Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), English churchman. Having been appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Henry VIII in 1532, he served the king loyally and was responsible for annulling his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He also presided at the coronation of Anne Boleyn. Cranmer supported the translation of the Bible into English and supervised the publication of the Anglican prayer books of 1549 and 1552. On the death of Edward VI, he supported the claim of the Protestant Lady Jane Grey to the crown. When the Catholic Mary became queen, he was convicted of treason and heresy and was burnt ‘at the stake in Oxford.
