ABSTRACT
The first Lord Houghton, who took a dilettante interest in the Tractarian movement and a reflected interest in the Anglican Reformation, has described Thomas Cranmer as “the most mysterious personage,” and, next to Henry VIII., “the most influential factor” in the history of that convulsion. Cranmer’s influence on the Reformation is an obvious fact, but the mystery of his character disappears before a closer study of his environment. In reality his was one of the simplest of characters, and the ambiguities which obscure his career arise not from the complexity of his mind but from the contrasts and contradictions of the age in which he lived. The principle was likewise applied to the Church when the King became its Supreme Head; Bishops, whether Catholic or Protestant, give effect to legislation whatever its character. More characteristic of the age and more repugnant to modern ideas was the respect which Cranmer paid to the State a.
