How did Martin Bucer influence Thomas Cranmer’s Communion service in the 1552 prayer book?

Martin Bucer significantly influenced Thomas Cranmer’s liturgical reforms during the development of the Second Prayer Book of Edward VI (1552). After arriving in England, Bucer was invited to review the First Prayer Book of Edward VI (1549), which he criticized for containing vague Lutheran elements.1

In his formal assessment, known as the Censura, Bucer provided critiques that Cranmer utilized to revise the liturgy in a more outspokenly Protestant direction. Bucer’s specific influence is particularly reflected in the Communion service of the 1552 prayer book, where his theological position on the Eucharist helped shape the revised text. While other figures, such as Nicholas Ridley and Jan Laski, were also instrumental in moving Cranmer away from his earlier Lutheran leanings, Bucer’s role as a mediator and liturgical scholar was central to the structural and doctrinal changes implemented in the 1552 edition.12