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

Book of Common Prayer

The general term for a series of collections of prayers and liturgies used by numerous churches within the Anglican Communion. The first Book of Common Prayer was created in 1549 by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer.

Evolution in England:
1549
1552
1559
1604
1662- This book is still officially in use in England and Africa.
(1928: failed to win approval)

Evolution in Scotland:
1662 English Book of Common Prayer
1674 Scottish Liturgy

Evolution in America:
1662 English Book of Common Prayer plus Holy Communion rite from the 1674 Scottish Liturgy led to
1790 Book of Common Prayer
1892
1928
1979

Evolution in New Zealand
1662 English Book of Common Prayer
1988 A New Zealand Prayer Book, He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa

Evolution in Canada:
English 1662
1922
1962
1967 (French translation- Le Recueil des Prières de la Communauté Chrétienne)


For more information, see:
Online 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church
"Evolution of the Prayer Book" in Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 volumes, from bartleby.com
A New History of the Book of Common Prayer at justus.org
Numerous resources related to the Book of Common Prayer from Anglicans Online

Black Rubric

Inserted into the 1552 Book of Common Prayer at the insistence of Calvinists, which noted that the direction to kneel at communion was not meant to imply transubstantiation or adoration of the elements. Rubrics were normally printed in red ink; this rubric had not been approved by Parliament and was inserted as the book was going to press.

For more information, see:
"The Black Rubric" at Anglican Eucharistic Theology

Breviary

A book that contained the daily office; its convenience made it popular for person devotion and use.

Daily Office

In the west, the liturgical hours were called offices. Archbishop Cranmer, in creating the prayer book, reduced these for the laity down to two: Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, or Evensong. Together, these make up the Daily Office that is prayed by millions of Anglicans around the world.

"One of the beneficial effects of the Reformation in England was a deliberate effort to simplify the Daily Office so that both clergy and laity could participate in its offering. Morning Prayer was based upon the Medieval office of Matins together with elements from Prime. Evening Prayer was, in its essence, a combination of Vespers and Compline. But the Office as a whole was revised around the importance of regular recitation of the Psalter, reading of the whole of Scripture, and set prayer. This gives the Anglican Office its distinctive character. In more recent times, Sext (Noonday Prayer) and Compline have been restored for optional use in various Anglican Prayer Books, such as the American Book of 1979."-- from the Anglican Service Book (link below)


For more information, see also:
"The Rise and Fall of the Daily Office," a critique on Christianity Today
from the Anglican Service Book at justus.org