Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 until mid-1540, at which time he was beheaded on Henry's orders, a loss the King would later regret.

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. Henry had 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 — thus giving him the authority to annul his own marriage. Cromwell subsequently charted an evangelical and reformist course for the new Church of England from his unique posts of Vicegerent in Spirituals and Vicar-general (the two titles refer to the same position).

During his rise to power, Baron Cromwell made many enemies, including Anne Boleyn, with his fresh ideas and lack of inherited nobility. He played a prominent role in her downfall. 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 was 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.

Family background and early life

Putney

Thomas Cromwell is thought to have been born by or around 1485 in Putney, then a village in Surrey providing a ferry service across the Thames upstream from London. His grandfather, John, had moved to the area from Nottinghamshire to run a fulling mill (for wool processing) leased to him by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had a mansion further upstream at Mortlake and was lord of the local manor of Wimbledon. His father, Walter (), was an ambitious yeoman landowner who plied various trades, operating as a sheep farmer and wool processor ("fuller" and "shearman"), while also running a tavern and a brewery. A popular tradition that he was also a blacksmith is plausible, although the association could have arisen from his use of the alternative surname of Smith (as in "Cromwell alias Smyth"). As a successful tradesman, Cromwell's father was regularly called upon for jury service and was elected Constable of Putney in 1495. He had frequent brushes with the law himself in the local manorial court, often on relatively minor matters, but also for assault and, ultimately, in 1514, for "falsely and fraudulently" removing evidence from the court roll regarding his manorial tenancy, a judgement that led to confiscation of all his accumulated lands.

Little is known about Cromwell's mother, even though she came from a recognised gentry family, the Meverells of Staffordshire. Generally referred to as "Katherine Meverell", her first name is uncertain. She married Cromwell's father in 1474 while living in Putney in the house of a local attorney, John Welbeck.

Cromwell is assumed to have been the youngest of three children. He had two sisters: the elder, Katherine, married Morgan Williams, a Welsh lawyer's son who came to Putney as a follower of King Henry VII when he established himself in the nearby Richmond Palace; Richard was the great-grandfather of Oliver Cromwell.

No record survives of Cromwell's childhood days in Putney, and it is unknown whether he was ever sent to school or had to serve an apprenticeship. Various people from Putney crop up in his adult life, and he maintained close relations with his two sisters and their extended families.

Early life

France, Italy and the Low Countries

Cromwell acknowledged to Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, that he had been a "ruffian ... in his young days". Around the start of the 16th century, for reasons which remain unclear, he left his family in Putney and crossed the Channel to continental Europe, allegedly after spending some time in prison. Accounts of his activities in France, Italy and the Low Countries are problematic. The tradition that he quickly became a mercenary and marched with the French army to Italy, where in 1503 he fought in the Battle of Garigliano, stems from a novella by the contemporary Italian writer Matteo Bandello in which Cromwell is portrayed as a page to a foot-soldier, carrying his pike and helmet. This account was treated as fact by many later writers, including John Foxe in his Actes and Monuments of 1563. Despite the obvious exaggerations contained in Bandello's novella, MacCulloch points out that the "picaresque" narrative provides the best available clues to shine some light on the obscurity of Cromwell's first Italian trip.

While in Italy, Cromwell seems to have entered service in the household of the Frescobaldi family of Florentine bankers (Bandello has an implausibly young Francesco Frescobaldi graciously saving him from starvation on the streets of Florence). It appears that he later worked as a cloth merchant in the Low Countries, where his frequentation of English Merchant Adventurers allowed him to develop useful contacts and gain familiarity with several languages. Cromwell, who was known to have a prodigious memory, was probably already fluent in French and Italian, as well as being proficient in Latin, with some knowledge also of Ancient Greek.

Return to Italy

At some point Cromwell 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.

In 1517–1518, he travelled to Rome again, this time to gain Pope Leo X's approval for plenary indulgences to be sold by the St Mary's Guild, Boston as part of a thriving trade. During this lengthy trip, Cromwell studied in detail Erasmus's new edition of the gospels. His reading made him, for the first time, doubt the legitimacy of the practice he was advocating. Tracy Borman has suggested that it was at this point Cromwell developed his contempt for the papacy, because of the ease with which he had been able to manipulate the Pope into granting the Boston petition without due consideration.

