Cromwell's Rise and Fall

Question 1

What was Cromwell’s background before 1516?

Answer 1

He was born around 1485 in Putney, London, although little is known about his early life other than that he had humble origins. In his teenage years he was trouble and moved to the Netherlands. He then moved to Italy where he served as a soldier and probably came into contact with radical political ideas here. After a period of service to a Venetian merchant, he returned to England in 1516 where he married and found employment in the household of Wolsey

Question 2

How did Cromwell rise from being a member of Wolsey’s household?

Answer 2

By 1519 he had an important position in Henry’s household, and by 1524 he attended the Inns of Court as he had learned enough about law to attend, and here he developed a successful legal practice. In 1529 he was elected as an MP, and had an active role attacking abuses within the church, and soon found himself in royal service

Question 3

How did Cromwell rise within the royal service?

Answer 3

in 1531 he became a member of the royal council, and defended Wolsey in parliament, remaining loyal until his death. By 1532 he had effectively taken over the management of the king’s divorce and like Wolsey had realised that the key to success was to anticipate what the king wanted and meet his needs

Question 4

What did Cromwell do between 1532 and 1536?

Answer 4

He devised a strategy for the divorce and drafted a series of acts to destroy the power of Rome, create the Church of England and give Henry unprecedented power and stars as a monarch

Question 5

What title was awarded to Cromwell in 1532?

Answer 5

He was made the Master of the King’s jewels, giving him access to the king’s private room in the palace

Question 6

What title was awarded to Cromwell in 1533?

Answer 6

Chancellor of the Exchequer and master of the Roles, which was a leading role within the legal system

Question 7

What position was Cromwell given in 1535?

Answer 7

He was made Vice Durance for spirituals, which was a post created by Henry to give Cromwell the poser to institute church reform

Question 8

What position was Cromwell given in 1536?

Answer 8

He was made the Lord Privy Seal and principle secretary on the royal council

Question 9

What titles were given to Cromwell shortly before his fall?

Answer 9

He was awarded with the title of Baron Cromwell and in 1540 he was made the Lord Great Chamberlain and the Earl of Essex

Question 10

What bureaucratic reform did Cromwell introduce?

Answer 10

A more professional privy council emerged, although there’s debate as to whether this happened under Cromwell or after his fall. This print council contained around 20 members and was composed of professionally trained lawyers and bureaucrats rather than notables from the wider ruling class

Question 11

What financial management changes did Cromwell introduce?

Answer 11

Cromwell created new institutions to manage new income generated from the break with Rome. Four new departments were created: the Court of Augmentations, the Court of First Fruits and Tenths, the Court of Wards and Liveries and the Court of General Surveyors, and by 1540 increasing specialist was introduced into the management of royal finances although Cromwell recognised that the privy chamber remained an important part of the system. There were professional administrators rather than members of the untrained nobility and clergy

Question 12

What constitutional change did Cromwell implement?

Answer 12

In the Act in Restraint in Appeals in 1533 Cromwell wrote that ‘this realm of England is now an Empire’, which was saying that Englishmen should not have the automatic right to appeal to Rome to give judgements in religious cases because the king was supreme in his own lands

Question 13

What evidence disputes Cromwell’s apparent claim that England was an independent political body?

Answer 13

1533 England was subject to the Pope’s views in matters of religious doctrine and was supposed to seek a bishop’s permission when choosing bishops and other high-ranking religious officials, and parts of England held liberties which gave them semi-independent states, so royal authority was spread unevenly across the country

Question 14

What did Cromwell do in 1536 with Wales?

Answer 14

He used the break with Rome to extend royal power more firmly across the kingdom. In 1536 an Act of Union with Wales reorganised local government in the principality and the borderlands and the marshes

Question 15

What did Cromwell introduce in 1536 to restrict the powers of regional nobles in more remote parts of the kingdom?

Answer 15

He introduced an Act against Liberties and Franchises, which would restrict powers such as those held by the Bishops in the Palatinates of Durham - Cromwell’s aim was to not only limit power but to provide consistent application of the law

Question 16

What political reform did Cromwell use?

Answer 16

During the 1530s Cromwell used parliament extensively to legitimise the legislation for the break with Rome and strengthen royal authority in outlying regions. Until then, parliament had not been a regular part of government

Question 17

When was parliament typically called?

Answer 17

It was typically called depending on the sate of royal finances, such as during the hundred years war, and had been able to exercise powerful influence over the choice of royal advisors and the measures taken by them

Question 18

What happened when parliament met in 1529?

Answer 18

It remained for 7 years and raised a quantity of laws unseen before that point in parliamentary history. The stability and workload helped parliament to develop its procedures and save MPs a rare level of experience, for example, the practice of reading a bill 3 times in the houses of lords and commons became standard practice

Question 19

What changes were made to parliament in the 1530s?

Answer 19

It worked in areas where it had never previously been involved, and it was recognised that statute law made by the king in parliament represented ultimate authority in England and Wales and could be applied to virtually any aspect of life and society. If future monarchs wished to change laws, they’d have to do so in cooperation with parliament

Question 20

What happened to Cromwell in June 1540?

Answer 20

He was arrested and charged with treason, and executed the following month under a claim of heresy, that he was plotting to bring a full protestant church to England

Question 21

How did the proposed marriage to Anne of Cleeves prove to be disastrous for Cromwell?

Answer 21

A peace treaty between France and the Habsburgs left England isolated and there were fears of a Catholic crusade following Henry’s excommunication. To counter this, Cromwell persuaded Henry to build an alliance with German Protestants through the 1539 marriage to Anne of Cleeves, and Henry found her ugly. Further, Franco-Habsburg hostilities recommenced and rendered the marriage pointless, further angering Henry

Question 22

How did Catherine Howard contribute to Cromwell’s downfall>

Answer 22

The Catholic faction led by the Duke of Norfolk and Stephen Gardner were able to entice Henry with Norfolk’s second niece Catherine Howard. After the failure of the Cleeves marriage Henry became infatuated with her, increasing the influence of Norfolk and the Catholic faction, which possibly led to Henry rushing through the process of attainder, which saw the execution of Cromwell