What Was Thomas Cromwell Accomplishments

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Thomas Cromwell is an English statesman and lawyer who was the chief ideologist and driving forces behind England during the English Reformation. Born on c.1485 in Putney, England, he served as the chief minister and right-hand of Henry VIII from 1532 to 1540. He is known as the man who pillaged and wiped out hundreds of monasteries, drove an abiding rage between England and Rome, had only thoughts about betraying his allies and friends and conspired to execute Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. However, he was later accused of heresy, treason, and corruption, after trying to arrange a marriage between Anne of Cleves and King Henry VIII. This eventually led to his execution at the Tower of London. Not only did Thomas Cromwell change England’s …show more content…

He served as a chief minister to the king and was given many high-ranking positions, such as the Principal Secretary, Lord Privy Seal and Master of the King’s Jewels, which made him a prominent figure in England. Thomas Cromwell was also able to gain funds for the king by dissolving monasteries One of his major accomplishments is helping the king gain authority over his marriage and giving him the ability to annul his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon. He managed to do so by devising a plan to break the nation’s connection with Rome and to destroy the Pope’s power over the nation’s affairs. Thomas Cromwell wanted to show that England was truly an empire, ever since the 12th century, and its leader an empire. He sought to prove his theory by basing his “facts” on a book called the “History of the Kings of Britain”. The “History of the Kings of Britain” includes series of myths and legends which was written by a British cleric, Geoffrey of Monmouth. In the end, he succeeded in turning the myth into a reality. The myth became a law and put England away from an absolute monarchy path and onto a parliamentary democracy path. Thomas Cromwell’s new law allowed the parliament to have the fundamental rights to interfere and intervene with the nation’s constitutional affairs. Hence, this permitted King Henry VIII to become the Head of the Church of England and allowed him to annul his marriage and marry his new love, Anne