Marriage and issue

At one point during these years, Cromwell returned to England, where around 1515 he married Elizabeth Wyckes (d. 1529). She was the widow of Thomas Williams, a Yeoman of the Guard, and the daughter of a Putney shearman, Henry Wyckes, who had later served as a Gentleman Usher to King Henry VII.

The couple had three children:

  • Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell (–1551), who became Elizabeth Seymour's second husband.
  • Anne Cromwell ( – October 1529)
  • Grace Cromwell ( – October 1529)

Cromwell's wife died in 1529 and his daughters, Anne and Grace, are believed to have died not long after their mother.

Cromwell also had an illegitimate daughter, Jane (–1580), whose early life is a complete mystery. According to novelist Hilary Mantel, "Cromwell had an illegitimate daughter, and beyond the fact that she existed, we know very little about her. She comes briefly into the records, in an incredibly obscure way—she's in the archives of the county of Chester." Jane was born to an unknown mother during the time Cromwell was mourning the loss of his wife and daughters. Jane presumably was educated and resided in Cromwell's homes, but in 1539, Margaret Vernon, the worldly prioress of Little Marlow Priory (who had also helped to raise Gregory Cromwell) suggested she take Jane to begin her education away from home. In that same year Jane's half-brother Gregory (at age nineteen) and his wife Elizabeth moved into Leeds Castle, Kent, in preparation for Gregory's election as a knight of the shire (Member of Parliament) for the county. Jane, then nine years of age, accompanied him. Cromwell's records show him paying Elizabeth for clothing and expenses for Jane. It is unknown what became of Jane's mother, though historian Caroline Angus argues that Jane's mother was Elizabeth Gregory, a former household servant who was left a surprisingly large amount of money and items in Cromwell's will. Elizabeth Gregory was listed among family members in the will, despite not being any relation to the Cromwell, Williams, Wyckes or Williamson families. Cromwell was known to be one of the few men at court without mistresses and tried to keep this indiscretion secret.

Jane married William Hough (–1585), of Leighton in the Wirral Hundred, around 1550. William Hough was the son of Richard Hough (1505–1574) who was Cromwell's agent in Chester from 1534 to 1540. Jane and her husband remained staunch Catholics, who, together with their daughter, Alice, her husband, William Whitmore, and their children, all came to the attention of the authorities as recusants during the reign of Elizabeth I.

Lawyer, Member of Parliament, adviser to Wolsey

thumb|[[Thomas Wolsey|Cardinal Thomas Wolsey]]

By 1520, Cromwell was firmly established in London mercantile and legal circles. In 1523, he obtained a seat in the House of Commons as a burgess, though the constituency he represented has not been identified with certainty. He prepared a daring speech against King Henry's declared intention of leading an invasion of France, although it was expressed tactfully in terms of concern for the King's safety while on campaign and fear of the costs such an overbold policy would entail; it was the latter point that embodied Cromwell's true concern. There is no record of when Cromwell actually delivered the speech in the chamber and some modern historians, including Michael Everett and Robert Woods, have suggested that the whole episode was no more than a ploy, sanctioned by Henry himself, to allow him to withdraw graciously from his rash threat of war.

After Parliament had been dissolved, Cromwell wrote a letter to a friend, jesting about the session's lack of productivity:<blockquote>I amongst other have indured a parlyament which contenwid by the space of xvii hole wekes wher we communyd of warre pease Stryffe contencyon debatte murmure grudge Riches poverte penurye trowth falshode Justyce equyte dicayte [deceit] opprescyon Magnanymyte actyvyte foce [force] attempraunce [moderation] Treason murder Felonye consyli... [conciliation] and also how a commune welth myght be ediffyed and a[lso] contenewid within our Realme. Howbeyt in conclusyon we have d[one] as our predecessors have been wont to doo that ys to say, as well we myght and lefte wher we begann.</blockquote>

