by Luca Fumagalli

Originally published in 1931 an recently reissued by Mysterium Press, Cranmer is one of the finest historical essays by Hilaire Belloc concerning the period of the Reformation. Although he was a poet, writer, journalist and member of parliament, today he is best remembered as an historian and Catholic apologist. He was also a close friend of G. K. Chesterton, with whom he shared numerous battles in defence of the Church and in aid of the poor.

As Belloc himself writes in the opening pages of his book, Cranmer is not a mere biography; rather, it is an examination of the psychology of the famous Archbishop of Canterbury, whose career was fostered by Henry VIII, and the reasons that drove him to act as he did. Emphasis is also placed on his literary genius and the pivotal role he played in laying the foundations for the birth of the Church of England as an institution distinct from Rome, a transformation that included doctrinal alterations.

Thomas Cranmer was born in 1489. England was then entirely Catholic. Church corruption, which was advancing rapidly, was less pronounced there. However, the people were rather lethargic regarding religion; being conservative by nature, they would not have tolerated rapid or drastic changes, yet they would have accepted new medium- and long-term policies without much difficulty, provided, at least, that these did not conflict with their established habits. In the same way, the clerical body as a whole was official in temper but in universities it was ready for spiritual adventures.

Little is known about Cranmer’s early education, but what is certain is that he attributed the timid and hesitant nature that characterised him throughout his life to the harsh methods employed by his teacher. At the age of fourteen, his family set him on the path to the priesthood, not because he felt a calling, but simply to find a means of livelihood. He studied at Cambridge, at Jesus College, and was influenced by Erasmus, who was in England in search of the financial stability he could not find on the Continent. Cranmer did not stand out for his charisma or intellectual acumen, but he was a true prodigy when it came to writing: “he was no more than a poet”, writes Belloc, “but the effect of a poet is enduring”. He also married the niece of the landlady of a tavern he used to frequent, although she died within a year whilst attempting to give birth to a child who also perished.

With the outbreak of the Lutheran Reformation, new ideas from Germany began gradually to reach England, to the extent that a small group of anti-Roman rebels formed in Cambridge. Cranmer, hesitant as ever, did not wish to take a public stand, but deep down, as he was about to be ordained, a growing resentment towards the Church began to take root. It seems that it was he who, at that time, indirectly suggested to Henry VIII that he should consult the European universities regarding his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which the king was eager to have annulled in order to marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn. Cranmer entered the service of her family, becoming their chaplain, and naturally supported Henry’s right to divorce, doing everything in his power to counter the arguments of Cardinal Reginald Pole, who was opposed to it.

In the meantime, Cranmer had remarried in secret and, once appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by the sovereign in 1533, declared the latter’s marriage null and void. This led to a break between the Church of England – now subject to Henry’s authority – and the Church of Rome, though the king remained, in doctrine, a Catholic. Those who, like Cranmer, harboured Protestant convictions in their hearts, therefore had to act with caution and keep their beliefs to themselves. The new Archbishop even went so far as to condemn preachers who shared his views to be burnt at the stake; nevertheless, it would have been unwise to go against Henry’s will.

His hypocrisy even saved him from the subsequent fall from grace of the Boleyns and the powerful Prime Minister Thomas Cromwell, for whom he had been a docile tool in his anti-Catholic policies.

With the accession to the throne of the young Edward VI, manipulated by a group of Protestant nobles, Cranmer was free to give vent to his hatred of the Mass. Being the central institution of English life and rooted in centuries of custom, it could not be got rid of at a blow; it was necessary to insinuate change, to proceed step by step, and to replace the old with the entirely new by degrees. It was to this task that the Archbishop devoted himself in particular, and it was thus that the Book of Common Prayer came into being, in which the Mass was replaced by a Communion Service that had nothing to do with it. In fact, everything that emphasised the Real Presence and the Sacrificial quality of the Mass was omitted. He also drafted the Forty-two Articles, the official doctrinal statement of the Church of England, that became law in 1553.

However, Edward’s reign was short-lived, and when the Catholic Mary Tudor ascended the throne, the situation changed completely and the Protestants ended up being persecuted. Cranmer tried once again to save himself by offering his services to the queen, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Indeed, he was sentenced to death in 1556.

In the end, Belloc leaves us not with a cardboard villain, but with a tragic architect of history caught in the fires of his own creation. Cranmer stands as a testament to the author’s unique gift: the ability to turn historical polemic into gripping literature. It is a flawed masterpiece that demands to be read, argued with, and ultimately admired for its sheer narrative force.

The book: Hilaire Belloc, Cranmer, Mysterium Press 2024, 270 pages, £18.99.

Purchase link: https://www.mysteriumpress.com/shop/p/cranmer

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