Essentially a scholar he was thrust into the limelight of public affairs by catching the eye of the King at a crucial time in English history. As a result Cranmer was sent by Henry VIII to be English minister Nuremberg. His task was friendly to Cranmer who was already a theologically Lutheran. Once in Nuremberg he met and married the niece of Osiander, the chief Lutheran minister in the city. You can imagine his horror when he was recalled to England to be the new Archbishop of Canterbury, as clerical celibacy was still required by law in England. .
Although a closet Lutheran, Cranmer enjoyed the favour and protection of Henry VIII throughout his reign. Cautious moves towards reform were made in the Ten Articles of 1537, but the failure of the Cleves marriage and the failure of Henry's alliance with the Lutheran princes led to Henry imposing the Six Articles which moved the Church of England back towards Catholicism, albeit with Henry as Pope. This remained the situation for the rest of the reign, but Cranmer's survival in office allowed him to prepare for the day when the Church of England could engage in a more open reform programme.
However one important piece of reform had been pushed through. English monasticism was in a very low state in the 1530s. Only a few houses were in any way strong, and most were just comfortable retreats. Henry saw them as a source of income for himself, and for the creation of more bishoprics so he embarked on the restraint of the lesser monasteries in 1536, and of the greater houses in 1539. Out of these revenues Henry hoped to found new bishoprics. The dioceses of Westminster, Bristol, Gloucester, Oxford, Peterborough, and Chester were founded in 1541 to 1543, and the formerly monastic cathedrals of Canterbury, Rochester, Winchester, Worcester, Ely, Norwich, Durham, and Carlisle were refounded. Henry had hoped to found two or three more dioceses, but the urgent need for cash to fight the French diverted the ex-monastic revenues to secular purposes.