For a short while early in 1523 Cromwell became an adviser to Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, drafting a parliamentary bill to relieve his sponsor of taxation on some property in Cumberland. Although the bill was not introduced in the 1523 session of Parliament, this may indicate that the unidentified seat for which Cromwell was returned in that year was Carlisle, Cumberland, to present the Marquess's bill. Early in 1524 he became a member of the household of Lord Chancellor Cardinal Thomas Wolsey although, initially, he maintained his private legal practice; in that year he was elected a member of Gray's Inn, a lawyers' guild. Cromwell assisted in the dissolution of nearly thirty monasteries to raise funds for Wolsey to found The King's School, Ipswich (1528), and Cardinal College, in Oxford (1529). In 1527 Wolsey appointed Cromwell a member of his personal council, as one of his most senior and trusted advisers. By the end of October of that year, however, Wolsey had fallen from power. Cromwell had made enemies by aiding Wolsey to suppress the monasteries, but was determined not to fall with his master, as he told George Cavendish, then a Gentleman Usher and later Wolsey's biographer:<blockquote>I do entend (god wyllyng) this after none, whan my lord hathe dyned to ride to london and so to the Court, where I wyll other make or marre, or ere [before] I come agayn, I wyll put my self in the prese [press] to se what any man is Able to lay to my charge of ontrouthe or mysdemeanor.</blockquote>

Cavendish acknowledges that Cromwell's moves to mend the situation were by means of engaging himself in an energetic defence of Wolsey ("There could nothing be spoken against my lord... but he [Cromwell] would answer it incontinent[ly]") rather than by distancing himself from his old master's actions, and this display of "authentic loyalty" only enhanced his reputation, not least in the mind of the King.

Royal favourite

Cromwell successfully overcame the shadow cast over his career by Wolsey's downfall.

At some point during the closing weeks of 1530, the King appointed him to the Privy Council. Cromwell held numerous offices during his career in the King's service, including:

thumb|upright=1.3|Thomas Cromwell, , attributed to [[Hans Holbein the Younger]]

  • Commissioner for the Subsidy, London 1524, Kent 1534, for printing of the Bible 1539, for sale of crown lands 1539, 1540
  • Master of the King's Jewel House, jointly with Sir John Williams 14 April 1532, –1540
  • Clerk of the Hanaper 16 July 1532, jointly with Ralph Sadler April 1535 – 1540
  • Chancellor of the Exchequer, 12 April 1533 – 1540
  • Recorder, Bristol, 1533–1540
  • Steward, Westminster Abbey, 12 September 1533, jointly with Robert Wroth 14 February 1534 – May 1535
  • Lordships of Edmonton and Sayesbery, Middlesex, May 1535; of manor of Writtle, Essex, June 1536; of Havering-atte-Bower, Essex, December 1537
  • Steward of the Honour of Rayleigh, Essex, September 1539
  • Surveyor of the King's Woods, jointly with Sir William Paulet by 1533
  • Principal Secretary, April 1534–April 1540
  • Master of the Rolls, 8 October 1534 – 10 July 1536
  • Constable jointly with Richard Williams (alias Cromwell) of Hertford Castle, Hertfordshire, 1534–1540, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire 1535–, sole, Leeds Castle, Kent, 4 January 1539 – 1540
  • Visitor-General of the Monasteries and Vicar General, 21 January 1535
  • Steward, Duchy of Lancaster, Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex, 12 May 1535 – 1540
  • Steward of Savoy Manor, May 1535 – 1540
  • Chancellor, High Steward and Visitor, Cambridge University 1535–1540
  • Commissioner for the Peace, Bristol, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey 1535–1540, Essex 1536–1540, Derbyshire, Westmorland 1537–1540, all counties 1538–1540
  • Prebendary of Salisbury, May 1536 – 1540
  • Receiver of Petitions in the Lords, parliament of 1536
  • Trier, Parliament of 1539
  • Lord Privy Seal, 2 July 1536 – 1540
  • Vicegerent of the King in Spirituals, 18 July 1536
  • Dean of Wells, 1537–1540
  • Warden and Chief Justice in Eyre, North of Trent, 30 December 1537 – 1540
  • Governor of the Isle of Wight, 2 November 1538 – 1540
  • Lord Great Chamberlain, 17 April 1540

Cromwell also possessed numerous other minor offices.

