Editing Book of Common Prayer (section)

===Background===
The forms of [[parish]] worship in the late mediaeval church in England, which followed the [[Latin Church|Latin]] [[Roman Rite]], varied according to local practice. By far the most common form, or "use", found in Southern England was that of [[Use of Sarum|Sarum]] (Salisbury). There was no single book; the services provided by the ''Book of Common Prayer'' were found in the [[Missal]] (the [[Eucharist]]), the [[Roman Breviary|Breviary]] ([[daily office]]s), Manual (the occasional services of [[baptism]], marriage, burial etc.), and [[Pontifical]] (services appropriate to a [[bishop]]&nbsp;– [[confirmation]], [[ordination]]).{{Sfn|Harrison|Sansom|1982|p=29}} The chant ([[plainsong]], [[plainchant]]) for worship was contained in the ''[[Roman Gradual]]'' for the [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]], the [[Antiphoner|''Antiphonale'']] for the offices, and the ''Processionale'' for the [[litanies]].{{Sfn|Leaver|2006|p=39}} The ''Book of Common Prayer'' has never contained prescribed music or chant, but in 1550 [[John Merbecke]] produced his ''Booke of Common Praier noted'',{{Sfn|MacCulloch|1996|p=331}} which sets much of Mattins, Evensong, Holy Communion and the Burial Office in the Prayer Book to simple plainchant, generally inspired by Sarum Use.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

The work of producing a [[liturgy]] in English was largely done by [[Thomas Cranmer]], [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], starting cautiously in the reign of [[Henry VIII]] (1509–1547) and then more radically under his son [[Edward VI]] (1547–1553). In his early days, Cranmer was a conservative [[Christian humanism|humanist]] and an admirer of [[Erasmus]]. After 1531, Cranmer's contacts with [[Reformation|reformers]] from continental Europe helped change his outlook.{{Sfn|MacCulloch|1996|p=60}} The [[Exhortation and Litany (1544)|Exhortation and Litany]], the earliest English-language service of the Church of England, was the first overt manifestation of his changing views. It was no mere translation from the Latin, instead making its [[Protestant]] character clear by the drastic reduction of the place of [[saint]]s, compressing what had been the major part into three petitions.{{Sfn|Procter|Frere|1965|p=31}} Published in 1544, the [[Exhortation and Litany]] borrowed greatly from [[Martin Luther]]'s Litany and [[Coverdale Bible|Myles Coverdale's New Testament]] and was the only service that might be considered Protestant to have been finished within Henry VIII's lifetime.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}