The First to Burn

Facing imminent death, Thomas Cranmer—the Archbishop of Canterbury who crafted the foundational Book of Common Prayer for Anglican worship—succumbed to terror and signed a document renouncing his Protestant convictions. The authorities then summoned him to St. Mary's Church in Oxford, expecting him to publicly repudiate his former beliefs and acknowledge the supremacy of Queen Mary I and papal authority.

Instead, Cranmer delivered a stunning…