Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from union with the Holy See.

While taking a relatively conservative stance under Henry, Cranmer instituted substantial reforms under the reign of Edward. Upon the ascencion of Mary I, Catholicism was reinstituted, and Cranmer was imprisoned for two years. He recanted during this time, but on the date of his execution, he withdrew these recantations and thus became a matyr to the Protestant cause.

Thomas Cranmer in The Two Georges
Thomas Cranmer was well-regarded in the British Empire. In the 19th century, the North American Union re-named a piece of territory it annexed from Nueva España after Cranmer.