Customer Reviews

Thomas Cromwell

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thomas Cromwell is a fascinating, though often seriously scary, figure, who generally appears as a bit player in studies of Henry VIII and/or his Queens; therefore I was ridiculously excited to find a study focusing on his life. Robert Hutchinson's biography of, as the subtitle puts it, "Henry VIII's most notorious minister" does not really break much new ground historically, but is written in an entertaining, accessible style and generally quite well researched.

Much of this study focuses on Cromwell's role in the dissolution of the monasteries during the mid-1530s. These sections are fascinating and detailed: my primary interest being in Anne Boleyn's years as Queen, I didn't know as much about the process of the dissolution as I probably should.

His early life and rise to power is dealt with in relatively short compass, but Hutchinson conveys his subject's ruthlessness, ambition, intelligence and ability to manipulate people and events for his own benefit well.

Rather disappointingly, the coup that brought down Anne Boleyn - arguably Cromwell's most audacious, if not most significant, political "achievement" - is dealt with in a comparatively cursory way. The events of April-May 1536 cover a mere handful of pages, which surprised me: this was an unprecedented strike against a reigning Queen Consort, who herself wielded more political power than most, if not all, previous Queens of England. It would have been more satisfying if Hutchinson had explored Cromwell's and Anne Boleyn's relationship - which went from one of allies to bitter enmity - in more detail, and engaged in greater analysis of Cromwell's orchestration of her fall, and perhaps, why Henry VIII allowed it to happen. The common assumption that he had just tired of her and was looking for a replacement is too superficial an analysis.

I found some of Hutchinson's conclusions a bit simplistic, and there are some lapses into cliché and hyperbole, not to mention the odd bit of disconcerting purple prose: for example, Cromwell's legislation "transformed [England] into a totalitarian, Stalinist state"? Good grief. Also, there was far more to Anne Boleyn than her exercising "sensual feminine power over a doting Henry" (this is a biography, not a Mills and Boon or Harlequin novel!) and the (unreferenced) comment that she "mercilessly taunted Henry over his prospects of ever marrying her" was a bit much.

Further, I was irritated by the following description of Mark Smeaton, the musician from whom Cromwell forced, or at least induced, a bogus confession: "a groom of the chamber and a musician and dancer who was probably a covert homosexual." There is absolutely no evidence for the latter portion of this statement, which also is unreferenced, and I was at a loss to see what this man's sexual preference had to do with the fact of his arrest, coerced confession and execution. Hutchinson is not the first historian to make such a throwaway comment with respect to Smeaton, and I suspect that he will not be the last: Retha Warnicke propounded a theory that the five men accused with Anne Boleyn may have been part of some "homosexual circle" and therefore more vulnerable, and while most other historians (eg. Ives, Starkey, Weir, among others) do not accept this, it nonetheless still resurfaces every now and then - for instance, a similar off the cuff, unreferenced suggestion appears in Derek Wilson's "In the Lion's Court" YAWN. Frankly, I could not care less about what the sexual preferences of Anne Boleyn's co-accused might have been; my objection is to a historian stating this as fact, or probable fact, on the basis of no evidence, and failing to establish the relevance of (usually) Smeaton's purported sexual preference to the events being examined. Please, biographers - give it a rest. Write fiction about it by all means - I admit upfront I'd almost certainly read it! - but I don't think unsupported, irrelevant asides like that belong in a scholarly work.

Overall, however, this was an interesting and readable study, though I would have liked to have seen more detail in certain areas as noted above, and a little less superficiality in some of the conclusions reached. I would recommend it more to those who already have an interest in and some knowledge of the major events and personalities of the era. Unfortunately the five-star system is a bit of a blunt instrument: it's not quite a 4-star book, but falls somewhere between that and 3.5. Not the definitive biography, but worth a read.

This is one of the best Tudor time period biographies I have read and the one to read if you want to know more about Thomas Cromwell. The book is not dry at all, an easy read which is a bonus as far as non-fiction biographies go, The book goes into great detail about Cromwell's early life before Henry VIII and describes his determined rise to power and his downfall at the hands of the hateful Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. I learned a lot about Cromwell and even sympathized with him as I read about his motives and his never mentioned kind acts of charity to the poor. From his childhood to his botched execution Hutchinson guides the reader through the life and death of one of Henry VIII's most talked about and disliked minister's.

