The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell

by John Schofield

  However, the act was too much for Latimer and Shaxton to bear, and both resigned their bishoprics. According to one report, Latimer was induced into this. Cromwell is supposed to have told Latimer that Henry wanted him to go, though Henry later denied this and took pity on the bishop. It is not especially convincing. Latimer had developed a habit of inveighing against adultery in high places in his sermons, so the tale that Henry missed him and felt sorry for him takes some believing. What probably happened is that Cromwell had a quiet word with Latimer to tell him of the king’s displeasure on certain points, and this, plus the shock of the Six, persuaded him to quit.31

  Shaxton’s relations with Cromwell were still under some strain following the affair of the abbot of Reading (see here). Another awkward incident had occurred in April, just before the Six was discussed in parliament. John Goodhall, a junior to Shaxton, had clumsily removed an image that people were kissing and venerating, unaware that it contained the sacrament. The people were outraged, and the mayor’s report of the matter to the council hinted that Goodhall might be a sacramentary. Shaxton and Goodhall denied this, and appealed to Cromwell for help. No harm came to either man, but this was just the sort of distraction that Cromwell could have done without at a difficult time. He may not have been unduly sorry to see the accident-prone Shaxton depart.32

  Cranmer was mortified by the passing of the act. He had led the Protestant fight against it in the Lords, and but for his unwavering loyalty to Henry, he might have considered the prospect of a peaceful exile. Not the least of his problems was how to provide for his still secret wife. His misery was cruelly compounded by acute embarrassment when the requirements of the act compelled him to examine a priest and a woman in his diocese ‘very suspiciously taken’ by a constable. As there was no ‘commission out as yet’ for the punishment of such offenders, Cranmer passed the details on to Cromwell, asking him ‘to advertise me with convenient expedition of the king’s grace’s pleasure, how and in what manner they shall be ordered’. Cranmer suggested that favour should be shown to the woman if, as he believed, she had confessed honestly. The outcome is not known.33

  Foxe and Burnet both have a short passage in their volumes saying that Henry, out of sympathy for Cranmer, organized a dinner for him, attended by many leading lights of the realm. Around the table one of the guests, unnamed in Foxe but Cromwell according to Burnet, compared Cranmer favourably with Wolsey. Then Norfolk reminded Cromwell that he had been Wolsey’s servant, half implicating Cromwell with Wolsey’s ambitions and misdeeds. Cromwell conceded that he had been in the cardinals’ service, be he denied that he would ever have gone to Rome with Wolsey had the latter been made pope. At which Norfolk accused Cromwell of lying, and ‘upon this, great and high words arose between them’. Elton half believed this story. The difficulty with it is not with the dinner, but the slanging match during it. If any comparisons should be made, we would expect Cromwell to Wolsey and Cranmer to Warham. Nor is there any evidence apart from this that Cromwell was ever suspected of being party to Wolsey’s papal aspirations, even though his knowledge of Italy and its language would have fitted him well for a position in Rome. There is, however, some evidence of tension between Norfolk and Cromwell around this time. Anthony Rouse of Denington in Suffolk, once a servant of Norfolk’s, was seeking Cromwell’s support to marry the daughter of a wealthy squire, Sir Edward Ichingham, but Norfolk resented Cromwell’s involvement in affairs in his part of the country. Whether this has any relevance to the altercation reported by Foxe and Burnet is unclear. However, it does seem highly unlikely that at a dinner laid on by Henry to cheer Cranmer up, Cromwell and Norfolk would have been so careless as to get into an undignified public row.34

  Whatever actually happened, it now fell to Cromwell to help evangelicals escape the worst rigours of the new act. He began by stalling with his customary consummate skill on the setting up of commissions that were supposed, under his direction, to enforce it. His opponents of the old faith, sensing that here was a golden opportunity to embarrass him, tried to press home their advantage. The bishop of Lincoln reminded him of a group of Oxford evangelicals reported to him in the spring for eating meat during Lent. Again Cromwell stalled, again apparently successfully. Then Richard Bush, parish clerk at Hastings, took an indirect shot at Cromwell with the claim that the Matthew Bible in his church – a Cromwellian reform measure – had mistranslated 1 Corinthians 9:5. The Matthew read: ‘Have we not the power to lead about a sister as wife’; and, with a wonderful turn in logic, Bush argued that this contradicted the prohibition on clerical marriage in the Six, so the translation had to be false.35

  Despite the disappointments and the problems that the act brought, there is no evidence that Cromwell considered resigning, or that he shared the prevailing evangelical despondency. Years of hard experience had forged a steely, resilient character, cheerfully solid in times of adversity, which did not know the meaning of giving up. Besides, delicate affairs of kings needed attention, which could still help preserve the Lutheran connection.

