On this day in 1555 – Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer stood trial

On 12^th September 1555 the trial of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer began, he was charged with two offences – repudiating papal authority and denying transubstantiation. His trial was held in the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Oxford.

At the east of the church a ten foot scaffold was built where James Brooks, bishop of Gloucester and representative of the Pope sat and below him sat Dr Martin and Dr Storey who were acting as Queen Mary I’s commissioners.

Archbishop Cranmer was then brought into the make shift courtroom he was described by John Foxe as being ‘clothed in a fair black gown, with his hood on both shoulders, such as doctors of divinity in the university use to wear and in his hand a white staff.’

Cranmer’s arrest as shown in John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

Cranmer was called forward by one of the commissioners who called ‘Thomas archbishop of Canterbury! Appear here, and make answer to that shall be laid to thy charge; that is to say, for blasphemy, incontinency and heresy; and make answer to the bishop of Gloucester, representing the pope’s person.’ Cranmer proceeded to the dock where he bowed to Dr Martin and Dr Storey but not the bishop of Gloucester. Upon questioning Cramer revealed ‘that he had one taken a solemn oath, never to consent to the admitting of the bishop of Rome’s authority into this realm of England again; that he had done it advisedly and meant by God’s grace to keep it; and therefore would commit nothing else by sign or token which might argue his consent to the receiving of the same; and so he desired the said bishop to judge of him.’

Cranmer went on to say that he did not recognise the court he spoke;

“My lord, I do not acknowledge this session of yours, nor yet you, my mislawful judge; neither would I have appeared this day before you, but that I was brought hither as a prisoner. And therefore I openly here renounce you as my judge, protesting that my meaning is not to make any answer, as in a lawful judgment, but only for that I am bound in conscience to answer every man of that hope which I have in Jesus Christ, by the counsel of St. Peter; and lest by my silence many of those who are weak, here present, might be offended. And so I desire that my answers may be accepted as extra judicialia.”

After Cranmer spoke his mind regarding the authenticity of the court he knelt and recited the Lord’s Prayer after his prayer Dr Martin asked Cranmer who he believed was in charge of the Church of England. Cranmer responded ‘Christ is head of this member, as he is of the whole body of the universal church’. When pushed further regarding the appointment of King Henry VIII as the head of the church Cranmer elaborated further by saying ‘Yea, of all the people of England, as well ecclesiastical as temporal… for Christ only is the head of his church, and of the faith and religion of the same. The king is head and governor of his people, which are the visible church’.

With Cranmer had been able to speak the commission ordered him to appear at Rome to answer to the Pope and returned to his cell. The commission never took the Archbishop to Rome but on 4^th December the Pope stripped Cranmer of his office and gave the relevant authorities to pass sentence on him. With Cranmer being told of the Popes decision he began to recant and by February 1556 he had recanted four times and recognised the Pope as the head of the church.

Cranmer’s execution date was set for 7^th March 1556 which prompted him to fully submit to the Catholic Church and should have been enough for Cranmer to be pardoned however, his execution was instead just postponed for 21^st March 1556. You can read more about Cranmer’s execution here: https://thetudorchronicles.wordpress.com/2015/03/21/on-this-day-in-1556-archbishop-cranmer-was-burned-at-the-stake/

An artist depicting Thomas Cranmer’s execution

On this day in 1533 – King Edward VI was buried in Westminster Abbey

On 8^th August 1533 King Edward VI was buried beneath the altar of Henry VII’s Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey after his death on 6^th July at the age of 15. The service was presided over by Thomas Cranmer and the new Queen allowed it to be performed following the Protestant faith and was the first service that followed the Protestant rites from the Book of Common Prayers. Queen Mary did not attend the service but instead stayed at the Tower of London and held a requiem masses that lasted three days.

Edward’s coffin remained unmarked until 1966 but when the coffin was seen in the 19^th Century it was noted that it was inscribed with Latin that read;

“Edward the sixth by the Grace of God King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and on earth under Christ supreme head of the churches of England and Ireland and he migrated from this life on the 6^th of July in the evening at the 8^th hour in the year of our Lord 1553 and in the 7^th year of his reign and in the 16^th year of his age.”

