Thomas Cromwell

Thomas Cromwell
Lord Great Chamberlain
In office
17 April 1540 – 10 June 1540
MonarchHenry VIII
Preceded byJohn de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford
Succeeded byRobert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex
Governor of the Isle of Wight
In office
2 November 1538 – 10 June 1540
MonarchHenry VIII
Preceded bySir James Worsley
Succeeded byRichard Worsley
Lord Privy Seal
In office
2 July 1536 – 10 June 1540
MonarchHenry VIII
Preceded byThomas Boleyn
Succeeded byWilliam Fitzwilliam
Master of the Rolls
In office
8 October 1534 – 10 July 1536
MonarchHenry VIII
Preceded byJohn Taylor
Succeeded byChristopher Hales
Principal Secretary
In office
April 1534 – April 1540
MonarchHenry VIII
Preceded byStephen Gardiner
Succeeded byThomas Wriothesley
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
12 April 1533 – 10 June 1540
MonarchHenry VIII
Preceded byJohn Bourchier
Succeeded byJohn Baker
Personal details
Bornc. 1485 (1485)
Putney, Kingdom of England
Died28 July 1540(1540-07-28) (aged 54–55)
London, Kingdom of England
Cause of deathExecution by beheading
Resting placeChapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London, London, United Kingdom
51°30′31″N 0°04′37″W / 51.508611°N 0.076944°W / 51.508611; -0.076944
SpouseElizabeth Wyckes
Children4, including Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell
RelativesCromwell family

Thomas Cromwell (/ˈkrɒmwəl, -wɛl/;[1][a] c. 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English statesman and lawyer who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charges for the execution.

Cromwell was one of the most powerful proponents of the English Reformation. As the king's chief secretary, he instituted new administrative procedures that transformed the workings of government. He helped to engineer an annulment of the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that Henry could lawfully marry Anne Boleyn.[3] Henry failed to obtain the approval of Pope Clement VII for the annulment in 1533, so Parliament endorsed the king's claim to be Supreme Head of the Church of England, giving him the authority to annul his own marriage. Cromwell subsequently charted an evangelical and reformist course for the Church of England from the unique posts of Vicegerent in Spirituals and Vicar-general (the two titles refer to the same position).[4]: 658, fn. 2 

During his rise to power, Cromwell made many enemies, including Anne Boleyn, with his fresh ideas and lack of nobility. He duly played a prominent role in her downfall.[5] He fell from power in 1540, despite being created Earl of Essex that year, after arranging the King's marriage to the German princess Anne of Cleves. The marriage was a disaster for Cromwell, ending in an annulment six months later. Cromwell was arraigned under an act of attainder (32 Hen. 8. c. 62) and executed for treason and heresy on Tower Hill on 28 July 1540. The King later expressed regret at the loss of his chief minister and his reign never recovered from the incident.

  1. ^ "Cromwell". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  2. ^ a b MacCulloch 2018, pp. 5−6.
  3. ^ Bucholz & Key 2004, p. 68.
  4. ^ F. Donald Logan (July 1988). "Thomas Cromwell and the Vicegerency in Spirituals: A Revisitation". The English Historical Review. 103 (408): 658–667. JSTOR 572696.
  5. ^ Peter C. Herman (2011). A Short History of Early Modern England: British Literature in Context. John Wiley & Sons. p. 82. ISBN 9781444394993.


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