  In August Henry received a letter from emissary Wotton, now in Germany with Dr Peter investigating the matter of Anne’s pre-contract with Lorraine’s son. Cleves and his council had assured Wotton that all relevant documents would be sent to England to confirm that no impediment existed to a marriage between Henry and Anne. Then Wotton gave some interesting details about Anne. She had been educated with the lady duchess, a ‘wise lady, and one that very straightly looketh to her children’. All in Cleves’s court said that Anne was ‘lowly and gentle’. Much of her time she spent ‘with the needle’. She did not speak French or Italian, or play a musical instrument; ‘for they take it here in Germany for a rebuke and an occasion of lightness that great ladies should be learned or have any knowledge of music’. However, Anne’s ‘wit is good’, and Wotton was sure she would be able to learn English soon enough. He went on: ‘I could never hear that she is inclined to the good cheer of this country, and marvel it were if she should, seeing that her brother, in whom it were somewhat more tolerable, doth so well abstain from it’. Holbein, meanwhile, had painted Anne and her sister, and ‘expressed their images very lively’.36

  This letter to Henry is another significant document in the Cleves story, because Cromwell is supposed to have embellished accounts of Anne’s qualities, while keeping his king in the dark about less appealing reports of her, like this one. It will be obvious from this lengthy extract, however, that Wotton’s letter was not intended critically. In her education and pastimes, including her inability to speak languages or play music, Anne simply followed the custom of leading ladies in Germany. The same goes for the rest of the letter. Certain sections do not read very well, but all it means is that Anne and her brother were serious minded, not frivolous. This letter can hardly be taken as a warning to Henry to withdraw now while he had the chance. There is no hint from Wotton that Anne was unworthy or unsuitable. If anything the reverse is true, because after the traumas of Anne Boleyn, why would Henry want a wife who could sing and dance and play? It would increase, not dampen, Henry’s desire for Anne of Cleves to hear that she resembled nice, comfortable Jane Seymour rather than her troublesome namesake. There was no reason, therefore, why Cromwell would have kept these details hidden from Henry. Besides, the letter was addressed to the king, and the idea that Cromwell intercepted and doctored letters to his prince – when he knew how determined Henry was to see and hear of Anne and decide for himself – is too ridiculous for words.37

  On 1 September Marrilac wrote to King Francis to tell him that Henry was well satisfied with Holbein’s portrait of Anne, and that an embassy from Cleves was on its way to conclude the marriage treaty. It was Henry, therefore, not Cromwell, who had decided to go ahead with the marriage, even though the pre-contract papers had not yet arrived in England. Cleves’s assurance that no legally binding pre-contract existed between Anne and Lorraine, and that documents to prove it would be sent to London in due course, was taken on trust by the ki
ng.38

  On 20 September, German ambassadors landed in England and met Cromwell, who gave them an effervescently upbeat assessment of church affairs. Reports quickly went back to John Frederick saying that the Six Articles were not being rigorously enforced, that the bishops who supported the act were now out of favour, and that Cromwell had re-asserted his authority and influence with the king. The ambassadors then hunted and dined with Henry. He assured them he still wished to have good relations with the League, including an agreement on religion. Within days, arrangements were being made for Anne’s journey to her new country. On 6 October Henry signed the marriage treaty. And still no pre-contract documents had arrived.39

  Ambassador Marillac, following a personal meeting with Henry, gave King Francis a very perceptive analysis of Henry’s strategy and thinking. Henry still wanted an alliance with the Schmalkaldic League, Marillac explained, and the Cleves marriage was arranged mainly for that reason. Henry hoped that the ‘intercession’ of Cleves would help to ‘soften’ certain aspects of Lutheranism that Henry found too ‘harsh and sharp’, and that an acceptable agreement or compromise might yet be found on outstanding points, meaning priestly marriage and private masses. Henry, the ambassador continued, had only one son and was hoping for more, and the king had spoken highly of Anne in conversations with Marillac. Meanwhile, England eagerly awaited her new queen.40

  Marillac wrote well, as usual. Despite the Six Articles, Henry still clung to the belief that substantial areas of agreement existed between him and the Lutherans, especially regarding the rejection of papal authority. He felt that the Germans had gone too far on certain points, but he did not want to cut his ties with them completely. They could yet make useful allies. Knowing the way Henry’s mind operated, Cromwell advocated the Cleves marriage as being in the king’s interest. Henry approved it, and readily. The king was not tugged, tricked or enticed into an unwanted marriage or an unwanted Protestant alliance against his will. The idea was Cromwell’s, but he made sure the decision was Henry’s.

  There was, however, a subtle difference between the king and the minister. Whereas Henry wanted the Lutherans to ‘soften’, as Marillac says, Cromwell was hoping that Henry might soften, especially when he was happily married to Anne. If the marriage could repair the bruised relationship between Henry and John Frederick, then a new German delegation, headed this time by Melanchthon, might finally achieve Cromwell’s aim of winning Henry for the Reformation. Thus Henry and Cromwell each had his own slightly different hopes and expectations regarding the Cleves alliance. Cromwell knew, even if Henry did not, that the Germans would never alter the Augsburg Confession to suit Henry’s ‘middle way’. Cromwell knew his master’s mind thoroughly, but whether Henry fully understood the workings of the more finely developed mind of his minister is less certain.