A merchant tailor Henry Machyn recorded the funeral procession in his diary;

“The viij day of August was bered the nobull kyng Edward the vj, and vij yere of ys rayne; and at ys bere the grettest mone mad for hym of ys deth was hard or sene, boyth of all sorts of pepull, wepyng and lamentyng; and furst of alle whent a grett company of chylderyn in ther surples, and clarkes syngyng, and then ys father bedmen, and then ij harolds, and then a standard with a dragon, and then a grett nombur of ys servants in blake, and then anodur standard with a whyt greyhond, and then after a grett nombur of ys officers and after them comys mo harolds, and then a standard with the hed offesars of ys howse; and then harolds, Norey bare the elmett and the crest on horsbake, and then ys grett baner of armes in-brobery, and with dyvers odur baners, and ys sword, gorgyusly and ryche, and after Garter with ys cotte armur in broder, and then mor harolds of armes; and then cam the charett with grett horses trapyd with schochyon on ther horses, and then the charett covered with cloth of gold, and on the lay on a picture lying recheussly with a crown of gold, and a grett coler, and ys septur in ys hand, lyheng in ys robes [and the garter about his leg, and a coat in embroidery of gold; about the corps were borne four banners, a banner of the order, another of the red rose, another of queen Jane, another of the queen’s mother. After him went a goodly horse, covered with cloth of gold unto the ground, and the master of the horse, with a man of arms in armour, which] was offered, boyth the man and the horsse. [There was a go] odl hersse in Westmynster abbay with banar and pensells, and honge with velvet a-bowt.”

The plaque marking the tomb of King Edward VI

On this day in 1538 – John Forest was burned at the stake

John Forest was born in 1471 and became a Franciscan Friar Minor of the Regular Observance at Greenwich in 1491. He was later the confessor to Queen Katherine of Aragon who was a Third Order Franciscan.

The friars were well rewarded by the King but they were opposed to his divorce from the King and the Protestant movement that was taking the King’s interest. In November 1532, Forest was the Guardian of the Greenwich friary and he spoke out about the plans to suppress the Order in England and a year later he denounced the King’s plans for his divorce. Due to Forest speaking out against the King he was imprisoned in 1533 at Newgate prison and sentenced to death.

With the suppression of the Observant friars Forest was released from prison in 1534 but four years later he was imprisoned once again in a Conventual Franciscan friary at Smithfield but was sent to a convent in the north after his sentence was not carried out. Forest recanted but remained in Newgate prison in confinement. Forest’s confinement was not strict as he was still allowed to here confessions and from here he wrote a paper entitled ‘De auctoritate Ecclesiae et Pontificis maximi’ (On the Authority of the Church and the Supreme Pontiff), which defended the papal authority in England. He also refused to take the oath of loyalty that was required by all English subjects to take.

Thomas Cromwell began proceedings against John Forest with the aid of Thomas Cranmer and Hugh Latimer and Forest was burned at the stake on 22^nd May 1538 at Smithfield, London.

On this day in 1536 – Thomas Cranmer was summoned to Parliament

After Anne Boleyn miscarried the son of Henry VIII in January 1536 the fortune of the Queen was turning. Rumours that the King was looking to put aside the Queen he turned England upside down for were gathering pace and the King was seeking out advice on the matter.

On 27^th April 1536 Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury received a summons to attend Parliament. The wording and timing of the summons suggests that a Parliament was being called to discuss the rumours regarding the Queen and her alleged behaviour at court.

The summons read:

“Summons to the archbishop of Canterbury to attend the Parliament which is to meet at Westminster, 8 June; and to warn the prior and chapter of his cathedral and the clergy of his province to be present, the former in person and the latter by two proctors. Westm., 27 April 28 Hen. VIII.
ii. Similar writs to the different bishops, abbots, and lords; to the judges, serjeants-at-law, and the King’s attorney, to give counsel; to the sheriffs to elect knights of the shires, citizens, and burgesses; also to the chancellor of the county palatine of Lancaster; to the deputy and council of Calais to elect one burgess, and to the mayor and burgesses to elect another.”

On this day in 1533 – Thomas Cranmer was consecrated as Archbishop

On March 30^th 1533 Thomas Cranmer was consecrated as Archbishop.

