ABSTRACT
The crisis of what is sometimes referred to as Henry VIII's 'Divorce' from his first wife Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536) was already more than two years old when Thomas Cranmer became one of the king's theological advisors. Cranmer's important appointment came in 1532 when Henry sent him as English ambassador to the court of the Emperor Charles. Elyot caught Cranmer's immediate fascination with Nuremberg's new liturgy. Cranmer's decision was an open sign of his intent to continue to associate the English Church with evangelicalism. Two days after his consecration, Cranmer began to preside over Convocation in the chapter house of old St Paul's Cathedral, and the theological grounds of the king's case were discussed. The way was now clear for Cranmer to pass a final sentence. He summoned Henry and Katherine to his court at Dunstable Priory. Cranmer declared her contumacious and he made the business as brief as he could because Anne's coronation was 'so near at hand'.
