Thomas Cranmer meets a fiery end
Mary Tudor has the architect of the English Reformation put to death
Thedeath of Thomas Cranmer was one of the most dramatic in all English history. Under Henry VIII and Edward VI, Cranmer had been the driving force in the English Reformation, pushing through a revolution in the nation’s religious and political life. But under the Catholic Mary I, his fortunes changed. In September 1553, he was arrested and sent to the Tower of London. Tried for treason and heresy, Cranmer was sentenced to death. With Mary determined to make an example of him, not even his increasingly frantic recantations could save him.
Cranmer’s burning was scheduled for 21 March 1556, but Mary agreed that he could make a final recantation in Oxford’s University Church beforehand. Cranmer duly mounted the pulpit, armed with the grovelling sermon he had agreed with his gaolers. But then, suddenly, he veered from the script. His earlier recantations, he said, had been “contrary to the truth which I thought in my heart, and written for fear of death, and to save my life”. The hand that had written such words would soon be punished, “for if I may come to the fire, it shall be first burned. And as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine.”
Dragged to the stake, Cranmer remained remarkably composed. Cranmer had a “cheerful countenance and willing mind”, reported one witness. As promised, he put his hand into the fire first, saying loudly: “This hand hath offended.” And even as the flames consumed his body, his calm and courage made a great impression on the crowds. In death, Protestantism’s champion had won his greatest victory.