File:Cromwell,Thomas(1EEssex)01.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Thomas Cromwell
Sign in to saveAlso known as Thomas Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, Sir Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, 1st Earl of Essex Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, Baron Cromwell, Earl of Essex Thomas Cromwell
English statesman and politician (1485–1540)
Key facts
- Monarch
- Henry VIII
- Preceded by
- John de Vere
- Succeeded by
- Robert Radcliffe
- Born
- c. 1485 ( 1485 ) , Putney , Kingdom of England
- Died
- 28 July 1540 (1540-07-28) (aged 54–55), Tower Hill , London, Kingdom of England
- Cause of death
- Execution by beheading
- Resting place
- Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula , Tower of London, London, United Kingdom, 51°30′31″N 0°04′37″W / 51.508611°N 0.076944°W / 51.508611; -0.076944
- Spouse
- Elizabeth Wyckes
- Children
- Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell , Anne Cromwell, Grace Cromwell, Jane Cromwell (ill.)
- Relatives
- Cromwell family
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Thomas
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of England
- Place of birth
- Putney
- Place of death
- Tower Hill
- Occupation
- lawyer
- Position held
- Secretary of State of England
- Educated at
- Gray's Inn
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Anglicanism
- Award
- Order of the Garter
- Noble title
- baron
- Image
- Cromwell,Thomas(1EEssex)01.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- cause of death
- decapitation
- Commons category
- Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
- manner of death
- capital punishment
- date of death
- 1540-07-28
- date of birth
- 1485-00-00
- place of detention
- Tower of London
- place of burial
- Church of St Peter ad Vincula, Tower Hamlets
- name in native language
- Thomas Cromwell
- significant person
- Henry VIII
- P12749
- Tank Man
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Thomas Cromwell (/ˈkrɒmwəl, -wɛl/; c. 1485 – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 until mid-1540, at which time he was beheaded on Henry's orders, a loss the King would later regret.
Cromwell was one of the most powerful proponents of the English Reformation. As the King's chief secretary, he instituted new administrative procedures that transformed the workings of government. He helped to engineer an annulment of the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that Henry could lawfully marry Anne Boleyn. Henry had failed to obtain the approval of Pope Clement VII for the annulment in 1533, so Parliament endorsed the King's claim to be Supreme Head of the Church of England — thus giving him the authority to annul his own marriage. Cromwell subsequently charted an evangelical and reformist course for the new Church of England from his unique posts of Vicegerent in Spirituals and Vicar-general (the two titles refer to the same position).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Thomas Cromwell” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.