Chronology
1485 August 22
Henry Tudor’s victory over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
1489 July 2
Thomas Cranmer was born in Aslockton, Nottinghamshire.
1491 June 28
Henry, the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, was born at Greenwich.
1501 May 27
The death of Cranmer’s father in Aslockton.
1501 November 14
Arthur, Prince of Wales, married Katherine of Aragon in St Paul’s Cathedral, London.
1502 April 2
The death of Arthur, Prince of Wales, at Ludlow.
1503
Cranmer’s mother Agnes sent him to Cambridge.
1509 April 21
The death of Henry VII at Richmond.
1509 June 11
Henry VIII married Katherine of Aragon at Greenwich.
1509 June 24
Henry and Katherine were crowned in Westminster Abbey by Archbishop William Warham of Canterbury.
c.
1510
Cranmer’s first brief marriage.
1511 August–1514 January
The humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam made his second and longest visit to the University of Cambridge, where he occasionally lectured.
1511
Cranmer proceeded to the Bachelor’s degree in Arts.
1515 March 24
Cranmer was admitted to the subdiaconate at York.
1515 April 7 Easter
Cranmer was made deacon in York Minster.
1515 June 2
Cranmer was ordained priest at the conventual church of the Dominican friars in York.
1515 summer
Cranmer proceeded to the Master’s degree in Arts at Cambridge.
He may have entered a fellowship at Jesus College around the same time.
1517 October 31
In Wittenberg, Martin Luther called for theological debates on points of doctrine.
1518
Cranmer’s brother Edmund was ordained to the priesthood in York.
1520 June 15
Pope Leo X issued his bull
Exsurge domine
against Luther.
1520
Cranmer was elected University Preacher.
1521 January
Leo excommunicated Luther.
1521 May 12
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey burned Luther’s books at Paul’s Cross in London.
1521 May 25
The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Edict of Worms against Luther.
1521
Cranmer proceeded to the Bachelor’s degree in Theology at Cambridge.
1526
Cranmer received his Doctorate in Theology.
1526 August
The Battle of Mohács.
1527 May
As papal legate, Wolsey convened an inquisition to examine the validity of the king’s marriage to Katherine.
1527 May
The Sack of Rome.
1528 autumn
Cranmer was introduced to Thomas Cromwell for the first time.
1529 April
At the meeting of the Imperial Diet at Speyer, Lutheran princes and cities made their famous ‘Protestation’ in defending Luther.
1529 midsummer
The special legatine court was convened briefly at Blackfriars to consider the king’s marriage, but it did not render a judgement.
1529 August
At Waltham, Cranmer suggested to Edward Fox and Stephen Gardiner that theologians should debate the doctrinal questions concerning the validity of Henry’s marriage to Katherine.
1529 October
Wolsey was deprived of his offices, and Sir Thomas More became Lord Chancellor.
1529 November–
As archdeacon of Taunton, Cranmer December attended Convocation as the ‘Reformation Parliament’ began its sessions.
1530 January
Cranmer was sent to Rome, where he became Penitentiary for England.
He returned to England at the end of the year.
1531 February
The defensive alliance of the League of Schmalkalden of Lutheran princes and cities was begun.
1531 August 19
Thomas Bilney was burnt near Norwich.
1531 October 11
Huldrych Zwingli was killed in the Battle of Kappel.
1532
Cranmer was sent as ambassador to Charles V’s Court.
In Nuremberg that summer, he married Margaret Preu, the niece of Andreas Osiander.
1532 May 15
More resigned the office of Lord Chancellor.
1532 August 22
The death of Archbishop Warham.
At the end of the year, Cranmer was recalled to England.
1533 January
Cranmer arrived in London.
Henry and Anne Boleyn’s marriage was solemnized privately.
1533 March 30
At the Palace of Westminster, Cranmer was consecrated as the sixty-eighth archbishop of Canterbury.
1533 May 23
At Dunstable, Cranmer passed sentence that Henry had never been lawfully married to Katherine.
1533 June 1
Cranmer crowned Anne Boleyn in Westminster Abbey.
1533 July 4
John Frith was burnt at Smithfield.
1533 September 6
Anne gave birth to Elizabeth at Greenwich.
1533 December 3
Cranmer was enthroned at Canterbury.
1534 April 20
The execution of Elizabeth Barton, the ‘Nun of Kent’ and her associates at Tyburn.
1535 June 22
Bishop John Fisher was executed.
1535 July 6
Sir Thomas More was executed.
1536 January 7
The death of Katherine of Aragon at Kimbolton Castle.
1536 May 19
The execution of Anne Boleyn on the Green in the Tower of London.
1536 May 30
Henry married Jane Seymour.
1536–1537
The Northern Risings.
1537 October 12
The birth of Prince Edward.
1537 October 24
The death of Queen Jane.
1540 July 28
The execution of Thomas Cromwell on Tower Green.
On the same day, Henry VIII married Katherine Howard at Oatlands Palace, Surrey.
1540 July 30
At Smithfield, Robert Barnes, Thomas Garrard, and William Jerome were burnt for heresy, while Thomas Abell, Edward Powell, and Richard Fetherstone were executed for treason.
1542 February 13
The execution of Katherine Howard on Tower Green.
1543 May
The King’s Book was issued.
1543 July 12
Henry VIII married Katherine Parr.
1543
The ‘Prebendaries’ Plot’ against Cranmer.
1545
The Council of Trent began.
1547 January 28
Henry VIII died at Whitehall.
1547
The first
Book of Homilies
was issued.
1549 June 9 Whitsunday
The first
Book of Common Prayer
was released.
The Prayer Book risings followed immediately in Devon, Cornwall, and East Anglia.
1552 November 1
The second
Book of Common Prayer
was issued.
1553
The
Forty-Two Articles
were released.
1553 July 6
The death of Edward VI at Greenwich.
His cousin, Lady Jane Grey, was proclaimed queen, but within a fortnight Mary led a successful coup against her.
1553 August 3
Queen Mary entered London in triumph.
1553 September 14
Cranmer was sent to the Tower.
1553 October 27
In Geneva, Michael Servetus was burnt by Calvin.
1555 October 16
Latimer and Ridley were burnt in Oxford.
1555 November 13
The death of Bishop Stephen Gardiner.
1556 March 21
Cranmer was burnt in Oxford.
1556 March 25
Reginald Cardinal Pole received the pallium as archbishop of Canterbury.
1558 November 17
The deaths of Mary and Cardinal Pole occurred on the same day Elizabeth became queen.
1559 December 17
Matthew Parker was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury.