File:Thomas_Cranmer_by_Gerlach_Flicke.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Thomas Cranmer
Sign in to saveleader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury
Thomas Cranmer was the Archbishop of Canterbury who led the English Reformation, the major religious transformation that separated the English church from Rome in the 16th century. His role in this pivotal historical shift makes him a central figure in the development of the Church of England and in European religious history more broadly.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Thomas
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Place of birth
- Aslockton
- Place of death
- Oxford
- Occupation
- Catholic bishop
- Educated at
- University of Cambridge
- Employer
- University of Cambridge
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Anglicanism
- Academic degree
- Doctor of Divinity
- Image
- Tcranmer.JPG
- Work location
- Canterbury
- Significant event
- consecration
Show 15 more facts
- Commons category
- Thomas Cranmer
- date of birth
- 1489-07-02
- date of death
- 1556-03-21
- cause of death
- death by burning
- described by source
- The Nuttall Encyclopædia
- Commons gallery
- Thomas Cranmer
- place of detention
- Tower of London
- canonization status
- saint
- writing language
- English language
- last words
- Seigneur Jésus, reçois mon esprit
- student
- Immanuel Tremellius
- significant person
- Philipp Melanchthon
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
- place of burial
- Martyrs' Memorial
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was an English theologian who was a leader of the English Reformation and served as Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a martyr in the Church of England.
Cranmer was ordained a Catholic priest and served on the theology faculty at Cambridge University. At the behest of Cardinal Wolsey, he later served Henry VIII as a diplomat in Europe. Cranmer 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 and protector of his people from the abuses of Rome. During Cranmer's tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury, he established 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. He published the first officially authorised vernacular (English) service, the Exhortation and Litany.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Thomas Cranmer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.