were scrapped. The word "altar" was replaced with "table" (besides this also the actual altars themselves were replaced with ordinary tables); gestures of the eucharist liturgy which had a consecrating character were removed; not a word was said anymore about receiving the body and blood of Christ (as it was pronounced for example by Rome).

The actual editing of the second Book of Common Prayer occurred especially through the efforts of the Scottish Reformer John Knox, at the time active in England, through the great preacher Hugh Latimer (abdicated as bishop after the implementation of the Six Articles), and the Zwinglian John Hooper, who had returned from Zürich and who, like John Knox, was firmly opposed to any ceremonial garb in the worship service. (Hooper has also been identified as "the father of Puritanism").

On April 29, 1552, Parliament adopted the second Book of Common Prayer. It would remain of fundamental importance—occasionally somewhat changed somewhat—for the Anglican church, specifically for the design and structure of its liturgy.

Calvin’s Involvement with England←⤒🔗

In what has been presented we have seen a few times already that Calvin felt strongly involved with developments in England, just as many others. In the three-volume publication of Calvin’s letters, published by Rudolph Schwartz (Neukirchen, 1961-62) we find two letters directed at Somerset, the Lord Protector until 1549. Also there are two letters written to Thomas Cranmer, and no fewer than five letters addressed to king Edward VI. And although this edition of Schwarz does not contain all the letters of Calvin (there are "only" 759 of them), they still give us a good understanding of the care that Calvin had for the English reformation of the church.

After Somerset had been asked to pay special attention to three matters, namely the proper instruction of the people, the abolition of the abuses, and the fight against licentiousness—all tasks pertaining to the bishops—a strong appeal was made to Cranmer to continue working on the reform of the church. His office as archbishop—not contested by Calvin—made it possible to be instrumental in improving the preaching and the removal of papal ceremonies.

Calvin was nevertheless no supporter of rigorous change. Men such as John Knox were admonished in this regard by the Reformer of Geneva: “With regard to ceremonies, I trust, even should you displease many, that you will moderate your rigour. Of course it is your duty to see that the church be purged of all defilements ... But with this exception, you are well aware that certain things should be tolerated even if you do not quite approve of them.”

To the young Edward VI, Calvin wrote in a friendly tone that in the ceremonies sobriety should be observed, and that a lot of reforms still needed to happen in the universities. Young people with rich bursaries could study there, but Calvin cautioned that they also might do much damage to the church, writing that,

There are in your universities many young people who are not even concealing that they are opposed to the true religion. Wherefore, Sire, I beseech you anew, in the name of God, that you may please to take order therein, to the effect, that property which ought to be held sacred, be not converted to profane uses, and far less to nourish venemous reptiles, who would desire nought better than to infect everything for the future. For, in this way, the Gospel would always be kept back by these schools, which ought to be the pillars thereof.

Calvin also pointed the young monarch to the reforms of the Old Testament king Josiah as “an example worthy of imitation.”

So the Genevan Reformer encouraged and admonished the leading figures in England.

Finally, we draw our attention as yet to Cranmer’s plan to have an international reformational synod. The proposal was made in 1552 when the Council of Trent finished its second session; according to Calvin, Trent had meant "a new crucifixion of God’s Son"!

Cranmer’s intention was clear: he desired an opportunity to speak with all European Reformers about the pure doctrine, and especially to come to a resolution in the struggle about the nature of the Lord’s Supper. In opposition to Trent, he wanted to serve the true unity of the church.

This plan for a general council did not materialize; Melanchton in Wittenberg and Bullinger in Zürich did not dare to commit themselves. However, although Calvin had no opportunity to give heed to the appeal, he was definitely enthusiastic about Cranmer’s intent. He wrote to him:

I wish it might be effected, that learned and stable men, from the principal churches, might assemble in some place, and, after discussing with care each article of faith, deliver to posterity, from their general opinion of them all, the clear doctrines of the Scriptures. It is to be numbered among the evils of our day, that the churches are so divided one from another, that there is scarcely any friendly intercourse strengthened between us; much less does that holy communion of the members of Christ flourish, which all profess with the mouth, but few sincerely regard in the heart ... Respecting myself, if it should appear that I could render any service, I should with pleasure cross ten seas, if necessary, to accomplish that object.

