Thomas Cranmer

born July 2, 1489 in Lincolnshire
died (executed by burning) March 21, 1556 in Oxford

Ordained priest 1523
Archbishop of Canterbury, 1533-1556 under Henry VIII
Compiler of First Book of Common Prayer 1549 under Edward VI

Thomas Cranmer was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to lead the Church after its separation from Rome and the inauguration of the English Reformation.

In 1544 he completed the first vernacular service for the newly independent Church of England, The Exhortation and Litany. He proceeded from that point to develop the first Book of Common Prayer, which was authorized and published in 1549.

During Henry VIII's reign, Cranmer's reforms were mild, given Henry VIII's theological conservatism and dislike of Lutheranism. During the reign of Edward VI, Cranmer made more sweeping changes, publishing the first Book of Common Prayer. Upon Edward's death in 1553, however, Cranmer was in jeopardy as the succession to the throne was unsettled and he had been excommunicated by the Roman Church. Cranmer supported the abortive ascension of Lady Jane Grey, but she was proclaimed queen for only 9 days before the Privy Council switched loyalty and backed Mary I. After Mary I, an ardent Roman Catholic, ascended to the throne in 1553, Cranmer was arrested and executed by burning. Before his execution, he was pressured into signing a recantation. He later recanted the recantation, and when he was burned at the stake, allegedly first held into the flames the hand that had signed the recantation.

Cranmer's library at Croydon Palace held numerous text that he used in formulating the first Book of Common Prayer, but it was sold off piecemeal at his death, so we will never know exactly what it contained.

For more information, see:
The BBC biographical entry of Thomas Cranmer
My Episcopal Cafe's Speaking to the Soul meditation on Cranmer, March 21, 2015