(Thomas), a celebrated archbishop, reformer, and martyr, was the son of Thomas Cranmer, Esq., of Asheton in Nottinghamshire, where our author was born in 1489. At the age of 14, he was admitted a student of Jesus' College, Cambridge, of which he afterwards became fellow; but marrying the relation of an inn-keeper's wife, he lost his fellowship and quitted the college. On the death of his wife he was re-admitted fellow of Jesus' College. In 1523 he took the degree of doctor of divinity, and was made theological lecturer and examiner. The plague being at Cambridge, he retired to the house of a relation at Waltham Abbey, where, meeting with Fox the king's almoner, and Gardiner the secretary, he gave his opinion concerning King Henry's marriage with Catharine much to the satisfaction of his majesty. This opinion was, that instead of disputing about the validity of the King's marriage with Catharine, they should reduce the matter to this simple question, "Whether a man may marry his brother's wife or not?" When the King was told of it, he said, "This fellow has got the right low by the ear." He then sent for him to court, made him one of his chaplains, and ordered him to write in vindication of the divorce in agitation. This book having quieted the tender conscience of the King, he was deformed that all Europe should be convinced of the illegality of his marriage with Queen Catharine; and for that purpose sent Cranmer to France, Italy, and Germany, to dispute the matter with the divines of those countries. At Nuremberg Cranmer married a second wife. Being returned to England, in March 1533 he was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury; in May following he pronounced the sentence of divorce between the King and Queen; and soon after married the amorous monarch to Ann Boleyn. Being now at the head of the church, he exerted himself in the business of the Reformation. The Bible was translated into English, and monasteries dissolved principally by his means.

In 1536 the royal conscience again required the assistance of our archbishop: in this year he divorced the King from Ann Boleyn. In 1537 he visited his diocese, and endeavoured to abolish the superstitious observance of holidays. In 1539 he and some of the bishops fell under the King's displeasure, because they could not be brought to give their consent in parliament that the monasteries should be suppressed for the King's sole He also strenuously opposed the act for the six articles in the house of lords, speaking three days against it; and upon the passing of that statute sent away his wife into Germany. In 1540 he was one of the commissioners for inspecting into matters of religion, and explaining some of its chief doctrines. The result of their commission was the book entitled A necessary Erudition of any Christian Man. After Lord Cromwell's death (in whose behalf he had written to the King), he retired and lived in great privacy, meddling not at all with state affairs. In 1541 he gave orders, pursuant to the King's directions, for taking away superstitious shrines; and, exchanging Bishopstoun for Becketbourn, united the latter to his diocese. In 1542 he procured the "Act for the advancement of true religion and the abolishment of the contrary," which moderated the rigour of the six articles. But the year following, some enemies preferring accusations against him, he had like to have been ruined, had not the King interposed in his behalf. His majesty continued afterwards to protect him from his enemies; and at his death appointed him one of the executors of his will, and one of the regents of the kingdom. In 1546 he crowned young Edward, during whose short reign he promoted the reformation to the utmost of his power; and was particularly instrumental in composing, correcting, and establishing the liturgy by act of parliament. He had also a share in compiling the thirty-nine articles of religion.

In 1553 he opposed the new settlement of the crown upon Lady Jane Gray, and would no way be concerned in that affair (though at last, through many importunities, he was prevailed upon to set his hand to it); neither would he join in any of Dudley's ambitious projects. Upon Queen Mary's accession to the throne, he was committed to the Tower; partly for setting his hand to the instrument of Lady Jane's succession, and partly for the public offer he had made a little before of justifying openly the religious proceedings of the late king. Some of his friends, foreseeing the storm that was likely to fall upon him, advised him to fly, but he absolutely refused. In the ensuing parliament, on November the 3d, he was attainted, and at Guildhall found guilty of high treason; whereupon the fruits of his archbishopric were sequestrated. In April 1554, he and Ridley and Latimer were removed to Oxford, in order for a public disputation with the Papists; which was accordingly held there towards the middle of the month, with great noise, triumph, and impudent confidence on the Papists' side, and with as much gravity, learning, modesty, and convincing sufficiency on the side of the Protestant bishops. The 20th of April, two days after the end of these disputations, Cranmer and the two others were brought before the commissioners, and asked, Whether they would subscribe (to Popery)? which they unanimously refusing, were condemned as heretics. From this sentence the Archbishop appealed to the just judgment of the Almighty; and wrote to the council, giving them an account of the disputation, and desiring the Queen's pardon for his treason, which it seems was not yet remitted. By the convocation which met this year, his Defence of the true and catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ was ordered to be burnt. Some of his friends petitioned the Queen in his behalf; putting her in mind how he had once preserved her in her father's time by his earnest intercessions with him for her, so that she had reason to believe he loved her, and would speak the truth to her more than all the rest of the clergy. All endeavours in his behalf, however, were ineffectual; and the Archbishop being degraded and most ignominiously treated, was at last flattered and terrified into an insincere recantation and renunciation of the Protestant faith. But this triumph was not sufficient to gratify the pious vengeance of the Roman Catholic party. On the 24th of Feb. 1556, a writ was signed for the burning of Cranmer; and on the 24th March, which was the fatal day, he was brought to St Mary's church, Cambridge, and placed on a kind of stage over against the pulpit, where Dr Cole provost of Eton was appointed to preach a sermon on the occasion. While Cole was haranguing, the unfortunate Cranmer expressed great inward confusion; often raising up his hands and eyes to heaven, and frequently pouring out floods of tears. At the end of the sermon, when Cole desired him to make an open profession of his faith, as he had promised him he would, he first prayed in the most fervent manner; then made an exhortation to the people present, not to set their minds upon the world, to obey the King and Queen, to love each other, and to be charitable. After this he made a confession of his faith, beginning with the creed, and concluding with these words:

