The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell

by John Schofield

  His tenure of office as the king’s chief minister, if dated from the Act of Appeals to his fall, was a comparatively short seven years, less than half the period enjoyed by Wolsey. Much was achieved, but much remained unfinished when he died. The Royal Supremacy was settled, but reform of the church had a long way to go, and many bills on economic and social affairs were stifled during debates and on committees. Despite the incompleteness, however, the achievement was an enviable one, and only his most churlish opponents could gainsay his rightful place alongside Wolsey and the Cecils as the ablest ministers of state in the Tudor and early Stuart age. He might even stand above them. There is also something especially estimable about distinguished men of state who also treasure the arts and humanities and who willingly befriend and win the good opinion of talented writers, musicians and artists.

  S. R. Gardiner, the great historian of seventeenth-century England, said of Robert Cecil that he was ‘the first and greatest of that unhappy race of statesmen who were trained for their work as for a profession’. Thomas Cromwell was untrained for statesmanship, but not unprepared. His adventures as a fugitive, traveller and soldier of fortune taught him how to survive, to escape poverty, to learn languages, to hate war and cherish peace; as an accountant, merchant and lawyer he acquired the skills needful to administer the kingdom as the king’s Principal Secretary; while his love of the humanities and theology, and his skill in them, ensured that his pre-eminence in the church might be resented but never disputed on grounds of inability or unfitness. In a way he could never have foreseen as a young man his life’s experiences dovetailed from many diverse directions to equip him for high office more effectively than any formal training could have done. It was this that gave him a compelling sense of calling, a subject he touched on in his letter to Nicholas Shaxton (see here): ‘It hath pleased His Goodness to use me as an instrument, and to work somewhat by me, so I trust I am as ready to serve Him in my calling to my little power’. This is semi-religious language not often used by men of state. Cromwell was one of the few to do so.8

  Of Cromwell’s personal character, enough has been said in Chapter 13. There and elsewhere I argued that allegations of ruthlessness and brutality are mainly exaggerated and frequently distorted, but it will do little good to go over all this again. To arouse wildly contrasting emotions – intense aversion as well as deep admiration – is a mark of distinction that elevates men like Cromwell above the general mass of mankind.

  Because history is more than just a study of dry facts and past events, it is not being sentimental to feel drawn to the story of the poor man’s son exalted to the king’s right hand; or to reflect on the tragedy of a great minister destroyed not by greed for power, or the vaulting ambition of a Macbeth, but by the capriciousness of the prince he had served so well. If, however, the souls of the departed really are able to observe the course of events in the life they have left behind, Cromwell would not approve of sombre and ultimately inconclusive ruminations. Nor would Cromwell, that great survivor and eternal optimist, have shared the sorrow and gloom that overwhelmed his friends after his passing. He would frown sternly on anything disparaging of his erstwhile earthly king. Cromwell’s devotion to Henry, for him a sacred as well as secular duty, was absolute and unconditional, willingly and gladly given. He was content to leave the world at the king’s pleasure. After the loss of his wife and children, and the fall of his master, it was Henry who had raised Cromwell above the lords, nobility and dignitaries of the realm, entrusting to him unparalleled authority in church and state. The same Henry had allowed him to bring the Gospel into England and bestow the English Bible, arguably Cromwell’s proudest single achievement, on every parish in the land. And whatever his own motives, it was Henry who spared Cromwell the miseries of old age, sickness and failing health, granting him instead a mercifully quick end on Tower Hill; where, no longer constrained by the demands of his office, he could proclaim more freely than ever the message of Christ’s redeeming grace to the assembled throng that summer morning.

  If this ‘most faithful servant’ were allowed to write his own epitaph, he might describe himself rather modestly. He might prefer to say, as the disciples were enjoined to say: ‘We are unworthy servants; we did only our duty’ (Luke 17:10).

  Notes

  1. SP 8, p. 517.

  2. Kaulek, p. 274 = LP 16, no. 590, p. 285.

  3. Narratives of the Reformation, ed. J.G. Nichols (Camden Society 1st series 77, 1859), pp. 254–8. For a full discussion of the ‘Prebendaries Plot’ against Cranmer, see D. MacCulloch, Thomas Cranmer: A Life (New Haven and London, 1996), pp. 295–323.

  4. Julius Caesar, Act 2, scene 1; Foxe 5, pp. 691–2 (italics mine).

  5. Kaulek, p. 196 = LP 15, no. 804. On Henry’s last years see G.R. Elton, England under the Tudors, pp. 197–9; J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (London, 1967), pp. 433–57; J. Ridley, Henry VIII (London, 1984), pp. 364–400. For Wilson’s quote, see G.R. Elton, Reform and Renewal: Thomas Cromwell and the Common Weal (Cambridge, 1973), p. 166.

