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Who was required to accept Thomas Cranmer’s Forty-two Articles?
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Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer, detail of an oil painting by Gerlach Flicke, 1545; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
The Forty-two Articles, authored by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in 1553, were a set of doctrinal formulas intended to define the position of the Church of England regarding religious controversies.12
To ensure adherence to these doctrinal standards, the following groups were required to subscribe to the articles:
- All clergy2
- Schoolmasters2
- Degree candidates in the universities2
These articles were later reduced to the Thirty-nine Articles during the reign of Elizabeth I.12