Thomas Cranmer’s Register
A record of archiepiscopal administration in diocese and province
Paul Ayris (Editor)
Thomas Cranmer’s Register records turbulent change in England and Wales between 1533 and 1553. The crown abolished Roman jurisdiction, and the first steps towards the creation of a Protestant state were made. As archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer was a seminal figure in these developments, and his register is a key Reformation document.
The physical register at Lambeth Palace has been out of reach for many scholars. Paul Ayris’s extraordinary edition makes more of the text available to readers than ever before, with transcriptions and editorial introductions that illuminate the sometimes cryptic 16th-century text. Here, the appointment of Cranmer to Canterbury (at the hands of the papacy) in 1533 is recorded. Commissions and letters reveal how the crown assumed authority over the church and, through Thomas Cromwell as vicegerent in spirituals, supplanted the role of the archbishop as the principal minister of the king’s spiritual jurisdiction. The work suggests a new explanation for the inclusion/exclusion of the stipulation in the 1536 royal Injunctions concerning the Bible in English. Moreover, unpublished records for the diocese of Norwich in 1550 reveal that the order for removing altars in English churches emanated from Thomas Cranmer not, as is usually thought, from the bishop of London, Nicholas Ridley. This edition will be a touchstone reference for global scholars of the Tudor period.
Part 1
List of figures
Table 0.1 Register contents as arranged by the archbishop’s principal registrars
Acknowledgements
Foreword, Diarmaid MacCulloch
Introduction
Thomas Cranmer’s register: Context
Thomas Cranmer’s register: Content
Bibliography
Editor’s guide to reading the register
Editorial conventions
Abbreviations
Unidentified place names
The text of Thomas Cranmer’s Register (Part I)
Part 2
List of figures
Table 0.1 Register contents as arranged by the archbishop’s principal registrars
Editor’s guide to reading the register
Editorial conventions
Abbreviations
Unidentified place names
The text of Thomas Cranmer’s Register (Part II)
Appendix A: Letters and commissions not recorded in Thomas Cranmer’s register
Appendix B: A calendar of part of Thomas Cromwell’s register as vicegerent in BL Add. MS. 48022 fols 83r-96v
Appendix C: Visitation Articles and Injunctions for Norwich diocese (1550)
Appendix D: Presentations in Canterbury diocese, the deaneries of immediate jurisdiction, Calais and Boulogne which are missing from Thomas Cranmer’s register; with a list of possible sede vacante presentations which are also unregistered
Appendix E: The archbishop and archiepiscopal officers
Index 1: Names, places and subjects for the introduction (Part I)
Index 2: Names and Places for Thomas Cranmer’s register (Parts I and II)
Index 3: Select subject index for Thomas Cranmer’s register (Parts I and II)
DOI: 10.14324/111.9781800089174
Number of illustrations: 9
Publication date: 01 January 2026
EPUB ISBN: 9781800089181
Paul Ayris (Editor) 
Paul Ayris is Pro-Vice-Provost, Libraries, Culture, Collections and Open Science, at UCL. He has previously published on aspects of Cranmer’s register and its significance. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, formerly President of LIBER (Association of European Research Libraries) and currently chair of the Open Science Ambassadors group in LERU (League of European Research Universities).
Related titles
Sign up to our newsletter
Don't miss out!
Subscribe to the UCL Press newsletter for the latest open access books,
journal CfPs, news and views from our authors and much more!