CRANMER, THOMAS

born July 2, 1489, Aslacton, Nottinghamshire, Eng. died March 21, 1556, Oxford the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury (153356), adviser to the English kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. As archbishop, he put the English Bible in parish churches, drew up the Book of Common Prayer, and composed a litany that remains in use today. Denounced for promoting Protestantism by the Catholic Mary I, he was convicted of heresy and burned at the stake. archbishop of Canterbury in Shakespeare's Henry VIII. The mild-mannered Cranmer's loyalty to Henry helps him hold the vacillating king's support and survive the political intrigues of the court. In the play's final scene, Cranmer christens the newborn Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth I) and prophesies the glory of her future reign. Additional reading The most complete biography is Jasper Godwin Ridley, Thomas Cranmer (1962). Alfred Frederick Pollard, Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation, 14891556 (1904, reissued 1965), is still worth reading.