English cleric, archbishop of Canterbury from 1533. A Protestant convert, he helped to shape the doctrines of the Church of England under
Edward VI. He was responsible for the issue of the Prayer Books of 1549 and 1552, and supported the succession of Lady Jane Grey in 1553.
Condemned for heresy under the Catholic Mary I, Cranmer at first recanted, declaring his former opinions to be wrong. However, when his life was not spared, he resumed his position and was burned at the stake, first holding to the fire the hand that had signed his recantation.
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