Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), Archbishop of Canterbury

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Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533 following the death of William Warham, Cranmer carried through Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. In the reign of Edward VI, he was responsible for the first book of Common Prayer published in 1549. As a committed Protestant he was deprived of office under Mary I and imprisoned. Cranmer eventually acknowledged Papal supremacy and the truth of Roman Catholic doctrines except for transubstantiation, but he recanted just before his execution.