This study of the religious culture of sixteenth-century England is concerned with the competing forms of evangelism promoted by humanists of the Roman Catholic Church and emerging forms of Protestantism. The book shows how Protestant reformers adopted "preaching Christ" as their strategy to promote new doctrine, and explores shifts in political power toward Protestantism. It also offers new perspectives on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century figures such as John Rotheram, John Colet, Hugh Latimer, and Anne Boleyn.

Thomas Cranmer: Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII and his successors, architect of the English Reformation and creator of the Book of Common Prayer, he was branded a heretic and burned at the stake, a martyr to the Protestant faith.

Cranmer 's place in English history is firmly established, yet the complexities of his character have remained obscure. Susan Wabuda 's biography sheds fresh light not only on the private Cranmer, but also on the qualities that enabled him to master a shifting political landscape and build a new English church.

Athletic by nature, he enjoyed hunting and was a keen collector of art and books. He was blessed with several lifelong friendships and twice risked his career by illegally marrying the women he loved. A skilled debater and a deft politician, Cranmer sought to balance his long term plans for the church against the immediate demands of survival at court. Obedient at all times, yet never entirely trustworthy, he had to reconcile the will of his God with the will of the monarch he served.

For too long, Cranmer 's legacy has overshadowed the life of the man himself but this new biography enriches and extends our understanding of both. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of the English Reformation and the Tudor age.

Thomas Cranmer: Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII and his successors, architect of the English Reformation and creator of the Book of Common Prayer, he was branded a heretic and burned at the stake, a martyr to the Protestant faith.

Cranmer 's place in English history is firmly established, yet the complexities of his character have remained obscure. Susan Wabuda 's biography sheds fresh light not only on the private Cranmer, but also on the qualities that enabled him to master a shifting political landscape and build a new English church.

Athletic by nature, he enjoyed hunting and was a keen collector of art and books. He was blessed with several lifelong friendships and twice risked his career by illegally marrying the women he loved. A skilled debater and a deft politician, Cranmer sought to balance his long term plans for the church against the immediate demands of survival at court. Obedient at all times, yet never entirely trustworthy, he had to reconcile the will of his God with the will of the monarch he served.

For too long, Cranmer 's legacy has overshadowed the life of the man himself but this new biography enriches and extends our understanding of both. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of the English Reformation and the Tudor age.

This is a study of the religious culture of sixteenth-century England, centred around preaching, and is concerned with competing forms of evangelism between humanists of the Roman Catholic Church and emerging forms of Protestantism. More than any other authority, Erasmus refashioned the ideal of the preacher. Protestant reformers adopted 'preaching Christ' as their strategy to promote the doctrine of justification by faith. The apostolic traditions of the preaching chantries provided standards that evangelical reformers used to supplant the mendicant friars in England. The late medieval cult of the Holy Name of Jesus is explored: the pervasive iconography of its symbol 'IHS' became one of the attributes of moderate Protestant belief. The book also offers fresh perspectives on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century figures on every side of the doctrinal divide, including John Rotheram, John Colet, Hugh Latimer and Anne Boleyn.

The complicated personality and dramatic reign of England's King Henry VIII - visionary, tyrant, monarch, bully, defender of the faith, destroyer of monasteries, lover and libertine - have been immortalized (and fictionalized) in literature, on stage, and in film by leading writers of their generations. This catalogue to the Grolier Club exhibition Vivat Rex! (March 3-May 2, 2009) brings the real Henry, his life, reign, and times, to life through books, manuscripts, handwritten letters, and prints. Many of the works described and illustrated are unique in themselves, or belonged to Henry himself, to his family, or to members of his court.