The Public Career of Thomas Cranmer

Abstract

The principal source for information on the public career of Thomas Cranmer is his archiepiscopal register in Lambeth Palace, and the author is currently editing this document for publication. Nonetheless, important material concerning Archbishop Cranmer's role in church and state also survives in episcopal and capitular archives around the country. Over 20 years, the author has identified and transcribed this material, and the fruits of this work arc presented in this article. Cranmer's role as archbishop was profoundly modified by the issue of a royal commission in 1535, which effectively made him a royal civil servant. During the ascendancy of Thomas Cromwell as the king's vicegerent, Cranmer was eclipsed as the principal minister of the king's spiritual jurisdiction. The evidence for this claim is presented in the form of a calendar of part of Cromwell's register as vicegerent. The final part of the article presents in transcription the visitation Articles and Injunctions for Cranmer's visitation of the diocese of Norwich in 1550. This sensational discovery provides evidence for a theological and liturgical revolution in England in the middle of Edward VI's reign.