Thomas Cromwell, who died by the headsman’s axe on 28 July, 1540, is now nearly a household name. He is the hero of Hilary Mantel’s award winning novels. TV programs, dramas and stage plays with him as the star are in preparation. He features on social networks and blogs. It is quite a transformation for a man who used to be cast as the villain of the Tudor court; and with the anniversary of his death approaching, the question is bound to arise – are we overdoing things, just a bit? So let’s briefly review his legacy.
His lord and master, Henry VIII, claimed that he (Henry) held highest authority in England, not the pope. Henry won the argument, in Englandat least, where even many good Catholic people supported him against Rome. It was fine in theory. But how could it be made to happen in practice? Cromwell had the answer – an act of parliament to make the king supreme head of church and state. The result was not just the supremacy of the crown, but the crown in parliament, and parliamentary statute – which is the foundation of the modern democratic state.
But, some say, did not Cromwell become the ruthless enforcer of the new regime? Those who think so may be surprised to hear that some of his contemporaries thought he was too soft. One of the charges against him when he was arrested was that he let suspects off when he should have sent them to jail, or worse.
Cromwell laid the foundations for the future national Church of England. He could not persuade Henry to become a Lutheran, but soon after his death the Protestant Reformation was established under Edward, and later more enduringly under Elizabeth.
Cromwell was also an energetic social reformer. His Poor Law bill included a program of public works for the poor and unemployed, free medical treatment for poor persons too sick to work, and provisions for the elderly and the terminally ill. Then in 1539, after the dissolution of the monasteries, he and his close circle were full of ideas about spending the revenues on worthy causes like education and hospitals. Unfortunately, we had to wait a long time for these plans to bear fruit. The gentry and nobility of parliament rejected much of the Poor Law bill, and Henry used up all the monastic wealth fighting the French and the Scots.
Henry dreamed of being king of France, and he spent a fortune in the 1520s and 1540s trying to win a piece of France. But in Cromwell’s time, not a penny went on wars. As John Foxe and others noted approvingly, Cromwell sought peace with all nations, whether Catholic or Protestant, and prosperity and progress at home.
Apart from the king, Cromwell was the greatest collector of works of art and the chief patron of artists in his time. He was accomplished in at least five languages. He had a mastery of politics, law, and the great issues of the day like the Reformation. Yet he was a man of humble birth who, so far as we can tell, had no formal education.
So maybe we are not getting too carried away after all. Not everyone would agree with all his reformist policies. But few could deny that this was one of the most remarkable characters in an age which had plenty of them.
Let’s not make him a saint. (He would have hated that.) But let us not be shy about praising famous men either, especially on 28 July.
John Schofield is a Visiting Scholar in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He holds a PhD in Reformation history, is an expect of Thomas Cromwell and is also the author of 'Cromwell to Cromwell' and 'The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell'.
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