"And I believe every word and sentence taught by our Saviour Jesus Christ, his apostles, and prophets, in the Old and New Testament.—And now (added he) I come to the great thing that so much troubleth my conscience more than anything I ever did or said in my whole life; and that is the setting abroad a writing contrary to the truth, which I here now renounce as things written with my hand contrary to the truth which I thought in my heart; and written for fear of death, and to save my life if it might be: that is, all such bills and papers which I have written or signed with my hand since my degradation, wherein I have written many things untrue. And forasmuch as my hand offended, writing contrary to my heart, my hand shall first be punished; for, may I come to the fire, it shall be first burned. As for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ's enemy and antichrist, with all his false doctrine. And as for the sacrament, I believe as I have taught in my book against the Bishop of Winchester." Thunderestruck as it were with this unexpected declaration, the enraged Popish crowd admonished him not to dissemble. "Ah! (replied he with tears), since I lived hitherto, I have been a hater of falsehood and a lover of simplicity, and never before this time have I dissembled." Whereupon they pulled him off the stage with the utmost fury, and hurried him to the place of his martyrdom over against Balliol College; where he put off his clothes in haste, and standing in his shirt, and without shoes, was fastened with a chain to the stake. Some pressing him to agree to his former recantation, he answered, showing his hand, "This is the hand that wrote it, and therefore it shall first suffer punishment." Fire being applied to him, he stretched out his right hand into the flame, and held it there unmoved (except that once with it wiped his face) till it was consumed; crying with a loud voice, "This hand hath offended;" and often repeating, "This unworthy..." At last, the fire getting up, he soon expired, never stirring or crying out all the while; only keeping his eyes fixed to heaven, and repeating more than once, "Lord Jesus receive my spirit." Such was the end of the renowned Thomas Cranmer, in the 67th year of his age.

It was noticed above, that after the passing of the act for the six articles, Archbishop Cranmer sent his wife into Germany. But she afterwards returned again to England; and Mr Strype informs us, that "in the time of King Edward, when the marriage of the clergy was allowed, he brought her forth, and lived openly with her." Mr Gilpin says, "he left behind him a widow and children; but as he always kept his family in obscurity for prudential reasons, we know little about them. They had been kindly provided for by Henry VIII.; who, without any solicitation from the Primate himself, gave him a considerable grant from the Abbey of Walbeck in Nottinghamshire, which his family enjoyed after his decease. King Edward made some addition to his private fortune; and his heirs were restored in blood by an act of parliament in the reign of Elizabeth."

Archbishop Cranmer wrote a great number of books: many of them he published himself; and many of them still remain in MSS. viz. two folio volumes in the king's library, several letters in the Cotton collection, &c.

Mr Gilpin remarks, That "the character of the Archbishop hath been equally the subject of exaggerated praise and of undeserved censure. The most indefensible parts of the Archbishop's character are the readiness with which he sometimes concurred in the unjustifiable proceedings of Henry VIII., and the instances wherein he showed himself to be actuated by intolerant principles.