Here Calvin showed himself to Cranmer as one who was sincerely interested as a genuine ecumenicist.

The End of Cranmer’s Life←⤒🔗

In 1552 Cranmer devoted himself to the writing of a confession of faith: The Forty-Two Articles. They would become part of the Book of Common Prayer. The draft of this moderately Reformed confession was presented to the Council to serve with advice to the king. However, the publication of it still took several months – until June of 1553. At that time it became generally known that Edward VI was mortally ill. He died on July 6, 1553, not even sixteen years old.

We will leave the succession issues outside of our scope; Edward’s Roman Catholic half-sister Mary—the daughter of Catherine of Aragon—ascended the throne. And rather remarkably, a great part of the English population showed sympathy for the new queen! Nevertheless, her marriage to the Spanish heir apparent, Philip II, and with it her fierce politics of counter-reformation made her soon very unpopular.

Victims fell: bishop Ridley, Cranmer’s confidant, ended up in the Tower; the famous preachers Latimer and Hooper were also locked up. Many European refugees now had to look for shelter on the continent. The circle around Cranmer became smaller all the time. The archbishop decided to send his wife (and children) to Germany. He himself stayed on at his post. On September 14, 1553, Cranmer was arrested and brought to the Tower.

The accusation of high treason—because he had at first chosen for someone else to accede to the throne—was changed to heresy. After his transfer to a prison in Oxford, together with Ridley and Latimer, the new queen made the decision to bring England back under the authority of the pope, in November of 1554. Ten months later the trial against Cranmer was started. In spite of great pressure, he continued to deny the papal power over the church of England; he also maintained his reformational view on the Lord’s Supper. Not a single hesitation was noticeable in his behaviour.

And yet his opponents managed to get him off balance. The pressure on Cranmer was significantly increased when on October 16, 1555, Ridley and Latimer were burned in public in Oxford. Cranmer was forced to watch it from the roof of the prison. Possibly he has been able to catch as yet the last words of Latimer to Ridley: “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as shall never be put out.”

After this, the trouble for Cranmer continued to grow worse. Repeated special visits did their work as he was being brainwashed. His resistance was broken and he started to sway. He signed the first revocation of his faith, and would sign further recantations of his faith up to five times. Psychologically, Cranmer must have been a wreck. And who can blame him for these failings? Who understands what he went through?

Yet God’s grace became strong for him. In spite of a canon law for reprieve, the recantations did not at all imply that Cranmer would escape death by fire!

On March 21, 1556, the pyre was ready for the meanwhile defrocked archbishop of Canterbury. Prior to his execution Cranmer was allowed to address the people. Dressed in an old cloak full of tears and rips, and with a beret on his head he was led to the pulpit of Mary’s church. There, in front of the crowd that had gathered, he announced that he rescinded all recantations! He said, “As it was my hand that gave rise to writing things that went against my heart, my unworthy hand will be punished first; when I am in the fire, let it be burnt first.”

So it happened. Without fear of death, strengthened by God, he bravely stretched out his left hand (the one he used for writing) into the flames. His last words sounded loud and clear: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ... I see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”

Cranmer’s signed recantations were as yet published for propaganda purposes. However this did not include his recantation of the recantations... The people who had witnessed his execution knew the truth. And there were those who dared to proclaim how God’s grace had triumphed in the weakened Thomas Cranmer.

The queen died in 1558; she has gone down in history with the epithet of "Bloody Mary.” After a mock trial of heresy in 1556 she had even allowed the bones of Martin Bucer, who had died in 1551, to be dug up and to be burnt!

Under the reign of Mary’s half-sister Elisabeth I, queen from 1558 to 1603, much of Cranmer’s work and that of his supporters was honourably restored for the Anglican church.