Last words of the faithful
Thomas Cranmer
Died 1556 · the hand that signed the recantation burned first
Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, had under pressure signed recantations of his Protestant faith. At his burning in Oxford in 1556 he publicly repudiated them, and, as the fire rose, held his right hand, the hand that had signed, into the flames first, saying it had offended.
The last words
The story behind them
Cranmer's story is unusual among the martyrs because he first failed. Worn down by imprisonment and the fear of fire, the Archbishop of Canterbury signed a series of recantations, renouncing the faith he had helped build into the Church of England. His enemies were delighted and scheduled his execution anyway, expecting a broken man to read his recantation aloud one final time.
Instead, at the last moment, he recanted his recantations. He declared the papers false, written 'contrary to my heart' out of fear of death, and said the hand that signed them would be punished first. Then, at the stake, contemporary accounts say he did exactly that: he stretched his right hand into the flame and held it there, unflinching, until it was consumed, before the fire took the rest of him. A man who had failed under pressure found, at the very end, a courage that let him make his cowardice into a sermon.
A man who had failed found, at the very last, the courage to make his failure the first thing to burn.
What they died for, you can meet
None of these people died for an idea. They died holding onto a Person, convinced that death was not the end because he had already walked out of a tomb. The Living Bread is a quiet place to meet that same Jesus, read the Gospels for yourself, and ask your honest questions.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- What did Thomas Cranmer do at his execution?
- Having earlier signed recantations under pressure, Cranmer publicly withdrew them at his burning in 1556, then held his right hand, the one that had signed, into the fire first, saying that since it had offended, it should be punished first.
- Why is Cranmer's death significant?
- Because he had first failed, signing recantations out of fear, and then repented and died bravely, holding the offending hand into the flames. His death is a striking picture of courage recovered and failure redeemed at the very end of a life.