Cranmer in Context

Thomas Cranmer was a notable ecclesiastical statesman and much involved in the separation of the Church of England from the papacy. As an archbishop of the Reformation, he presided over a Church in transition, revising services, re-formulating doctrine and re-drafting canon law. In pastoral ministry he afforded both faithful and not so faithful a reasonable diversity of worship within a single comprehensive church. His considerable intellectual development, a lifetime's study of the Scriptures and his characteristic moderation make his writings of real significance for the English-speaking world. Cranmer's writings are increasingly difficult to find, either in print or used in worship. Peter Newman Brooks provides a brief life of Cranmer, together with a range of extracts from his correspondence, controversies, treatises and prayers, setting the spotlight on Cranmer's remarkable contribution to sixteenth-century national politics and piety.