MERCY, MERCY, MERCY:THE ARREST OF THOMAS
CROMWELL
How did King Henry VIII’s
right hand man, fixer of all things, suffer such a tremendous downfall? Thomas
Cromwell was brought in to orchestrate the downfall of Queen Anne Boleyn, the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, religious reform, and the marriage to Anne of
Cleves. Today, we will explore how all Cromwell achieved, ultimately, lead to
his demise.
After the death of Queen
Anne Boleyn, Cromwell thought himself to be safe. Cromwell and Anne had butted
heads in the last months of her life over the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In
the dissolutions, Cromwell had furthered his religious reform of England while
also filling Henry VIII’s coffers. Anne was not on side with the crown
profiting from the dissolutions; she had thought the money would be better
spent on charity, education and institutions. Anne had even threatened Cromwell
by approving of a sermon that essentially warned the king of his “evil
councilors”. Anne went so far as telling Cromwell she’d like to see his head
off. With the problem of Queen Anne Boleyn taken care of, Cromwell failed to
notice other enemies waiting in the shadows.
Cromwell continued to
further his religious reform but he failed to notice Henry VIII becoming
increasingly uneasy about the extent of religious change. Henry VIII was not a
religious reformer- he was a Catholic through and through. He only agreed to
religious reform when it suited him (i.e. his ability to marry Anne Boleyn). Importantly,
Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, was a major figure in the conservative faction and
continuously undermined Cromwell’s religious initiatives.
At the same time,
Cromwell was cognizant of the increasing isolation of Henry VIII as a European
power. Henry VIII had been excommunicated by the Catholic Church and was in
constant struggle with Spain and France, both countries continually entering
into secret alliances behind Henry’s back. Cromwell immediately recognized the
need for the protection of England from the duplicitous countries.
Cromwell began to look
else were for support and his solution was the Protestant Schmalkaldic League. The
League was created to provide protection to its members should King Charles V,
Holy Roman Emperor, invade. Cromwell recognized the benefits of this alliance. At
the time, the League was not accepting new members, or rather, would not accept
Henry VIII. Cromwell proposed the idea of Henry entering into a marriage treaty
with one of the daughters of the House of Cleves, perhaps in an effort to
wiggle England into the League.
Henry VIII decided that
he would marry Anne of Cleves. Anne of Cleves arrived in England in 1539, ahead
of the marriage ceremony. Whatever the reason, upon Henry meeting Anne, he
decided he was repulsed by her and did not want to go through with the wedding.
Henry tasked Cromwell with the unenviable mission of dissolving the marriage
treaty. Cromwell could not find a solution, or would not find a solution, and
the marriage went ahead. It was, however, never consummated. Henry was furious.
He couldn’t fathom how he, King of England, would be forced to marry someone he
did not want. Cromwell underestimated Henry’s resentment, increasingly growing
over religious reform and a marriage of which he wanted no part.
In a move that can only
be described as SO Henry VIII, Henry rewarded Cromwell with the Earldom of
Essex on 18 April 1540. Henry liked to lull his subjects into a state of
contentment and ease prior to his fatal strike. Henry fully believed in keeping
his friends close, and his enemies closer. Cromwell was grateful for the royal
favor and did not see his enemies slowly emerging from the shadows.
Thomas Howard, Duke of
Norfolk, was sent to France to further an Anglo-Franco alliance, against
Charles V. Norfolk was received by King Francis I of France and the proposition
was favorable. In one visit, Norfolk had undermined Cromwell’s work with the
Duchy of Cleves and changed the balance of power in England’s favor. Furthermore,
war was on the horizon between the Duchy of Cleves and Charles V. The alliance with
Cleves, the brainchild of Cromwell, would put England in a precarious position
of declaring war on France, reversing the positive diplomacy between the two
countries. France had recently solidified an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, the
enemy of Charles V. Henry wanted no part of this.
The Duke of Norfolk and
Bishop Stephen Gardiner saw a unique opportunity. Henry VIII seemed to be taken
with Norfolk’s niece, Katherine Howard. Katherine began to be pushed forward by
Norfolk and Gardiner and they began planting ideas into Henry’s mind, such as: Cromwell
could have secured an annulment from Anne of Cleves, Henry’s subjects were
against Cromwell’s reforms, Cromwell was a heretic and he was working against
the crown.
Cromwell was in the
council chamber at Westminster, when at 3 PM on 10 June 1540, the Captain of
the Guard entered the chamber and told Cromwell he had a warrant for his
arrest. The French Ambassador stated Cromwell
threw his hat down on the chamber floor, furious. He looked about the room, asked
the council members, was this the reward for his services? The council replied
he should be judged according to the laws Cromwell himself had made. Thomas
Howard, Duke of Norfolk, strolled up to Cromwell and snatched the Order of St.
George from his neck. Cromwell’s Garter was then untied. Cromwell was put in a
barge and brought to the Tower of London, via the Thames. Cromwell’s residence
was then inventoried and goods were taken to the King’s treasury- a sure sign
they would not be returned.
The Spanish Chronicle
differs slightly in its telling of the arrest: Cromwell arrived at Westminster
and the meeting went ahead. Afterwards, the members attended dinner at
Westminster Palace. While walking, a wind blew off Cromwell’s hat and it fell
to the ground. It was custom when one man’s hat fell off, the others doffed
theirs in a sign of respect. The other men kept their hats on. Cromwell took
this as a bad omen. While dining, no one conversed with Cromwell. After dinner,
the council entered the council chamber once more, and when Cromwell went to
his in his chair, the Duke of Norfolk said, “traitors do not sit amongst
gentlemen”.
A Bill of Attainder was
brought against Cromwell declaring him guilty of treason. Cromwell languished
in the Tower of London, his execution put on hold until the amicable annulment
between Henry VIII and Queen Anne of Cleves. Cromwell wrote a letter to Henry
in support of the annulment, ending the correspondence chillingly with “Most gracious
Prince, I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy”.
Thomas Cromwell, Earl of
Essex, was beheaded on Tower Hill on 28 July 1540. Ironically, King Henry VIII
married Queen Katherine Howard on the same day. In a shocking move, while
delivering his speech on the scaffold, Cromwell seemed to deny his Protestant
faith and alluded to dying a Catholic. Cromwell’s head was placed on a spike on
London Bridge and his remains were laid to rest in the Chapel of St. Peter ad
Vincula at the Tower of London.
In time, King Henry VIII
came to regret Cromwell’s death. He later alluded Cromwell’s downfall was brought
about by pretexts and false accusations of the factions of the court. I don’t
believe Henry VIII felt guilty about his death in a personal way; I believe
Henry was selfishly remorseful of killing a perfectly capable minister of whom
he could leave the work of the realm.
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