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Early life

Thomas Cromwell was born around 1485, in Putney, Surrey, the son of Walter Cromwell, a blacksmith, fuller and cloth merchant, and owner of both a hostelry and a brewery. Thomas's mother, Katherine, was the aunt of Nicholas Glossop of Wirksworth in Derbyshire. She lived in Putney in the house of a local attorney, John Welbeck, at the time of her marriage to Walter Cromwell in 1474.

Cromwell had two sisters: the elder, Katherine, married Morgan Williams, a Welsh lawyer; the younger, Elizabeth, married a farmer, William Wellyfed. Katherine and Morgan's son, Richard, was employed in his uncle's service, and changed his name to Cromwell.

Little is known about Cromwell's early life. It is believed that he was born at the top of Putney Hill, on the edge of Putney Heath. In 1878, his birthplace was still of note:

The site of Cromwell's birthplace is still pointed out by tradition and is in some measure confirmed by the survey of Wimbledon Manor, quoted above, for it describes on that spot 'an ancient cottage called the smith's shop, lying west of the highway from Richmond to Wandsworth, being the sign of the Anchor'. The plot of ground here referred to is now covered by the Green Man public house.

Cromwell declared to Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer that he had been a "ruffian… in his young days". As a youth, he left his family in Putney, and crossed the Channel to the continent. Accounts of his activities in France, Italy and the Low Countries are sketchy and contradictory. It is alleged change to it was rumored at the time that he first became a mercenary, and marched with the French army to Italy, where he fought in the battle of Garigliano on 28 December 1503. While in Italy, he entered service in the household of the Florentine banker Francesco Frescobaldi. (ref = Kinney, Arthur; Swain, David W. (2001). Tudor England: An Encyclopedia. Garland. ISBN 0815307934.)

Later, he visited leading mercantile centres in the Low Countries, living among the English merchants and developing a network of contacts while learning several languages. At some point he returned to Italy. The records of the English Hospital in Rome indicate that he stayed there in June 1514, while documents in the Vatican Archives suggest that he was an agent for the Archbishop of York, Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge, and handled English ecclesiastical issues before the Roman Rota.

Anne Boleyn

From 1527, because he and Queen Catherine of Aragon had no male heirs after 18 years of marriage, Henry VIII had sought to have his marriage annulled, so that he could lawfully marry Anne Boleyn. Henry had failed to secure an annulment from Rome, so the centre of the campaign to secure the annulment was the emerging doctrine of royal supremacy over the church. By the autumn of 1531, Cromwell had taken control of the supervision of the king's legal and parliamentary affairs, working closely with Thomas Audley, the Speaker of the Commons, and had joined the inner circle of the Council. By the following spring, he had begun to exert influence over elections to the House of Commons.

The third session of what is now known as the Reformation Parliament, first convened in 1529, had been scheduled for October 1531, but was postponed until 15 January 1532 because of government indecision as to the best way to proceed. Cromwell now favoured the assertion of royal supremacy, and manipulated the Commons by resurrecting anti-clerical grievances expressed earlier in the session of 1529. On 18 March 1532, the Commons delivered a Supplication Against the Ordinaries (wiki ref page?) to the king, denouncing clerical abuses and the power of the ecclesiastical courts, describing Henry as "the only head, sovereign lord, protector and defender" of the Church and asking him to correct these abuses . This departure from tradition, engineered by Cromwell, of asking the king to intervene in clerical matters allowed Henry the role of an impartial judge acting on popular discontent. King Henry asked the Southern Convocation (wiki page?) of high-ranking clergymen then assembled to respond to these alleged abuses. The clergy resisted at first, and returned a Defense of the Ordinaries (wiki page?) rejecting the complaints contained in the Supplication, while stating the King could not impose himself between the church and God. On May 10, Henry responded by demanding that all ecclesiastical laws be approved by him. In front of several loyal members of Parliament, the King accused the clergy of not being wholly loyal subjects of their King through the oath they made to the Pope upon consecration. Fearing accusations of treason, several members of the Convocation capitulated when faced with the threat of parliamentary reprisal. On 14 May 1532, Parliament was prorogued. On May 15, a small minority of Convocation members signed a document of submission (wiki ref page?), acceding to the demands of the King. Most importantly, the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Warham, affixed his seal to the submission. On May 16, Sir Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor, realising that the battle to save the marriage was lost. More's resignation from the Council represented a triumph for Cromwell and the pro-Reformation faction at court.

