Thomas Cromwell

Born around 1485 in Putney, Middlesex, died 28 July 1540 in the Tower of London.

Thomas Cromwell

Not much is known about his early life (starting with the exact year of his birth), but Cromwell - just like his mentor Cardinal Wolsey - came from humble origins.

After some time in Italy and France, Cromwell studied law and joined the household of Cardinal Wolsey. After Wolsey’s downfall in 1529, he gained king Henry VIII's trust and was appointed a royal counsellor.

In 1532 Thomas Cromwell became the King's chief minister. His career skyrocketed and he had a lot of political authority. Cromwell was also named Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and Secretary of State. In the "king's great matter" (the annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon), Cromwell was among the men who were in favour of Henry as the Head of the English Church. He also was involved in formulating the Act of Supremacy in 1534. Cromwell played a huge role in the English Reformation and he was mainly responsible for the dissolution of the monasteries.

After Jane Seymour’s death in 1537, he urged the King to remarry soon. He intended the King to have a Protestant wife - Anne of Cleves - to strengthen the relation to German Protestants. Cromwell praised Anne's beauty and after King Henry had seen a portrait of her by Hans Holbein, he agreed to the marriage. As Anne was not as beautiful as the portrait promised, the marriage was never consummated. Cromwell had to take care of the annulment and some of his enemies saw their chance to further weaken Cromwell's position at court.

Before Cromwell lost the king's favour, he was made Earl of Essex on 18 April 1540, a title that only lasted for almost two months. Cromwell was arrested on 10 June 1540, stripped of all his titles and taken to the Tower of London. He was accused of high treason and heresy. On 30 June, Cromwell wrote a letter to the King, begging him to have "mercy, mercy, mercy". On 28 July 1540 he was beheaded at the Tower of London. Unfortunately for him, the executioner did a rather sloppy work and did not manage to kill Cromwell at the first swing of his axe. It is said that King Henry soon regretted his decision to sentence Cromwell to death and mourned his loss.

Thomas Cromwell was a great uncle of Oliver Cromwell.

The popular image of Thomas Cromwell used to be rather negative: He was seen as the person responsible for the death of saints and heroines such as Thomas More or Anne Boleyn. G.R. Elton pointed to his great abilities as administrator. In the 2000s, Hilary Mantel's novels Wolf Hall (2009), Bring Up the Bodies (2012) and The Mirror and the Light (2020) made Cromwell the humane, shrewd, intelligent and likable protagonist.

Cromwell also featured in the TV series The Tudors The Tudors.

Sources

• Gardiner, Juliet. The Reign of Henry VIII. Personalities and Politics. London: Collins & Brown, 1991.
• Jacobs, Eberhard; de Vitray, Eva. Heinrich VIII. von England in Augenzeugenberichten. Düsseldorf: Karl Rauch Verlag, 1969.
• Maurer, Michael. Kleine Geschichte Englands. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007.