  While England was waiting for Anne’s arrival, Cromwell enjoyed another success. Having recovered many if not all the Bibles confiscated in France, printing of the Great Bible had now begun in England. Cranmer composed the preface, and a royal proclamation made Cromwell responsible for licensing Bible translations for the next five years. Another circular from Cromwell in late 1539 powerfully echoed Luther’s Reformation rallying cry of sola Scriptura, ‘Scripture alone’. It stressed the king’s personal commitment to the English Bible, and commanded preachers to declare that ‘all things contained in this book is the undoubted will, law and commandment of Almighty God, the only straight way to know the goodness and benefits of God towards us, and the true duty of every Christian man to serve Him accordingly’. It provided further heartening news for evangelicals still smarting from the Six Articles.41

  Meanwhile, Anne’s entourage set off from Germany in November. Accompanying the Cleves delegation were representatives of the Schmalkaldic League. Their instructions were to report back on the state of religion in England, and if it appeared favourable, a further embassy to England, maybe including Melanchthon, might be considered. Among those waiting to welcome Anne at Calais were Lord and Lady Lisle, Nicholas Wotton, the earl of Southampton and Gregory Cromwell. Lady Lisle was glad to hear from a friend who knew Anne that she was ‘so good and gentle to serve and please’. On 13 December, Southampton and Wotton reported Anne’s safe arrival to Henry. She was happy with her reception, they said; she enjoyed the banquet and watched the jousts. Because the channel crossing had to be delayed a day by bad weather, she played cards with her hosts ‘as pleasantly and with as good a grace and countenance as ever in all my life I saw any noble woman’. She then invited Southampton and others to supper, where ‘her manner, usage and semblance’, beamed the admiring earl, were ‘such as none might be more commendable, nor more like a princess’. Southampton innocently expected Henry to read his report with benign approval. Later, when he learned that Henry was less than delighted with Anne, he tried ungallantly to wriggle out of these kind words.42

  Henry and his train, including Cromwell, were now at Greenwich waiting expectantly for Anne to arrive. What follows here is taken from Hall’s narrative of that first encounter, and of the public ceremonial of the marriage. Interspersed with this I give Cromwell’s recollection of his private conversations with Henry. Though written six months later, this is the fullest record available of what happened behind the scenes, and of Henry’s confidential reaction to that fateful meeting.43

  Henry was impatient to see his bride. Rather than wait for Anne to arrive at Greenwich, he hastened down to Rochester on New Year’s Day to surprise her with gifts and ‘to nourish love’. Cromwell stayed at Greenwich. Henry’s sudden arrival (says Hall) astonished Anne, but:

  After he had spoken and welcomed her, she, with most gracious and loving countenance and behaviour received and welcomed him on her knees, whom he gently took up and kissed: and all that afternoon commoned and devised with her, and that night supped with her, and the next day he departed to Greenwich.

  We revert now to Cromwell’s account. When the king returned to Greenwich, Cromwell asked him how he liked the lady Anne. ‘Nothing so well as she was spoken of’, growled Henry. If he had he known the truth about her, ‘she would not have come within this realm’. He asked what remedy there was. Cromwell was stunned; he replied that he knew of none, and then lamely added that he was ‘very sorry’ for this ‘hard beginning’.

  Next day Anne reached Greenwich. Hall describes her reception by all the lords and ladies, and her ‘most goodly demeanour and loving countenance’. In public at least Henry played the part of the joyful bridegroom: ‘With most lovely countenance and princely behaviour, he saluted, welcomed and embraced her, to the great rejoicing of the beholders’. To this courtliness Anne responded ‘with most amiable aspect and womanly behaviour’. Then the royal couple talked together, rode together, and ‘O what a sight was this to see so godly a prince and so noble a king to ride with so fair a lady of so goodly a stature and so womanly a countenance, and especially of so good qualities’. When they reached court they dismounted, and Henry ‘lovingly embraced and kissed her … and led her by the left arm up to her privy chamber, where he left her for a while’.

  The king then summoned Cromwell, who had been watching the spectacle, hoping against hope that his master’s opinion of Anne had mollified overnight. Alas, it had not. ‘She is nothing so fair as she hath been reported’, grouched Henry, though in a rare display of chivalry he strained himself to concede that Anne looked ‘well and seemly’. Cromwell agreed – he could hardly do otherwise. But he also dared to suggest, and Henry did not contradict him, that Anne had a ‘queenly manner’. Then Henry ordered Cromwell to summon the council to consider afresh the legality of the marriage, especially in view of Anne’s pre-contract. The Cleves delegation was ‘much astonished and abashed’ at this unexpected turn of events, and embarrassed officials promised that pre-contract documents would be sent soon. ‘I am not well handled’, grumbled Henry, though he appears to have overlooked the fact that he had signed the marriage treaty without seeing these pre-contract pa
pers. Henry then muttered something about cancelling the wedding, but he drew back for fear of ‘making a ruffle in the world’ that would ‘drive her brother into the hands of the emperor and the French king’.