The king's gratitude to Cromwell was expressed in a grant of the lordship of Romney in Newport, Wales, and appointment to three relatively minor offices: Master of the Jewels on 14 April 1532, Clerk of the Hanaper on 16 July, and Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 April 1533. None of these offices afforded much income, but the appointments were an indication of royal favour, and gave Cromwell a position in three major institutions of government: the royal household, the Chancery, and the Exchequer.

Anne Boleyn

By late January 1533, Anne Boleyn was pregnant , and marriage could no longer be delayed. The date of the wedding is unclear. It may have taken place when Anne was with the King in Calais in November 1532, but it seems more likely that it took place at a secret ceremony on 25 January 1533. Parliament was immediately recalled to pass the necessary legislation to annul Henry and Katherine's marriage and validate Henry and Anne's marriage to ensure Anne's child would be legitimate.. To do so, Henry and Thomas needed an Archbishop of Canterbury who supported this annulment. The previous Archbishop, William Warham, had died in August 1532. In mid-January, Henry had applied to Pope Clement requesting the appointment of Thomas Cranmer to the vacant Archbishropic. The Pope agreed to King Henry's request. Unbeknownst to him, however, Thomas Cranmer planned to repudiate his oath to obey the Pope. Rather, he would obey the King of England in all matters.ref name="Meyer" On 26 January 1533, Audley was appointed Lord Chancellor, and Cromwell increased his control over the Commons through his management of by-elections.

Although Henry and Cromwell had an amenable Archbishop of Canterbury, Queen Katherine would still resist any attempt to annul her marriage to the King by appealing to the Pope. Therefore, more drastic measures were required. The parliamentary session began on 4 February, and Cromwell introduced a new bill restricting the right to make appeals to Rome. On 30 March, Cranmer was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, and Convocation immediately declared the king's marriage to Catherine unlawful. In the first week of April 1533, Parliament passed Cromwell's bill into law, as the Act in Restraint of Appeals, ensuring that any verdict concerning the king's marriage could not be challenged in Rome. On 11 April, Archbishop Cranmer sent the King a pro forma challenge to the validity of his marriage to Catherine. A formal trial began on 10 May 1533 in Dunstable and on 23 May the Archbishop pronounced sentence, declaring the marriage illegal. Five days later he pronounced the King's marriage to Anne to be lawful, and on 1 June, she was crowned queen.

In December, the King authorised Cromwell to discredit the papacy and the Pope was attacked throughout the nation in sermons and pamphlets. In 1534 a new Parliament was summoned, again under Cromwell's supervision, to enact the legislation necessary to make a formal break of England's remaining ties with Rome. Archbishop Cranmer's sentence took statutory form as the Act of Succession, the Dispensations Act reiterated royal supremacy and the Act for the Submission of the Clergy incorporated into law the clergy's surrender in 1532. On 30 March 1534, Audley gave royal assent to the legislation in the presence of the King.

King's chief minister

In April 1534, Henry confirmed Cromwell as his principal secretary and chief minister, a position which he had held for some time in all but name. Cromwell immediately took steps to enforce the legislation just passed by Parliament. Before the members of both houses returned home on 30 March, they were required to swear an oath accepting the Act of Succession, and all the King's subjects were now required to swear to the legitimacy of the marriage and, by implication, to accept the King's new powers and the break from Rome. On 13 April, the London clergy accepted the oath. On the same day, the commissioners offered it to Sir Thomas More and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, both of whom refused it. More was taken into custody on the same day and was moved to the Tower of London on 17 April. Fisher joined him there four days later.

