Thomas Cromwell Research Paper

When living in the court of King Henry VIII, one must be cautious at all times. A single wrong move, and the overly paranoid King would have your head in a basket before you had the chance to make your case. This lesson was learned by the King’s closest advisor, Thomas Cromwell in the early half of the 16th century. “Class was everything at the court of Henry VIII. You were born into greatness. You did not work your way up.” English society has always been notoriously classist, and this was especially true during the time of the Tudor throne. Despite the odds however, Cromwell managed to quickly rise through the ranks of English society. He worked his way through the English upper classes and made both himself, and his station essential to
the King. Thomas Cromwell is perhaps most famous for his involvement in the establishing of the English Reformation, and the grand dissolution of all monasteries in the British Kingdom. Cromwell’s rise was incredibly quick, and his fall occurred even faster.
There is not a lot of information that exists regarding Thomas Cromwell’s early life.
Coming from lower class beginnings it is no surprise that more information about his formative years was not documented. He was born in the year 1485 to a cloth-worker and alehouse keeper in the small village of Putney; just outside of London. Information regarding the years after his birth does not appear again until he decides to travel Europe as a teenager. The reasoning behind his sudden want to travel is not known, but it was most likely that his ambitions no longer fit in with the rural life he led it Putney. Cromwell’s travels as a teen led him through the Netherlands and then eventually to Italy. First battling in Garigliano in 1503 as a soldier, and then working in the Venetian banking house of Frescobaldi. By the year 1514, he had once again made the journey from Rome, back through the Netherlands, and to London. There, he married a widow and lived a quiet life while working in his law practice. A few years later though, he assists the town of Boston in their quest to secure “a bull of indulgence from Pope Leo X.” (historyofparliament.com) These events were only the beginning of Thomas Cromwell’s ambitious nature. Later, in the year 1520, Cromwell earned himself one of the most coveted and feared positions in the kingdom—working under Cardinal Thomas
Wolsey.
After Cromwell begins working under the leadership of Cardinal Wolsey, his life and career are well documented. Wolsey had the King’s trust in matters of religion and politics, and therefore his power was far reaching. When Cromwell first began his service with Wolsey, they worked together in the dissolution of smaller monasteries. This work helped Cromwell earn more of Wolsey’s confidence and he eventually became one of the Cardinal’s most trusted confidential advisors. When Henry VIII set his heart on Anne Boleyn in the late 1520’s, Wolsey (being the King’s Lord Chancellor) was tasked with convincing the Pope to allow the annulment Henry would need from Queen Catherine of Aragon. Even after being unable to convince the Pope of the annulment, Wolsey remained alive, but had lost the King’s favour. “If there was a rumour of conspiracy, he wouldn’t wait for the evidence.” Henry was extremely paranoid all through his life. This most likely had to do with the very public knowledge that the Tudor claim to the throne was flimsy at best. He was constantly surrounded by other royals that had just as good a claim to the throne as he did—if not better. This meant that when rumours started circling and being whispered in Henry’s ear about Wolsey’s missteps and supposed guilt in matters concerning the annulment, the King listened closely. Anne Boleyn and Wolsey were known to not get along either in a religious sense, or when it came to wanting Henry’s attention. It was no surprise then, when Wolsey was arrested in 1529 and died soon after on his way to execution.