Thomas Cranmer was born in 1489 at Nottingham. He was educated at Cambridge, and became a priest following the death of his first wife. Cranmer served as Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of the English kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. In 1539, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, hired Myles Coverdale at the behest of King Henry VIII to publish the Great Bible. It became the first English Bible authorized for public use, as it was distributed to every church, chained to the pulpit, and a reader was even provided so that the illiterate could hear the Word of God in plain English. It would seem that William Tyndale's last wish had been granted...just three years after his martyrdom. Cranmer's Bible, published by Coverdale, was known as the Great Bible due to its great size: a large pulpit folio measuring over 14 inches tall. Seven editions of this version were printed between April of 1539 and December of 1541.

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