Today in 1555 the Pope in Rome handed down a sentence on the Protestant Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, saying that he was stripped of his archbishopric, and all of his ecclesiastical dignities. The pope also gave permission for the secular authorities to decide his fate. Cranmer recanted his Protestant faith several times, and this should have resulted in his absolution, but he was also the architect of Henry VIII’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon, something that Katherine’s daughter, Mary, who was now Queen, was unwilling to forgive. And so Cranmer was sentenced to be burned. When he was given the opportunity to speak, he should have talked about how he recanted his faith, but instead he recanted his recantation, and spoke of his true Protestant beliefs. When the flames were lit he put the hand that signed his recantation into the flames first because it was the hand that offended God the most.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 010: A Tale of Two Thomases Part 2 (Cromwell & Cranmer)
Episode 088: The Henrician Reformation
October is Reformation Month!
From the shop:
Lots of Christmas gift ideas for your Tudor loved ones over at The Tudor Fair!
Including When all else fails read about the Tudors Shirt
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.