On the twenty-first day of March in 1556, Thomas Cranmer died at the stake in Oxford, England. Despite his human weaknesses, he died as a martyr for his understanding of the Christian Faith. Although no one person founded Anglicanism, Cranmer left an enduring legacy in the Book of Common Prayer, the general content of the Thirty-Nine Articles, and four of the Anglican Homilies. Some details of his evolving personal theologies would not be acceptable to many later Anglicans; yet in his theological and liturgical writings, Cranmer did express the Anglican perennial respect for both Scripture and the ancient Church Fathers. He was also a master of the English language. Furthermore, he had a great personal influence on his Elizabethan successor, Archbishop Matthew Parker. This all means that the Elizabethan Settlement and later Anglicanism owe much of their content to Cranmer.
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