linguistic:paraphrasing
Consolidating gains (1549–1551)

The Prayer Book Rebellion and other events harmed the Seymour regency. The Privy Council became divided when several dissident Councillors joined behind John Dudley to oust Seymour. Cranmer and two other Councillors, William Paget, and Thomas Smith initially rallied behind Seymour. After a flurry of letters passed between the two sides, a bloodless coup d'état ended Seymour's Protectorship on 13 October 1549. Despite the support of religiously conservative politicians behind Dudley's coup, the reformers managed to maintain control of the new government, and the English Reformation continued to consolidate gains. Seymour was initially imprisoned in the Tower but was shortly released on 6 February 1550 and returned to the council. The archbishop was able to transfer his former chaplain, Nicholas Ridley, from the minor see of Rochester to the diocese of London. At the same time, John Ponet took Ridley's former position. Incumbent conservatives were uprooted and replaced with reformers.

The first result of cooperation and consultation between Cranmer and Bucer was the first Edwardine Ordinal, the liturgy for the ordination of priests. This was missing in the first prayer book and was not published until 1550. Cranmer adopted Bucer's draft and created three services for commissioning: a deacon, a priest, and a bishop. In the same year, Cranmer produced the Defence of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, a semi-official explanation of the eucharistic theology within the prayer book. It was the first full-length book with Cranmer's name on the title page. The preface summarises his quarrel with Rome in a well-known passage where he compared "beads, pardons, pilgrimages, and such other like popery" with weeds. Still, the roots of the weeds were transubstantiation, the corporeal real presence, and the sacrificial nature of the mass.

Although Bucer assisted in the development of the English Reformation, he was still quite concerned about the speed of its progress. Both Bucer and Fagius had noticed that the 1549 prayer book was not a remarkable step forward. However, Cranmer assured Bucer that it was only a first step and that its initial form was temporary. By late 1550, Bucer was becoming disillusioned. Cranmer ensured he did not feel alienated and kept in close touch with him. This attention paid off during the vestments controversy. This incident was initiated by John Hooper, a follower of Heinrich Bullinger who had recently returned from Zürich. Hooper was unhappy with Cranmer's prayer book and ordinal and particularly objected to using ceremonies and vestments. When the Privy Council selected him to be the Bishop of Gloucester on 15 May 1550, he laid down conditions for not wearing the required vestments. He found an ally among the Continental reformers in Jan Łaski, who had become a leader of the Stranger church in London, a designated place of worship for Continental Protestant refugees. His church's forms and practices had taken reforms much further than Cranmer would have liked. Bucer and Peter Martyr, while they sympathised with Hooper's position, supported Cranmer's arguments of timing and authority. Cranmer and Ridley stood their ground. This led to Hooper's imprisonment, and he eventually gave in. He was consecrated on 8 March 1551 according to the ordinal and preached before the king in his episcopal garments. Cranmer's vision of reform was maintained through careful steps under the government's authority.