"He first recommended himself to Henry by the zeal which he displayed in promoting the King's divorce from Queen Catharine. As to this, it may be allowed, that Dr Cranmer might think the marriage wrong; but though it possibly might be a point of conscience with the King, it could however be none with him; and there was manifestly a difference between advising not to do a thing, and advising to undo it when already done, at least in a matter of so disputable a nature. On the other hand, to repudiate a woman with whom the King had cohabited near 20 years as his wife, and to illegitimate a daughter, bred up in the highest expectations, and now marriageable, were acts of such cruelty, that it seems to indicate a want of feeling to be in any degree accessory to them. To this may be added, that the notoriety of the King's passion for Anne Boleyn, which all men believed to be, if not the first mover, at least the principal spring of his pretended scruples, threw a very indelicate imputation on all who had any concern in the affair. No serious churchman, one would imagine, could be fond of the idea of administering to the King's passions. It is with concern, therefore, that we see a man of Dr Cranmer's integrity and simplicity of manners acting so much out of character as to compound an affair of this kind, if not with his conscience, at least with all delicacy of sentiment; and to parade through Europe, in the quality of an ambassador, defending every where the King's pious intentions. But the cause (continues Mr Gilpin) animated him. With the illegality of the Cranmer-King's marriage, he endeavoured virtually to establish the insufficiency of the pope's dispensation; and the latter was an argument so near his heart, that it seems to have added merit to the former. We cannot indeed account for his embarking so zealously in this business without supposing his principal motive was to free his country from the tyranny of Rome, to which this step very evidently led. So desirable an end would in some degree, he might imagine, sanctify the means."

Of two of the instances of persecution in which Archbishop Cranmer was concerned, Mr Gilpin gives the following account. "Joan Bocher and George Paris were accused, though at different times; one for denying the humanity of Christ, the other for denying his divinity. They were both tried and condemned to the stake; and the Archbishop not only consented to these acts of blood, but even persuaded the aversion of the young King into a compliance. 'Your majesty must distinguish (said he, informing his royal pupil's conscience) between common opinions and such as are the essential articles of faith. These latter we must on no account suffer to be opposed.' Mr Gilpin justly observes, that 'nothing even plausible can be suggested in defence of the Archbishop on this occasion, except only that the spirit of Popery was not yet wholly repressed.' These instances of injustice and barbarity were indeed totally indefensible, and a great disgrace to Cranmer and to all who were concerned in them. It does not appear that he endeavoured to promote the death of Lambert; but, as Mr Gilpin observes, it were to be wished he had rid his hands of the disputation likewise. The public disputation, in which Cranmer bore some part, proved the means of bringing Lambert to the stake.

One of the most honourable transactions of Archbishop Cranmer's life, was the firm stand that he made against the act of the six articles. This act was strongly supported by the King, that even the Protestants in parliament made little opposition to it. But Cranmer opposed it with great zeal and steadfastness. "The good Archbishop (says Mr Gilpin) never appeared in a more truly Christian light than on this occasion. In the midst of so general a defection (for there were numbers in the house who had hitherto shown great forwardness in reformation) he alone made a stand. Three days he maintained his ground, and baffled the arguments of all opposers. But argument was not their weapon, and the Archbishop saw himself obliged to sink under superior power. Henry ordered him to leave the house. The Primate refused: 'It was God's business (he said), and not man's.' And when he could do no more, he boldly entered his protest. Such an instance of fortitude is sufficient to wipe off many of those courtly stains which have sullied on his memory."

His behaviour in the case of the Duke of Norfolk was also intitled to great commendation. "The last act of this reign (says Mr Gilpin) was an act of blood, and gave the Archbishop a noble opportunity of showing how well he had learned that great Christian lesson of forgiving an enemy. Almost without the shadow of justice, Henry had given directions to have the Duke of Norfolk attainted by an act of parliament. The King's mandate stood in lieu of guilt, and the bill Cranmer passed the house with great ease. No man, except the Bishop of Winchester, had been so great an enemy to the Archbishop as the Duke of Norfolk. He had always thwarted the Primate's measures, and often more than once had practised against his life. How many would have seen with secret pleasure the workings of Providence against so rancorous an enemy; satisfied in having themselves no hand in his unjust fate! But the Archbishop saw the affair in another light; he saw it with horror; and although the King had in a particular manner interested himself in this business, the Primate opposed the bill with all his might; and when his opposition was vain, he left the house with indignation, and retired to Croydon.

He was indeed remarkable for the placability of his temper, and for showing kindness to those by whom he had been greatly injured. Hence it is mentioned in Shakespeare's Henry VIII. as a common saying concerning him:

"Do my Lord of Canterbury But one shrewd turn, and he's your friend for ever."

Archbishop Cranmer was a great friend and patron of learned foreigners who had been persecuted for their attachment to the principles of the Reformation. Mr Gilpin says, "the suffering professors of Protestantism, who were scattered in great numbers about the various countries of Europe, were always sure of an asylum with him. His palace at Lambeth might be called a seminary of learned men; the greater part of whom persecution had driven from home. Here, among other celebrated reformers, Martyr, Bucer, Ales, Phage, found sanctuary. Martyr, Bucer, and Phage, were liberally pensioned by the Archbishop till he could otherwise provide for them. It was his wish to fix them in the two universities, where he hoped their great knowledge and spirit of inquiry would forward his designs of restoring learning; and he at length obtained professorships for them all. Bucer and Phage were settled at Cambridge; where they only showed what might have been expected from them, both dying within a few months after their arrival. But at Oxford Martyr acted a very conspicuous part, and contributed to introduce among the students there a very liberal mode of thinking.

