1-344-744 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, (1802). Cranmer (1489-1556) was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of the English kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. He declared the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon void in 1533, paving the way for the king to marry Anne Boleyn. Cranmer was instrumental in pushing through Henry's reforms to the Church. After Henry's death, he was an influential adviser to his successor, the young Edward VI. After Edward in turn died the throne passed to Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, who was determined to return England to Catholicism. Cranmer was imprisoned and tried for heresy. In 1556 he became one of the first Anglican martyrs to be burned for heresy.