Thomas Cranmer (July 2, 1489 – March 21, 1556) was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of the English kings Henry VIII and Edward VI.
Born in 1489 at Nottingham, Cranmer was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge and became a priest following the death of his first wife. By the time of the controversy over the divorce of King Henry from his wife, Catherine of Aragon, Cranmer had risen to an influential position, and his willingness to pursue the matter on the King's behalf won him further advancement, despite the fact that he had secretly married the niece of a Lutheran theologian in Nuremberg. On March 30, 1533, he became Archbishop of Canterbury, and was able to push through the reforms that led gradually to the creation of the Church of England. In 1538 he condemned the views of John Lambert when he denied the real presence of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine of the eucharist. Lambert was burnt at the stake, and Cranmer came to adopt his views. Cranmer also opposed Henry VIII's 6 Articles, which reaffirmed clerical celibacy.
On Henry's death in 1547, Cranmer became an indispensable advisor to his son and successor, Edward, who, though still a child, had been brought up with extreme Protestant views. During Edward's reign, Cranmer introduced the Book of Common Prayer, a modernized version of which is still used today, and in general, led the Church of England in a more protestant direction.