Thomas Cromwell is seen as one of the most controversial figures of the Tudor Period.
He was the Chief Minister to King Henry VIII, and was a leader of the Protestant Reformation
who oversaw the Dissolutions of the Monasteries.
Cromwell was a key political manipulator and he and the King got on incredibly well.
His rise to power was sharp, but as many who rose too quickly and powerfully during the
Tudor period, their downfall was equally barbaric.
Cromwell met his end shockingly at the sharp end of the axe on Tower Hill, being executed
in brutal fashion in front of a huge crowd.
But his execution was one which his great friend Henry later regret deeply.
So join us today as we look at the execution of Thomas Cromwell, to support our channel
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Thomas Cromwell was born around 1485 in Putney near the River Thames west of the city of
London.
He was the youngest of three children, and his father was a blacksmith and brewer.
His father was rather cruel, and he was often in trouble with the law and authorities.
In 1503 at the age of 18, Cromwell left England to go to Europe, and he joined the French
Army as a mercenary soldier, but he did not like life in the army.
He left this and was then employed in Italy inside the house of a merchant.
But in Florence, Cromwell was influenced by the culture and his master was regularly visited
by Renaissance scholars and artists such as Michelangelo.
He came back to England around 1512, and he began to establish himself as a merchant in
England.
Cromwell wasn’t happy with settling for one job, and he began to practice law.
It was his career as a lawyer that would see him become familiar with King Henry VIII.
In 1514 he married Elizabeth Williams, and the couple had at least 3 children and lived
in the City of London.
They were a thriving family, and their marriage was peaceful and settled however tragedy hit
the family.
Within the space of one year, Cromwell lost his wife and daughters to sickness and he
never remarried.
He was rising throughout London heavily, and he was a very successful businessman.
Cardinal Wolsey who was the Chief Minister of Henry VIII at the time supported Cromwell,
and together the two became close.
Wolsey was the most powerful man besides the King in England.
Cromwell became one of Wolsey’s most trusted servants and advisors, and Cromwell was involved
at the time in dissolving smaller religious houses to pay for a new college at Oxford.
During this time Cromwell learned the financial strength which could be gained from dissolving
monastic buildings, and he would do exactly the same for the King.
Throughout his time in power, Cromwell had a number of enemies at court who strongly
disliked him.
Henry VIII at the time had tried to get out of his first marriage with Catherine of Aragon.
The King’s Great Matter plagued Henry, as the Pope would not grant an annulment.
This led to Wolsey becoming embroiled in the conflict between the King and the Pope, and
Wolsey was used to try and obtain this divorce or annulment.
Wolsey regarded Cromwell as his beloved, and the pair were very close.
But whilst serving Wolsey, Henry VIII began to notice Cromwell and the King was impressed
with his loyalty and intelligence.
Cromwell began to work for the King providing legal expertise with regards to getting the
King out of his marriage.
Whilst working on this, he became close with the King and also the Queen to be Anne Boleyn.
He became a key ally to the couple, and he rose to power very quickly.
In April 1532, he became the Master of the Jewels which were kept at the Tower of London,
and he then received many other roles.
His annual income in todays money was around 4 million pounds, which shows you how wealthy
Cromwell really was.
Cromwell was placed in charge of dissolving the monasteries across England.
Henry got what he want with the annulment in May 1533, and Anne Boleyn was later crowned
in June 1553.
Henry broke from the Catholic Church to do this, and declared himself the Supreme Head
of the Church of England.
This meant it was he who was the head of the church, and not the Pope.
In this era of change, Cromwell took on his biggest task dissolving the monasteries and
absorbing their riches into the royal coffers.
The monasteries were some of the wealthiest institutions across England, and their riches
were stolen and sold to fund the King’s lifestyle and his wars.
Thousands of monks and servants found themselves homeless and jobless as Cromwell sent in his
group of advisors to close down the monastic buildings.
There was outrage about this, and opposition in the form of the protest the Pilgrimage
of Grace.
The north rose up to demand that the change was reverted, but this never occurred.
From the seizure of the land, the King became incredibly rich seizing land, gold, silver
and much wealth.
A number of priests and monks who opposed were even thrown in prison and were Also executed
for they opposition.
Those who refused to accept the King’s Supremacy and Anne Boleyn’s Queenship were also executed
including Sir Thomas More.
But with Anne Boleyn not being able to provide Henry with a male heir, the King’s eye wandered
again, and it was clear that Henry needed a way out of his marriage to Anne Boleyn.
Cromwell created an intricate web of lies, based on treason, incest and adultery that
saw Anne accused of these charges with 5 other men including her own brother.
