The Trials of Thomas Cranmer: A Monologue

Cranmer was the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, appointed by Henry VIII in 1532 and burnt alive 24 years later in the reign of Henry’s daughter, Queen Mary. This monologue portrays what Cranmer might have said privately the evening before his execution in explanation and justification of his life. If Cranmer had not in his last hours withstood gruelling pressure to recant his religion, there might have been no Protestant Church in England. Without the Puritan offshoots of that Protestant Church, there might have been no United States of America. Cranmer has been misjudged by history, being often portrayed as unprincipled; such judgments overlook the strong religious belief that ran through his life, the difficult decisions that he had to make, the fractious world in which he lived and his remarkable achievements.