Hey, Kids! It’s FRIDAY!!

On this day in 1556, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake.

Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and helped build the case for the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. he supported the principle of royal supremacy, in which the king was considered sovereign over the Church within his realm and protector of his people from the abuses of Rome. During Cranmer’s tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury, he established the first doctrinal and liturgical structures of the reformed Church of England and published the first officially authorized vernacular service, the Exhortation and Litany.

He wrote and compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer. After the accession of the Catholic Mary I, Cranmer was put on trial for treason and heresy. Imprisoned for over two years and under pressure from state and Church authorities, he made several recantations and reconciled himself with the Catholic Church. While this would have customarily absolved him from the heresy charge, Mary wanted him executed on the treason charge, and he was burned at the stake on 21 March 1556.