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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Thomas Cromwell Biography CROMWELL, Thomas, Earl Of Essex (c.1485–1540). An English statesman and Henry VIII's prime agent in effecting the Reformation. He was born at Putney, near London, where his father, a man of peculiarly evil character, engaged in the varied pursuits of blacksmith, brewer, innkeeper, fuller, and shearer of cloth. After a meagre education he went to Antwerp as a clerk in a factory and successfully devoted his spare time to learning languages. He spent some time in Italy as a soldier and trader. He returned to England in 1513 and, while following the paternal vocations, developed into a money lender, a lawyer, and an influential citizen. He received a trusted appointment from Cardinal Wolsey and under his patronage entered Parliament, where his able speeches attracted attention. He successfully defended his master against the bill of impeachment; and Henry VIII, appreciating his talent, made him his private secretary. He received a succession of honors, which, after knighthood in 1531, included the Chancellorship of the Exchequer (1533), Mastership of the Rolls and Vicarship-General of Ecclesiastical Affairs (1535), the office of Lord Privy Seal (1536), and that of Lord Chamberlain (1539), and culminated in his creation as Earl of Essex in 1540. For seven years, by subservience to the King, he held supreme sway in the royal councils and controlled all the administrative departments. He carried out faithfully the monarch's schemes to establish the Reformation. His methods in suppressing the monasteries earned him the designation of malleus monachorum, the 'Hammer of the Monks.' He was very unpopular, and after promoting the marriage of Henry with Anne of Cleves, the King's aversion to the Queen was extended to the instigator of the union. Henry assented to a bill of attainder for treason on a long list of offenses, and, after a piteous entreaty for mercy, Cromwell was beheaded on July 28, 1540. Froude praises his character. Dixon calls him "the worst enemy the Church of England ever had." The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol VI (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 294.
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