Upon the death of William Warham in 1532 Cranmer received the news of his appointment to Archbishop of Canterbury whilst in Italy on 1^st October. Cranmer was ordered to return to England to take up his new post. Up until this point Cranmer had only ever held minor posts within the church but the influence Anne Boleyn had over Henry VIII changed this and Cranmer was appointed at the suggestion of Anne.

Henry VIII needed to acquire a papal bull to secure Cranmer’s position, something that could have been difficult if the papal nuncio (diplomat) had not been under orders from the Pope to keep Henry happy and grant him anything in an attempt to keep Henry from breaking from Rome. The papal bull arrived on 26^th March 1533 and four days later on the 30^th March Cranmer was consecrated at Archbishop in St Stephen’s Chapel at the Palace of Westminster.

As part of the consecration ceremony Cranmer was required to swear allegiance to the Pope, Clement VII, and any future Pope’s as well as defending the Roman Papacy. Henry had a problem with this part of the service because he wanted to eventually declare that the Pope had no authority in England, however he wanted the service to be correct in every way at the same time. A solution was found and before the ceremony Cranmer made a statement in the chapter house of Westminster before five lawyers. Cranmer proclaimed that he did not intend to be bound to his oath of serving the Pope that he was about to promise “if it was against the law of God or against our illustrious King of England, or the laws of his realm of England”

Archbishop Cranmer became the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury.

On this day in 1556 – Archbishop Cranmer was burned at the stake

On 21^st March 1556 Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was burned at the stake for treason and being a heretic on orders of Queen Mary I.

Cranmer’s problems began on the death of King Edward VI in 1553. In the months leading up to his death the council were working hard to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne and secure the Reformation. Edward VI’s will was signed on 17^th June 1553 and contradicted the Third Act of Succession which would see the Catholic Mary placed on the throne.

Upon Edward’s death Lady Jane Grey took the throne for a mere nine days before Mary was proclaimed the true queen of England. Many supporters of Lady Jane were imprisoned but for now Cranmer was safe and so he led the funeral for the late King. Cranmer advised many other Reformers to flee England and Mary’s persecution of any Protestants.

Cranmer was ordered to stand in front of the council on 14^th September 1553 where he was sent straight to the Tower of London to join others who had been arrested. On 13^th November 1553 Cranmer and four others stood on trial and found guilty of treason, they were all condemned to death. However, death would not come quickly for Cranmer as on 8^th March 1554 the Privy Council Cranmer and others were transferred to an Oxford prison to awaiting another trial on the grounds on heresy. The trial finally began over a year later on 12^th September 1555 where the final judgement fell to the Pope and Rome. Although Cranmer denied all the charges he faced and was taken to the Tower to await his fate whilst his co-accused was instantly executed.

Cranmer was stripped of his archbishopric by Rome as his punishment. Cranmer began to recant and was sent to the Dean of Christ Church. Free from prison Cranmer found himself within an academic community and was able to debate freely. He recognised the Pope as the head of church and submitted himself to the rule of Queen Mary I. After just two months of freedom Cranmer was sent back to Oxford and on 24^th February a writ was issued to the mayor of Oxford to set the date for Cranmer’s execution on 7^th March. Just two days later Cranmer recanted again, for a fifth time, where he repudiated all Lutheran theology and fully accepted Catholic theology and Papal supremacy. Under normal circumstances Cranmer would have been absolved and pardoned, however Mary I was unwilling to absolve Cranmer and set about making an example of him.

Cranmer was informed he could make one final recantation at a service at the University Church, Oxford. He never got to say it in public as it was published after his death. This was because at the service he held he opened with a prayer and exhortation to obey the king and queen but then went with a sermon that was not his prepared recantation. Cranmer renounced his previous recantations and that he would be punished by being burnt. He also refused Papal supremacy. Cranmer was dragged from the pulpit and taken straight to be burnt.

Cranmer’s vision for a religion free from Rome and the Pope was finally recognised after his death with the ascension of Elizabeth I when she restored the Church of England and became independent from Rome.

Why did Mary I make such a public exhibition of Cranmer was it to exert her authority on the Protestant religion or did she simply have a personal vendetta against Cranmer for being the man responsible for declaring her parent’s marriage null and void and therefore making her illegitimate?