Not everyone had reason to look upon the Feast of St. Valentine with affection.

Not everyone had reason to look upon the Feast of St. Valentine with affection.

On February 14, 1556, Thomas Cranmer (July 2, 1489 – March 21, 1556) was removed as the Archbishop of Canterbury. Cranmer, who was the Boleyn family chaplain (think Anne Boleyn) rose to prominence having authored a treatise on the dissolubility of Henry VIII’s marriage from Catherine of Aragon (Censurael Determinations) and ultimately declared that the King’s marriage to Catherine was null and void.

Raised Catholic, Cranmer came to reject the presence of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, repudiated Papal Supremacy, prohibitions against clergy marrying, embraced Luther’s Protestant theology, authored much of the Book of Common Prayer, the first English liturgy for the Church of England as well as The 39 Articles that form the basic summary of belief of the Church of England. Of course Henry VIII died in 1547 and his successor, Edward VI died in 1553 at the age of 16 (probably from tuberculosis). While Cranmer had lobbied for the Protestant Lady Jane Grey to succeed Edward VI, Mary I, a Catholic, was declared Queen.

As might be expected, Queen Mary moved to restore Catholicism. Cranmer would write that “... all the doctrine and religion, by our said sovereign lord king Edward VI is more pure and according to God's word, than any that hath been used in England these thousand years.”

Not an astute thing to say and on today’s date in 1556, the Protestant, Cranmer was removed from office, imprisoned and charged with sedition and treason. He was found guilty and of course, sentenced to death—burning at the stake. Cranmer had been imprisoned the previous year where his witnessed the October 16, 1555 burning at the stake of Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. In an overt attempt to avoid that horrible execution, Thomas Cranmer recanted his earlier writings and teachings. He would however, be burned alive at the stake on March 21, 1556.

More about that later but it’s interesting to note that on the date of his execution, Cranmer was brought to St. Mary’s Church in Oxford where he was to publically recant his teachings. Realizing that his recanting was futile and would not save his life, Cranmer famously said:

"And now I come to the great thing that troubleth my conscience more than any other thing that ever I said or did in my life: and that is, the setting abroad of writings contrary to the truth. Which here now I renounce and refuse, as things written with my hand contrary to the truth which I thought in my heart, and writ for fear of death, and to save my life, if it might be: and that is, all such bills, which I have written or signed with mine own hand, since my degradation; wherein I have written many things untrue. And forasmuch as my hand offended in writing contrary to my heart, therefore my hand shall first be punished. For if I may come to the fire, it shall be first burned. And as for the Pope, I refuse him, as Christ's enemy and antichrist, with all his false doctrine."

Cranmer was taken outside disrobed, and chained to the stake. Witnesses reported that true to his word, Thomas Cranmer thrust his right hand into the flame declaring “This hand hath offended.” and kept it in the flame until it was charred (some say to the stump). Cranmer’s then declared “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit... I see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God!” and his body was soon engulfed in flames.

There are of course discrepancies in the description of Cranmer’s execution. One account says:

“Fire being now put to him, he stretched out his right hand, and thrust it into the flame, and held it there a good space, before the fire came to any other part of his body; where his hand was seen of every man sensibly burning, crying with a loud voice, 'This hand hath offended.' As soon as the fire got up, he was very soon dead, never stirring or crying all the while.”

Foxes Book of Martyrs notes:

“Then was an iron chain tied about Cranmer and fire set unto him. When the wood was kindled and the fire began to burn near him, he stretched forth his right hand, which had signed his recantation, into the flames, and there held it so the people might see it burnt to a coal before his body was touched. In short, he was so patient and constant in the midst of his tortures, that he seemed to move no more than the stake to which he was bound; his eyes were lifted up to heaven, and often he said, so long as his voice would suffer him, 'this unworthy right hand!' and often using the words of Stephen, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,' till the fury of the flames putting him to silence, he gave up the ghost."

Sooo…getting back to the original point, Valentine’s Day was not so happy for Thomas Cranmer…

John Foxe's The Acts and Monuments Online