Thomas Cranmer

The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Thomas Cranmer
Archbishop of Canterbury
Portrait by Gerlach Flicke, 1545
Installed	3 December 1533
Term ended	4 December 1555
Predecessor	William Warham
Successor	Reginald Pole
Orders
Consecration	30 March 1533
Personal details
Born	2 July 1489 Aslockton, Nottinghamshire, England
Died	21 March 1556 (aged 66) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Nationality	English
Denomination	Anglican
Profession	Archbishop of Canterbury
Alma mater	Jesus College, Cambridge

Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which was one of the causes of the separation of the English Church from union with the Holy See. Along with Thomas Cromwell, he supported the principle of Royal Supremacy, in which the king was considered sovereign over the Church within his realm.

During Cranmer's tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury, he was responsible for establishing the first doctrinal and liturgical structures of the reformed Church of England. Under Henry's rule, Cranmer did not make many radical changes in the Church, due to power struggles between religious conservatives and reformers. However, he succeeded in publishing the first officially authorised vernacular service, the Exhortation and Litany.

When Edward came to the throne, Cranmer was able to promote major reforms. He wrote and compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer, a complete liturgy for the English Church. With the assistance of several Continental reformers to whom he gave refuge, he changed doctrine in areas such as the Eucharist, clerical celibacy, the role of images in places of worship, and the veneration of saints. Cranmer the new doctrines through the Prayer Book, the Homilies and other publications.