LE3 .A278 2012

2012

MacDonald, Jennifer

Acadia University

Bachelor of Arts

Honours

History

History & Classics

The historiography of Thomas Cromwell often portrays him as the villain of the Tudor court who set out to remove from power all the people who stood in the way of his ambition. The image of a bloodthirsty evil man has received widespread acceptance amongst historians and the people. In reality, the actions of Cromwell must be studied in concert with factional politics in order to be fully understood. His greatest motivations were ambition and survival. Unfortunately, Cromwell’s class and performance of gender meant that his position was always precarious, and survival was extremely difficult. Cromwell continually aligned himself with successful factions in order to gain more power for himself and to take power away from his enemy, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Cromwell remained faithful to Cardinal Wolsey, but in order to survive Wolsey’s fall, Cromwell joined the Boleyn faction, who had helped eliminate Wolsey. As Anne Boleyn fell from favour, Cromwell broke ties with the Boleyns and joined the Seymours in order to remain in Henry’s favour. Despite the popularly held belief, Cromwell’s role in the trial and execution of Anne Boleyn was motivated by survival, not personal vendetta. Cromwell remained faithful to the Seymour faction until Jane’s death, which he saw as an opportunity to gain political advantage and further his religious agenda. However, after Cromwell succeeded in convincing Henry to marry Anne of Cleves, Norfolk was able to draw Henry’s attention was drawn to Katherine Howard, Norfolk’s niece. As Henry grew disenchanted with Anne of Cleves, Norfolk directed Henry’s anger towards Cromwell instead, and finally succeeded in turning the king against Cromwell. Cromwell rose to power because of his ability to maneuver amongst political factions, but the enemies he garnered during the process led to his own downfall.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:872