On 18 April, an order was issued that all citizens of London were to swear. Similar orders were issued throughout the country. When Parliament reconvened in November, Cromwell brought in the most significant revision of the treason laws since 1352, making it treasonous to speak rebellious words against the Royal Family, to deny their titles, or to call the King a heretic, tyrant, infidel, or usurper. The Act of Supremacy also clarified the King's position as head of the church and the Act for Payment of First Fruits and Tenths substantially increased clerical taxes. Cromwell also strengthened his own control over the Church. On 21 January 1535, the King appointed him Royal Vicegerent and Vicar-General, and commissioned him to organise visitations of all the country's churches, monasteries, and clergy. In this capacity, Cromwell conducted a census in 1535 to enable the government to tax church property more effectively.

Fall of Anne Boleyn

Jane Seymour, Hans Holbein the Younger

The final session of the Reformation Parliament began on 4 February 1536. By 18 March, an Act for the Suppression of the Lesser Monasteries, those with a gross income of less than £200 per annum, had passed both houses. This caused a clash with Anne Boleyn, formerly one of Cromwell's strongest allies, who wanted the proceeds of the dissolution used for educational and charitable purposes, not paid into the King's coffers.

Anne instructed her chaplains to preach against the Viceregent, and in a blistering sermon on Passion Sunday, 2 April 1536, her almoner, John Skip, denounced Cromwell and his fellow Privy Councillors before the entire court. Skip's diatribe was intended to persuade courtiers and Privy Councillors to change the advice they had been giving the King and to reject the temptation of personal gain. Skip was called before the Council and accused of malice, slander, presumption, lack of charity, sedition, treason, disobedience to the gospel, attacking 'the great posts, pillars and columns sustaining and holding up the commonwealth' and inviting anarchy.

Anne, who had many enemies at court, had never been popular with the people and had so far failed to produce a male heir. The King was growing impatient, having become enamoured of the young Jane Seymour and, encouraged by Anne's enemies, particularly Nicholas Carew and the Seymours. In circumstances that have divided historians, Anne was accused of adultery with Mark Smeaton, a musician of the royal household, Henry Norris, the King's groom of the stool and one of his closest friends, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and her brother, Viscount Rochford. The Imperial Ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, wrote to Charles V that:

he himself [Cromwell] has been authorised and commissioned by the king to prosecute and bring to an end the mistress's trial, to do which he had taken considerable trouble... He set himself to devise and conspire the said affair.

Regardless of the role Cromwell played in Anne Boleyn's fall, it is clear from Chapuys's letter that he was acting with the King's authority.

The Queen and her brother stood trial on Monday 15 May, while the four others accused with them were condemned on the Friday beforehand. The men were executed on 17 May and, on the same day, Cranmer declared Henry's marriage to Anne invalid, a ruling that illegitimised their daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Two days later, Anne herself was executed. On 30 May, the King married Jane Seymour. On 8 June, a new Parliament passed the second Act of Succession, securing the rights of Queen Jane's heirs to the throne.

Baron Cromwell and Lord Privy Seal

Arms of Sir Thomas Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, KG, as they were at the time of his installation as a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter

Cromwell's position was now stronger than ever. He succeeded Anne Boleyn's father, Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, as Lord Privy Seal on 2 July 1536, resigning the office of Master of the Rolls, which he had held since 8 October 1534. On 8 July 1536, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Cromwell of Wimbledon.

Religious reform

Cromwell orchestrated the dissolution of the monasteries and visitations to the universities and colleges in 1535, which had strong links to the church. This resulted in the dispersal and destruction of many books deemed 'popish' and 'superstitious'. This has been described as 'easily the greatest single disaster in English literary history'. Oxford University was left without a library collection until Sir Thomas Bodley's donation in 1602.

In July 1536, the first attempt was made to clarify religious doctrine after the break with Rome. Bishop Edward Foxe tabled proposals in Convocation, with strong backing from Cromwell and Cranmer, which the King later endorsed as the Ten Articles and which were printed in August 1536. Cromwell circulated injunctions for their enforcement that went beyond the Articles themselves, provoking opposition in September and October in Lincolnshire and then throughout the six northern counties. These widespread popular and clerical uprisings found support among the gentry and even the nobility; they were collectively known as the Pilgrimage of Grace.

