Thomas Cranmer As Martyr

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge University. The portrait shows him after King Henry's death in 1547. It was then he grew the beard which — among continental divines — symbolized their rejection of Catholicism. Thereafter Cranmer's reshaping of the English church became much more extreme; nonetheless he could easily have exchanged wardrobes with the staunch Catholic John Fisher — had he still been alive. Cranmer would himself be executed, in 1556 under Queen Mary, for treason and heresy.

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge University. The portrait shows him after King Henry’s death in 1547. It was then he grew the beard which — among continental divines — symbolized their rejection of Catholicism. Thereafter Cranmer’s reshaping of the English church became much more extreme; nonetheless he could easily have exchanged wardrobes with the staunch Catholic John Fisher — had he still been alive. Cranmer would himself be executed, in 1556 under Queen Mary, for treason and heresy.