Anne Boleyn

From 1527, Henry VIII sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon annulled, so that he could lawfully marry Anne Boleyn with the hope of producing a legitimate heir who could inherit and secure the Tudor line. At the centre of the campaign to secure the annulment was the emerging (or crafted) 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, 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 had been scheduled for October 1531, but was postponed until 15 January 1532 because of Henry's indecision as to the best way to proceed towards his annulment. Cromwell favoured the assertion of royal supremacy over the recalcitrant Church, and he manipulated support in the House of Commons for the measure by resurrecting anti-clerical grievances, the "supplication against the ordinaries" expressed earlier, in the session of 1529. Once he achieved his goal of managing affairs in Parliament, he never relinquished it. In March 1532, speaking without royal permission, he urged the House of Commons to draw up a list of clerical abuses in need of reform. On 18 March 1532, the Commons delivered a supplication to the King, denouncing clerical abuses and the power of the ecclesiastical courts, and describing Henry as "the only head, sovereign lord, protector and defender" of the Church. On 14 May 1532, Parliament was prorogued. Two days later, Sir Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor, realising that the battle to save the King's marriage to Catherine 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 the manor of Romney in the Welsh Marches (recently confiscated from the family of the executed Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham) 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.

thumb|upright=1.3|Queen [[Anne Boleyn]]

Henry and Anne married on 25 January 1533, after a secret marriage on 14 November 1532 that may have taken place in Calais.

On 26 January 1533, Audley was appointed Lord Chancellor and his replacement as Speaker of the House of Commons was Cromwell's old friend (and former lawyer to Cardinal Wolsey) Humphrey Wingfield. Cromwell further increased his control over parliament through his management of by-elections: since the previous summer, assisted by Thomas Wriothesley, then Clerk of the Signet, he had prepared a list of suitably amenable "burgesses, knights and citizens" for the vacant parliamentary seats.

The parliamentary session began on 4 February 1533, and Cromwell introduced a new bill restricting the right to make appeals to Rome, reasserting the long-standing contention that England was an "empire" and thus not subject to external jurisdiction. On 30 March, Thomas Cranmer was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury and the 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 Ecclesiastical Appeals Act 1532 (24 Hen. 8. c. 12), ensuring that any adjudication concerning the King's marriage could not be challenged in Rome. On 11 April, Archbishop Cranmer sent the King formal notice that the validity of his marriage to Catherine was to be the subject of an ecclesiastical court hearing. The trial began on 10 May 1533 at Dunstable Priory (near to where Catherine was staying at Ampthill Castle) and on 23 May the Archbishop pronounced the court's verdict: declaring that the marriage had been "null and invalid ... [and] contrary to the law of God". 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. The minister organised a campaign throughout the nation, attacking the Pope in sermons, pamphlets and plays mounted in parish churches. In 1534 a new Parliament was summoned, again under Cromwell's supervision, to enact the legislation necessary to formally break England's remaining ties to Rome and the Catholic hierachy there. Archbishop Cranmer's verdict took statutory form as the Succession to the Crown Act 1533 (25 Hen. 8. c. 22), the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen. 8. c. 21) reiterated royal supremacy, and the Submission of the Clergy Act 1533 (25 Hen. 8. c. 19) 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

thumb|Cromwell's coat of arms from 1532 to 1537

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: 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 7 May Cromwell led a deputation from the commissioners to Fisher and More, to persuade them to accept the Act and save themselves. This failed and, within a month, both prisoners were executed.

On 18 April, an order was issued that all citizens of London were to swear their acceptance of the Oath of Succession. 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 1534 (26 Hen. 8. c. 1) also clarified the King's position as Head of the Church and the First Fruits and Tenths Act 1534 (26 Hen. 8. c. 3) substantially increased clerical taxes. Cromwell also strengthened his own control over the Church.

During November 1534, another provision of the Act of Succession was in preparation: the appointment of three vicegerentes to supervise all ecclesiastical institutions. When the measure was put into effect on 21 January 1535, however, only one name remained: that of Cromwell.