Of the learning of Archbishop Cranmer, Mr Gilpin remarks, "it was chiefly confined to his profession. He had applied himself in Cambridge to the study of the Greek and Hebrew languages; which, though esteemed at that time as the mark of erudition, appeared to him the only sources of attaining a critical knowledge of the Scriptures. He had so accurately studied canon law, that he was esteemed the best canonist in England; and his reading in theology was so extensive, and his collections from the Fathers so very voluminous, that there were few points in which he was not accurately informed, and in which he could not give the opinions of the several ages of the church from the times of the Apostles. He was a sensible writer, rather nervous than elegant. His writings were entirely confined to the great controversy which then subsisted, and contain the whole sum of the theological learning of those times. His library was filled with a very noble collection of books, and was open to all-men of letters.

Mr Gilpin, after remarking that Archbishop Cranmer preached often wherever he visited, says, "In his sermons to the people he was very plain and instructive; insisting chiefly on the essentials of Christianity. The subjects of his sermons, for the most part, were from whence salvation is to be fetched, and on whom the confidence of man ought to lean. They insisted much on doctrines of faith and works; and taught what the fruits of faith were, and what place was to be given to works; they instructed men in the duties they owed their neighbour, and that every one was our neighbour to whom we might any way do good; they declared what men ought to think of themselves after they had done all; and, lastly, what promises Christ hath made, and who they are to whom he will make them good. Thus he brought in the true preaching of the Gospel, altogether different from the ordinary way of preaching in those days; which was to treat concerning saints, to tell legendary tales of them, and to report miracles wrought for the confirmation of transubstantiation and other Popish corruptions. And such a heat of conviction accompanied his sermons, that the people departed from them with minds possessed of a great hatred of vice, and burning with a desire of virtue."

He was a great economist of his time. Mr Gilpin says, "he rose commonly at five o'clock, and continued in his study till nine. These early hours, he would say, were the only hours he could call his own. After breakfast he generally spent the remainder of the morning either in public or private business. His chapel-hour was eleven, and his dinner-hour twelve. After dinner he spent an hour either in conversation with his friends, in playing at chess, or in, what he liked better, overlooking a chess-board. He then retired again to his study till his chapel-bell rang at five. After prayers, he generally walked till six, which was in those times the hour of supper. His evening meal was sparing. Often he ate nothing; and when that was the case, it was his usual custom, as he sat down to table, to draw on a pair of gloves; which was as much as to say, that his hands had nothing to do. After supper, he spent an hour in walking and another in his study, retiring to his bedchamber about nine. This was his usual mode of living when he was most vacant, but very often his afternoons as well as his mornings were engaged in business. He generally, however, contrived, if possible, even in the busiest day, to devote some portion of his time to his books besides the morning. And Mr Fox tells us, he always accustomed himself to read and write in a standing posture; esteeming constant sitting very pernicious to a studious man."

Mr Gilpin also observes, "that he was a very amiable master in his family, and admirably preserved the difficult medium between indulgence and restraint. He had, according to the custom of the times, a very numerous retinue, among whom the most exact order was observed. Every week the steward of his household held a kind of court in the great hall of his palace; in which all family affairs were settled, servants wages were paid, complaints were heard, and faults examined. Delinquents were publicly rebuked, and after the third admonition discharged. His hospitality and charities were great and noble; equal to his station, greater often than his abilities. A plenti- Cranny ful table was among the virtues of those days. His was always bountifully covered. In an upper room was spread his own, where he seldom wanted company of the first distinction. Here a great many learned foreigners were daily entertained, and partook of his bounty. In his great hall a long table was plentifully covered every day for guests and strangers of a lower rank; at the upper end of which were three smaller tables, designed for his own officers and inferior gentlemen. Among other instances of the Archbishop's charity, we have one recorded which was truly noble.

After the destruction of monasteries, and before hospitals were erected, the nation saw no species of greater misery than that of wounded and disbandied soldiers. For the use of such miserable objects as were landed on the southern coasts of the island, the Archbishop fitted up his manor-house of Beckenham in Kent. He formed it indeed into a complete hospital; appointing a physician, a surgeon, nurses, and every thing proper, as well for food as physic. Nor did his charity stop here. Each man, on his recovery, was furnished with money to carry him home, in proportion to the distance of his abode."

To conclude with the character given by Mr Hume:

"Archbishop Cranmer was undoubtedly a man of merit; possessed of learning and capacity; and adorned with candour, sincerity, and benevolence, and all those virtues which were fitted to render him useful and amiable in society. His moral qualities procured him universal respect; and the courage of his martyrdom, though he fell short of the rigid inflexibility observed in many, made him the hero of the Protestant party."