Thomas Cranmer
SCHOLAR AND TEACHER 1489–1526
1489 July 2. Born at Aslockton, Nottinghamshire, second son of small landholder
1503–11 Undergraduate studies at Jesus College, Cambridge
1515 Marries; wife dies in childbirth
1515–26 Fellow of Jesus College; ordained; university preacher; completes doctorate
DIPLOMAT AND ARCHBISHOP 1527–1547
1527 Henry VIII seeks to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon
1529 Cranmer suggests Henry seek university opinion on the divorce question
1530-32 Serves as an ambassador to the Continent; marries Margaret, niece of Lutheran reformer Osiander
1533 Becomes Archbishop of Canterbury; declares Henry’s marriage invalid; Anne Boleyn becomes queen
1534 Act of Supremacy recognizes king as “supreme head” of church in England
1536 Ten Articles outline early Protestant theology; Parliament dissolves smaller monasteries
1537 Bishop’s Book, a commentary on the Ten Articles; Pilgrimage of Grace, a popular Catholic uprising against reforms
1538 Henry VIII orders English Bible to be put in every parish church
1539 Remaining monasteries dissolved; Henry’s Six Articles enforce a more Catholic theology, including priestly celibacy; Cranmer sends his wife to Germany
1543 Henry’s King’s Book prohibits Scripture reading; Cranmer accused of heresy, but Henry protects him
1547 Henry dies holding Cranmer’s hand
REFORMER AND LITURGIST 1547–1553
1547 Nine-year-old Edward VI becomes king; Somerset becomes Lord Protector; priests required to preach from Cranmer’s Homilies
1549 Act of Uniformity orders use of Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer; Northumberland becomes Lord Protector
1552 Cranmer revises Book of Common Prayer; Cranmer’s Forty-Two Articles outline a Calvinist doctrine for Church of England
1553 Cranmer supports Lady Jane Grey ...

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