Anne was then taken to the Tower of London, placed on trial and later beheaded inside
the Tower by a French swordsman on the 19th May 1536.
Cromwell was even there to witness the execution.
Following Anne’s execution, he allied himself with Jane Seymour but cracks were appearing
between him and the King.
The changes brought about by Cromwell saw him become a target for his enemies, and following
Jane Seymour’s death after giving birth to Edward VI, Cromwell’s demise came.
After the King had lost his third wife, Cromwell was tasked with finding wife number 4 for
the King.
He proposed one of the Cleves daughters, German princesses for a match to establish a powerful
European alliance.
Henry dispatched Hans Holbein his painter to create lifelike images of Amalia of Cleves
and Anne of Cleves, and when he returned Henry looking at the images chose Anne.
But when Henry saw her when she came to England in December 1539, Henry was greatly upset.
He screamed at Cromwell that she was nothing like the pictures, and their marriage which
had been arranged was a sham.
Henry searched greatly for a way out, but he had to go through it, but the marriage
was not consummated.
Henry annulled his fourth marriage giving Anne a significant amount of land and houses,
and it cost him greatly.
But Cromwell’s enemies stuck their claws in.
He was made the Earl of Essex, but his enemies were outraged by this and they spread rumours
about Cromwell rebelling against Henry.
The King who was at the time incredibly paranoid ordered the arrest of his chief minister,
and Cromwell was accused of heresy and treason.
He was held inside of the Tower of London, and his enemies humiliated him and tore off
his order of the garter.
He was declared a traitor, and Cromwell who was one of the best lawyers in England was
backed to get himself out of this.
But his enemies avoided a trial, and didn’t dare risk putting him on trial.
They thought he would be able to get himself off the charges, but they convinced the King
to pass a bill of attainder.
This outlined the crimes Cromwell was accused off, and was brought to trial and it condemned
Cromwell to die without the need for a trial.
There was only one way for him to escape execution, and that was if the King pardoned him.
Whilst being held in the tower he wrote several times to his former friend, and begged the
King for forgiveness and to spare him.
One letter said, ‘Written at the Tower this Wednesday the last of June, with the heavy
heart and trembling hand of your highness’s most heavy and most miserable prisoner and
poor slave.
Most gracious price, I cry for mercy, mercy mercy.’
Henry did nothing except commute his death sentence from being hanged, drawn and quartered
to a more straightforward beheading.
On the 28th July 1540, Cromwell was walked the short journey out of the Tower of London
to Tower Hill, the site of his execution.
He was flanked by guards and by the crowds who came to see his downfall.
He arrived and climbed the scaffold and spoke out to the huge crowd that had assembled.
He said, ‘I am come hither to die, and not to purge myself as some think peradventure
that I will.’
He then stated that he had offended God, and the King and he asked for the forgiveness
of them both.
He then said, ‘I die in the Catholic faith, not doubting in many article of my faith,
nor in any sacrament of the Church.
When he said this he did this as humour as he had caused such damage, destroying parts
of the Catholic faith in England forever with his brutal policies.
Cromwell continued to maintain his innocence and it was said of his execution he said,
‘, ‘Many have slandered me, and reported that I have been a bearer of such as I have
maintained evil opinions; which is untrue, but I confess that like as God by his Holy
Spirit, doth instruct us in the truth, so the devil is ready to seduce us, and I have
been seduced.
He then committed his soul to Jesus, calling on his mercy saying, I see and acknowledge
that there is in myself no hope of salvation, but all my confidence, hope and trust is in
thy merciful goodness.
He then went on the commit his faith, and denied aiding any heretics which protected
his family from any further punishment.’
Its debated what happened next with his execution.
Some accounts state how the executioner had a significant amount of difficulty separating
his head from his body, but other accounts say Cromwell’s head was taken clean off.
Those who stated it took more than one blow argue that it took 3 to take his head off,
with the executioner butchering the job.
The account of the botched execution states that, ‘Cromwell so patiently suffered the
strong of the axe, by a ragged and butcherly miser which very ungodly performed his office.’
There was rumours that his enemies paid the executioner to do a bad job, as they knew
it would inflict more suffering to Cromwell.
After his beheading, his head was placed on a spike above London Bridge.
After Cromwell’s execution, the King greatly regretted everything that happened around
the scandal.
His life and legacy impacted thousands and it is still felt today.
Henry’s regret for the execution of his chief minister tells us that the scandal around
his marriage to Anne of Cleves was regretful.
But Cromwell today is considered one of the most powerful men in Tudor society.
He’s a villain in the eyes of many, and a man who it’s deemed had the King’s back
no matter what.
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