The rebels' grievances were wide-ranging, but the most significant was the suppression of the monasteries, blamed on the King's "evil counsellors", principally Cromwell and Cranmer. One of the leaders of the rebellion was Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Darcy, who gave Cromwell the prophetic warning (just prior to his execution) "others that have been in such favour with kings as you now enjoy have come to the same fate you bring me to".

Thomas Cromwell, portrait miniature wearing garter collar, after Hans Holbein the Younger

The suppression of the risings spurred further Reformation measures. In February 1537, Cromwell convened a vicegerential synod of bishops and doctors. The synod was co-ordinated by Cranmer and Foxe, and they prepared a draft document by July: The Institution of a Christian Man, more commonly known as the Bishops' Book. By October, it was in circulation, although the King had not yet given it his full assent. However, Cromwell's success in Church politics was offset by the fact that his political influence had been weakened by the emergence of a Privy Council, a body of nobles and office-holders that first came together to suppress the Pilgrimage of Grace. The King confirmed his support of Cromwell by appointing him to the Order of the Garter on 5 August 1537, but Cromwell was nonetheless forced to accept the existence of an executive body dominated by his conservative opponents.

In January 1538, Cromwell pursued an extensive campaign against what was termed "idolatry" by the followers of the old religion. Statues, rood screens, and images were attacked, culminating in September with the dismantling of the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury. Early in September, Cromwell also completed a new set of vicegerential injunctions declaring open war on "pilgrimages, feigned relics or images, or any such superstitions" and commanding that "one book of the whole Bible in English" be set up in every church. Moreover, following the "voluntary" surrender of the remaining smaller monasteries during the previous year, the larger monasteries were now also "invited" to surrender throughout 1538, a process legitimised in the 1539 session of Parliament and completed in the following year.

Resistance to further religious reform

The King was becoming increasingly unhappy about the extent of religious changes, and the conservative faction was gaining strength at court. Cromwell took the initiative against his enemies. He imprisoned the Marquess of Exeter, Sir Edward Neville, and Sir Nicholas Carew on charges of treason in November 1538, using evidence acquired from Sir Geoffrey Pole under interrogation in the Tower. All were executed in the following months.

On 17 December 1538, the Inquisitor-General of France forbade the printing of Miles Coverdale's Great Bible. Cromwell persuaded the King of France to release the unfinished books so that printing could continue in England. The first edition was finally available in April 1539. The publication of the Great Bible was one of Cromwell's principal achievements, the first authoritative version in English.

The King, however, continued to resist further Reformation measures. A Parliamentary committee was established to examine doctrine, and the Duke of Norfolk presented six questions on 16 May 1539 for the House to consider, which were duly passed as the Act of Six Articles shortly before the session ended on 28 June. The Six Articles reaffirmed a traditional view of the Mass, the Sacraments, and the priesthood.

Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves, miniature by Hans Holbein

Queen Jane had died in 1537, less than two weeks after the birth of her only child, the future Edward VI. CROMWELL, CONCERNED ABOUT AN ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC KING OF FRANCE AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR AGAINST ENGLAND, SOUGHT A MARRIAGE AGREEMENT WITH A PROTESTANT COUNTRY IN NORTHERN EUROPE. (REFERENCE: Ackroyd, Peter, "Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I," Thomas Dunne books, St Martin's Press, NY 2012, 978-1-250-00362-1). In early October 1539, the King finally accepted Cromwell's suggestion that he should marry Anne of Cleves, the sister of Duke Wilhelm of Cleves, partly on the basis of the charming miniature which Hans Holbein had painted of her. On 27 December, Anne of Cleves arrived at Dover.

On New Year's Day 1540, the King met her at Rochester and was immediately repelled by her physically: "I like her not!" HOWEVER, NOT WANTING TO OFFEND THEIR NEW GERMAN ALLIES, (REFERNCE: Ackroyd, Peter), the wedding ceremony took place on 6 January at Greenwich, but the marriage was not consummated.