  6. LP 12 (1), no. 853.

  7. Aske’s admission: LP 12 (1), no. 6, p. 9.

  8. Cecil: Gardiner, History of England … 1, p. 91. Cromwell on his calling: Merriman 2, p. 129.

  Abbreviations Used in the Notes

  AC

  Augsburg Confession

  Apology

  Philip Melanchthon’s Apology of the Augsburg Confession

  Bandello

  Tutte le opere di Matteo Bandello, 2 vols

  BIHR

  Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research

  BSLK

  Die Bekenntnisschriften der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche

  Brecht

  Martin Brecht’s biography of Luther (3 vols)

  BL

  British Library

  Burnet

  G. Burnet, History of the Reformation of the Church of England (7 vols)

  Cavendish

  Cavendish, G., The Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey, ed. R. Sylvester

  CR

  Corpus Reformatorum (28 vols)

  Cranmer , Misc. Writings

  Miscellaneous Writings and Letters of Thomas Cranmer

  CSP For.,

  Calendar of State Papers, Foreign

  CSP Milan

  Calendar of State Papers, Milan

  CSP, Span

  Calendar of State Papers, Spanish (15 vols in 20)

  CSP, Ven

  Calendar of State Papers, Venetian (9 vols)

  Ellis

  Original Letters Illustrative of English History, ed. H. Ellis (12 vols)

  Elton, Policy

  G.R. Elton, Policy and Police: The Enforcement of Reformation in the Age of Thomas Cromwell

  Elton, Studies

  G.R. Elton, Studies in Tudor and Stuart Politics and Government (3 vols)

  Elton, Tudor Cons

  G.R. Elton, Tudor Constitution: Documents and Commentary (2nd edn)

  Elton, Tudor Rev

  G.R. Elton, The Tudor Revolution in Government

  ET

  Epistolae Tigurinae

  HJ

  Historical Journal

  JEH

  Journal of Ecclesiastical History

  Foxe

  Acts and Monuments of John Foxe (8 vols)

  Hall

  E. Hall, A Chronicle containing the History of England … to the end of the reign of Henry VIII

  Holinshed

  R. Holinshed, Chronicles of England … (6 vols)

  Kaulek

  Correspondence Politique de Mm. de Castillon et de Marillac … ed. J. Kaulek

  Lambeth

  Lambeth Palace Library

  Lisle Letters

  Lisle Letters, ed M. St C. Byrne (6 vols)

  LJ

  Journals of the House of Lords

  LP

  Letters & Papers, Foreign & Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 1509-47 (21 vols)

  LW

  Luther’s Works: American
edn (55 vols)

  MBW

  Melanchthons Briefwechsel (15 vols)

  Merriman

  R.B. Merriman, The Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell (2 vols)

  OL

  Original Letters, ed. H. Robinson (2 vols)

  Pocock

  Records of the Reformation, ed. N. Pocock (2 vols)

  Ribier

  Ribier’s Lettres et memoires d’estat

  PRO

  Public Records Office

  PS

  Parker Society

  SCJ

  Sixteenth Century Journal

  SP

  State Papers (11 vols)

  SR

  Statutes of the Realm

  Tappert

  The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, ed. Tappert

  TRHS

  Transactions of the Royal Historical Society

  TRP

  Tudor Royal Proclamations

  UP

  University Press

  VA, England

  Vienna Archives Haus-,Hof-und Staatsarchiv: Staatenabteilungen England, Diplomatische Korrespondenz

  WA

  Dr. Martin Luthers Werke (Weimar edn, 61 vols)

  WA, Br

  Dr. Martin Luthers Werke: Briefwechsel (18 vols)

  Wright

  Letters relating to the Suppression of Monasteries (ed.) Wright

  Wriothesley

  Wriothesley’s Chronicle of England (2 vols)

  List of Illustrations

   1.     Thomas Cromwell. (Ipswich School archive)

   2.     Portrait engraving of Cardinal Wolsey. (The History Press archive)

   3.     Coin of Henry VII. (THP archive)

   4.     Portrait miniature of Henry VII. (THP archive)

   5.     Christening of Prince Arthur. (THP archive)

   6.     Archbishop Warham by Hans Holbein. (THP archive)

   7.     George Neville, a Tudor nobleman, by Hans Holbein. (THP archive)

   8.     Thomas More by Hans Holbein. (THP archive)

   9.     John Fisher by Hans Holbein. (THP archive)

  10.     Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke. (THP archive)

  11.     The infant Prince Edward by Hans Holbein. Henry’s ‘godly imp’, as Cromwell called him. Author’s collection

  12.     Catherine of Aragon by Hans Holbein. Author’s collection

  13.     Anne Boleyn by Lucas Cornelisz. Author’s collection

  14.     Jane Seymour by Hans Holbein. (THP archive)

  15.     Sir Thomas Eliot by Hans Holbein. Author’s collection

  16.     Sir Thomas Wyatt by Hans Holbein. Author’s collection

  17.     Duke of Norfolk by Hans Holbein. Author’s collection

  18.&19. Two Tudor ladies, believed to be by Hans Holbein. Author’s collection

  20.     Catherine Howard. (THP archive)

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