Thomas Cranmer
Final reform programme (1551–1553)

Cranmer's role in politics was diminishing when, on 16 October 1551, Seymour was arrested on charges of treason. In December, Seymour was put on trial, and although acquitted of treason, he was judged guilty of felony and was put to death on 22 January 1552. This began the breach between Cranmer and Dudley. It was aggravated during the year by the regency's gradual appropriation of ecclesiastical property. Throughout this political turmoil, Cranmer worked simultaneously on three major projects in his reform programme: the revision of canon law, the revision of the prayer book, and the formation of a statement of doctrine.

The original Catholic canon law that defined governance within the Church needed revision following Henry's break with Rome. Several revision attempts were made throughout Henry's reign, but these initial projects were shelved as the speed of reform outpaced the time required to revise. As the reformation stabilised, Cranmer formed a committee in December 1551 to restart the work. He recruited Peter Martyr to the committee and he also asked Łaski and Hooper to participate, showing his habitual ability to forgive past actions. Cranmer and Martyr realised that a successful enactment of a reformed ecclesiastical law code in England would have international significance. Cranmer planned to draw together all the reformed churches of Europe under England's leadership to counter the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation. In March 1552, Cranmer invited the foremost Continental reformers, Bullinger, John Calvin, and Melanchthon, to come to England and to participate in an ecumenical council. The response was disappointing: Melanchthon did not respond, Bullinger stated that neither of them could leave Germany as it was riven by war between the Emperor and the Lutheran princes, and while Calvin showed some enthusiasm, he said he was unable to come. Cranmer acknowledged Calvin and replied, "Meanwhile, we will reform the English Church to the utmost of our ability and give our labour that both its doctrines and laws will be improved after the model of holy scripture." One partial manuscript of the project survived that was annotated with corrections and comments by Cranmer and Martyr. When the final version was presented to Parliament, the breach between Cranmer and Dudley was complete and the regent effectively killed the canon law bill in the House of Lords.

As with the first prayer book, the origins and participants in its revision are obscure, but it was clear that Cranmer led the project and steered its development. It had begun as early as the end of 1549 when the Convocation of Canterbury met to discuss the matter. Late in 1550, the opinions of Martyr and Bucer were sought on how the liturgy might be improved, and they influenced the revision significantly. The view of the spiritual presence was clarified by the use of entirely different words at the offering of the bread and the wine to the communicants. New rubrics noted that any bread could be used, and any bread or wine that remained could be used by the curate, thus dissociating the elements from any physical presence. The new book removed any possibility of prayers for the dead because such prayers implied support for the doctrine of purgatory. The Act of Uniformity 1552, which authorised the book's use, specified that it be exclusively used from 1 November. The final version was officially published at almost the last minute, owing to Dudley's intervention. While travelling in the north of the country, he met the Scots reformer John Knox, who was based in Newcastle. Impressed by his preaching, Dudley selected him as a royal chaplain and brought him south to participate in the reform projects. In a sermon before the king, Knox attacked the practice of kneeling during communion. On 27 September 1552, the Privy Council stopped the printing of the new prayer book and told Cranmer to revise it. He responded with a long letter arguing that it was for Parliament, with the royal assent, to decide any changes in the liturgy. On 22 October, the council decided to keep the liturgy as it was and to add the so-called Black Rubric, which explained that no adoration was intended when kneeling at communion.

The origins of the statement which eventually became the Forty-two Articles are equally obscure. As early as December 1549, the archbishop demanded that his bishops subscribe to certain doctrinal articles. In 1551, Cranmer presented a version of a statement to the bishops, but its status remained ambiguous. Cranmer did not devote much effort to developing the articles, most likely owing to work on the canon law revision. He became more interested once the hope for an ecumenical council faded. By September 1552, draft versions of the articles were being worked on by Cranmer and John Cheke, his scholarly friend, commissioned to translate them into Latin. When the Forty-two Articles were finally published in May 1553, the title page declared that the Convocation agreed upon the articles, which were published by the king's authority. This was not the case and the mistake was likely caused by miscommunications between the archbishop and the Privy Council. Cranmer complained about this to the council, but the authorities noted that the articles were developed during the Convocation (hence evading giving a direct answer). The council gave Cranmer the unhappy task of requiring the bishops to subscribe to the articles, many of whom opposed them and pointed out the anomaly of the title page. While Cranmer was carrying out this duty, events unfolded that rendered the subscriptions futile.
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