Henry said that he found it impossible to enjoy conjugal relations with a woman whom he found so unattractive. Ominously, he blamed Cromwell for the fiasco, especially for Holbein's purportedly over-flattering portrait of Anne. However, he continued to employ Holbein.. THE MARRIAGE WAS EVENTUALLY ANNULED AND ANNE OF CLEVES PENSIONED OFF (REFERENCE: Ackroyd, Peter).

Earl of Essex

On 18 April 1540, Henry granted Cromwell the earldom of Essex and the senior Court office of Lord Great Chamberlain. Despite these signs of royal favour, Cromwell's tenure as the King's chief minister was almost over. The King's anger at being forced to marry Anne of Cleves was the opportunity Cromwell's conservative opponents, most notably the Duke of Norfolk, needed to topple him.

Downfall and execution

During 1536 Cromwell had proven himself an adept political survivor. However, the gradual slide towards (AWAY FROM?) Protestantism at home and the King's ill-starred marriage to Anne of Cleves, which Cromwell engineered in January 1540, proved costly. The Franco-Imperial alliance had failed to materialise, and Henry had therefore been subjected to an unnecessary conjugal difficulty which loosened his Principal Secretary's control of events. In early 1540, Cromwell's conservative, aristocratic enemies, headed by the Duke of Norfolk and assisted by Bishop Gardiner (colloquially known as 'Wily Winchester'), saw (in Catherine Howard -- MOVE) an opportunity to displace their foe. NOT ONLY DID THEY RESENT HIM AS BEING MEERLY THE SON OF A BLACKSMITH, CROMWELL HAD ALSO BECOME DISPENSIBILE. THE CATHOLIC FRENCH KING NOW SOUGHT AN ALLIANCE WITH ENGLAND, BUT CROMWELL, THE HERETIC DESTROYER OF MONASTERIES, MUST BE REMOVED FROM POWER. HENRY, UNEASY AFTER THE PILGRAMMAGE OF GRACE AND WILLING TO BLAME CROMWELL'S "EVIL" COUNSEL, WAS WILLING TO SACRIFICE HIM. ALSO, HENRY HAS FALLEN FOR ANOTHER OF THE DUKE OF NORFOLK'S PRETTY NIECES, KATHERINE HOWARD (SOURCE: Ackroyd).

Personal religious beliefs

suggest deleting this section?

Although Cromwell always maintained a primarily political outlook on general affairs, there is consensus among scholars that at least while he held power he was a Protestant Christian. For him, the Henrician Reformation was certainly more than a jurisdictional revolution masquerading in religious garb. For instance, in the mid-1530s, he promoted Protestant ideas to forge an alliance with German Lutheran states, but his overall support for the Protestant cause is too general to be accurately explained in narrow political terms.

Starting in 1534, Cromwell began focusing his attention on depriving the many monasteries which existed in England of their extensive wealth and landholdings, in order to benefit his King. Under the guise of addressing the abuses and heresies existing in the monasteries, Cromwell dispatched commissioners to inspect and report on any negative information or conduct discovered during their visit, while also tallying up the lands and wealth owned by the monastery to determine their payments owed under the new "First Fruit and Tenths" statute. Another reason for this "Dissolution of the Monasteries" (wiki page?) would have been to further weaken the ties to Rome. The most ardent reformers (coming to be known as Protestants) saw no connection between these "cesspits of sexual deviancy" and true Christianity.

In 1535 Cromwell succeeded in having clearly identified reformers, such as Hugh Latimer, Edward Foxe and Nicholas Shaxton, appointed to the episcopacy. He encouraged and supported the work of reformers, such as Robert Barnes. And it was Cromwell who provided the significant funding for the publication of one of the English translations of the Bible, known as the Matthew Bible, by requiring curates, monasteries, and parishes to own a copy(source = Kinney, Arthur; Swain, David W. (2001). Tudor England: An Encyclopedia)

When Cromwell fell from favor in 1540, his support for Anabaptism was cited by his accusers as a principal charge against him. Although the charge was completely spurious, the fact that it was levelled at all demonstrates the reputation for evangelical sympathies Cromwell had developed.