Thomas Cromwell is one of the most controversial Tudor figures - and possibly the most disliked (at least if you're talking to an Anne Boleyn fan). It's true that a lot of Cromwell's job consisted of organizing executions and pushing people down in order to stay ahead at court. But is his evil reputation really fair? I won't open that can of worms in this post, but maybe another time. But no matter what you think of Thomas Cromwell's life, his death is certainly a gruesome and sad event. On this day in 1540, King Henry VIII's most trusted advisor and Lord Privy Seal, Thomas Cromwell faced his death on Tower Hill as a convicted traitor against the crown.
Upon Cromwell's arrest in June 1540, Thomas Cranmer wrote the following message to King Henry:
“Who cannot be sorrowful and amazed that he should be a traitor against your majesty? He that was so advanced by your majesty, he whose surety was only by your majesty, he who loved your majesty, as I ever thought, no less than God; he who studied always to set forward whatsoever was your majesty’s will and pleasure; he that cared for no man’s displeasure to serve your majesty; he that was such a servant, in my judgment, in wisdom, diligence, faithfulness, and experience, as no prince in this realm ever had …
If he be a Traitor, I am sorry that ever I loved him, or trusted him, and I am very glad that his treason is discovered in time; but yet again I am very sorrowful; for who shall your grace trust hereafter, if you might not trust him? Alas!”
Cromwell was actually arrested with the charges of treason, heresy, corruption, and plotting to marry the Princess Mary. Of course, he was a well-known Protestant whose main mission in England was to destroy the Catholic church. King Henry, being sympathetic to the Catholic religion (though certainly not to Rome), could definitely not accept Cromwell's heretical tendencies. His "treason" may have been the result of his organizing the marriage of Anne of Cleves to the King - which was a complete disappointment. King Henry had just about had it with Cromwell, and after years of trusting his advice and working alongside him, he finally put him to death on this day.
Cromwell mounted the scaffold steps and made a speech to the crowd in which he denied his guilt and said:
“Many have slandered me, and reported that I have been a bearer of such as I have maintained evil opinions; which is untrue: but I confess, that like as God, by His Holy Spirit, doth instruct us in the truth, so the devil is ready to seduce us; and I have been seduced.”
He also committed his soul to Christ and announced that there was "no hope in salvation," but he would hope and trust in "Christ's merciful goodness." Then he knelt and endured one of the most gruesome and butchered Tudor executions on record.
“Who cannot be sorrowful and amazed that he should be a traitor against your majesty? He that was so advanced by your majesty, he whose surety was only by your majesty, he who loved your majesty, as I ever thought, no less than God; he who studied always to set forward whatsoever was your majesty’s will and pleasure; he that cared for no man’s displeasure to serve your majesty; he that was such a servant, in my judgment, in wisdom, diligence, faithfulness, and experience, as no prince in this realm ever had …
If he be a Traitor, I am sorry that ever I loved him, or trusted him, and I am very glad that his treason is discovered in time; but yet again I am very sorrowful; for who shall your grace trust hereafter, if you might not trust him? Alas!”
Cromwell was actually arrested with the charges of treason, heresy, corruption, and plotting to marry the Princess Mary. Of course, he was a well-known Protestant whose main mission in England was to destroy the Catholic church. King Henry, being sympathetic to the Catholic religion (though certainly not to Rome), could definitely not accept Cromwell's heretical tendencies. His "treason" may have been the result of his organizing the marriage of Anne of Cleves to the King - which was a complete disappointment. King Henry had just about had it with Cromwell, and after years of trusting his advice and working alongside him, he finally put him to death on this day.
Cromwell mounted the scaffold steps and made a speech to the crowd in which he denied his guilt and said:
“Many have slandered me, and reported that I have been a bearer of such as I have maintained evil opinions; which is untrue: but I confess, that like as God, by His Holy Spirit, doth instruct us in the truth, so the devil is ready to seduce us; and I have been seduced.”
He also committed his soul to Christ and announced that there was "no hope in salvation," but he would hope and trust in "Christ's merciful goodness." Then he knelt and endured one of the most gruesome and butchered Tudor executions on record.
Although Showtime's The Tudors shows Thomas Cromwell's execution as a rigged event by many of his enemies, there is no firm evidence that those who hated him payed and intoxicated the executioner in order to cause a long, painful, and gory beheading. I'm sure there were many of Cromwell's enemies present at his execution, and maybe they would have wanted to do something like that, but this seems to be an imagined detail by the writers of The Tudors. I have to say, that scene in the show was one of the most difficult for me to watch, although I did not like Cromwell throughout the prior episodes. I'm certainly no fan of his myself, but I definitely sympathize with him and shudder to imagine such a horrible end. It is believed that it took the inexperienced executioner two or three strokes to sever Cromwell's head. Evidence that the execution was botched comes from Edward Hall, who said Cromwell "so patiently suffered the stroke of the axe, by a ragged and boocherly miser, which very ungodly performed the office."
No matter how you look at it, it's a sad and unfortunate end to a man who had been raised so high in his 55 years. The son of a smith in Putney became an Earl and one of the King's most trusted ministers - and arguably one of the most powerful men in the country. He had a good run, though that was bad news for many other people, including Anne Boleyn and those associated with her. Thomas Cromwell was an ambitious and manipulative man, but perhaps you had to be just that, in order to be successful at the court of Henry VIII. Unfortunately for him, success would only last so long.
Rest in Peace, Master Secretary.
No matter how you look at it, it's a sad and unfortunate end to a man who had been raised so high in his 55 years. The son of a smith in Putney became an Earl and one of the King's most trusted ministers - and arguably one of the most powerful men in the country. He had a good run, though that was bad news for many other people, including Anne Boleyn and those associated with her. Thomas Cromwell was an ambitious and manipulative man, but perhaps you had to be just that, in order to be successful at the court of Henry VIII. Unfortunately for him, success would only last so long.
Rest in Peace, Master Secretary.
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