Thomas
Cromwell, the son of a blacksmith, was born in Putney, London,
in 1485. As a young man he lived in Europe and served in the French
Army in Italy. On his return to England he worked as a lawyer before
joining the service of Thomas
Wolsey.
In 1523 he was elected to the House of Commons
and two years later acted as Wolsey's chief agent in the dissolution
of the small monasteries.
In
1530 Henry
VIII
employed
Cromwell as an adviser. Over the next few years he served in a variety
of posts including Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary of State
and Master of the Rolls. He also played a leading role in helping
the king become head of the English Church. In 1535 Cromwell was appointed
vicar-general.
In August 1535, Cromwell
sent a team of officials, including Cromwell, to find out what was
going on in the monasteries. After
reading their reports Henry
VIII decided to close down 376 monasteries. Monastery land was
seized and sold off cheaply to nobles and merchants. They in turn
sold some of the lands to smaller farmers. This process meant that
a large number of people had good reason to support the monasteries
being closed.
In 1538 Cromwell turned
his attention to religious shrines in England. For hundreds of years
pilgrims had visited shrines that
contained important religious relics. Wealthy pilgrims often gave
expensive jewels and ornaments to the monks that looked after these
shrines. Henry decided that the shrines should be closed down and
the wealth that they had created given to the crown.
The Pope and the Catholic
church in Rome were horrified when they heard the news that Henry
had destroyed St. Thomas Becket's
Shrine. On 17 December 1538, the Pope announced to the
Christian world that Henry
VIII had been excommunicated from the Catholic church.
Jane
Seymour,
the 3rd wife of Henry
VIII died
in 1537. Henry now
began to look for another wife. Cromwell wanted England to form an
alliance with the Protestants in Saxony. One way Henry could do this
was by marrying Anne of Cleves.
In 1540 Cromwell was created
the Earl of Essex. However, Cromwell's position was undermined by
the king's disastrous marriage to Anne of
Cleves. Thomas Cromwell was sent to the Tower
of London and was executed on 28th July, 1540.
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