This book offers readers interesting information about an important period of world history, a time when Papal power was reduced and England moved the world toward the Reformation.
Henry Tudor lived from 1491 to 1547. He served as King Henry VIII from 1509, from age 17, when he married his brother's widow, Catherine, against biblical law. He grew increasingly dissatisfied with her and wanted to divorce her against her will and the will of the Pope and many of his own ministers. He later married a total of five women one after another. The conflicts produced by his behavior resulted in the murders of many of his ministers, such as Sir Thomas More, who Henry felt opposed him. It also caused England to break with the Catholic Church which later canonized Thomas More.
Henry's marital misadventures also caused the elevation of the conniving frequently unscrupulous and cruel minister Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell rose to the second highest position in England, just lower than Henry. He supported Henry's matrimonial interests with "Stalinist efficiency." He also aided his master's second desire, the accumulation of wealth, with efficiency, stealing money from ministers and from the church.
The corpulent Cromwell was born around 1485, and by 1520 he became an advisor to Cardinal Wolsey, the Lord Chancellor who was arrested for treason in 1530, and who Cromwell abandoned at that time to pursue his own interests. Ten years later, after Henry granted him appointment after appointment, higher and higher, and becoming Lord Great Chamberlain in April 1540, Cromwell was arrested in June and executed in July. Cromwell had involved himself unwisely in Henry's affair with his fourth wife.
During his short period of absolute power, Cromwell was able to make the Bible available to the common people in their own language. He "destroyed some of the superstitious flummery that pervaded much of the Catholic Church of the time through his attack on images, pilgrimages and shrines." He also reformed the machinery of administration in England laying the foundation for the creation of a civil service.
Hutchinson's history is filled with interesting details such as the bizarre story of the "Holy Maid of Kent" who fell into trances and rolled helplessly on the ground in animal dung while foolish superstitious people looked on, marveled, and said they were hearing pious words uttered by an angel.

"Thomas Cromwell" by Robert Hutchinson. St. Martin's Press, New York 2007.
Subtitled: "The Rise And Fall Of Henry VIII's Most Notorious Minister."

It seems to me, (old reader that I am), that in all the books, plays and movies about Henry VIII, the character of Thomas Cromwell is always maligned. This present book, "Thomas Crowell" by Robert Hutchinson, follows the pattern. In fact, the book's subtitle calls Thomas Cromwell, "notorious minister". The book portrays Cromwell as ruthlessly ambitious, jealous of any person who appears more successful, and ever aware of his own low-born condition. Robert Hutchinson, the author, must have been looking at the contemporary portrait of Cromwell by Hans Holbein (c. 1498-1543), when he describes Cromwell as having "pudgy hands". When I was working on an MA in History, professors would have chastised me for getting "...too personal"... if I said that someone had pudgy hands. I get the feeling that Hutchinson does not like Cromwell.

Page 3: " 'Scruples' was a word unaccountably missing from his vocabulary" and the end always justified his means.

Page 138: "Yes, in truth, Cromwell was as guilty of corruption as sin itself".

The dissolution of the monasteries presented Thomas Cromwell with an opportunity to serve his king, while securing great wealth for himself and ennobling his own condition. On page 102, Hutchinson writes one of the most condemning sentences in the book: "Greed spread like a contagion". He further writes that the Duke of Norfolk, "...anxious not to appear too grasping...", coveted the monasteries at Bungay and at Woodbridge in Suffolk. Other English nobles are treated in a similar fashion. Thomas Cromwell, however, was just the right man for the job at hand, and happy to take a little here or there so that certain nobles would obtain the property nearby and convenient for them.

And, then, the author is not too happy with King Henry VIII. On the same Page 3, the author claims that "Henry's nation "... was transformed "...into what we would recognize as a totalitarian Stalinist state". In my opinion, I would suggest that the author makes a case for a comparison of Henry VIII's English nation with Germany under Adolf Hitler. As with Hitler, Henry could do no wrong. If you did something that either Henry or Hitler did not like, you lost your position and, often enough, your life. Henry and Cromwell developed a secret police that presaged the Gestapo. Henry's police would enter homes to see if there were relics (literally) of the old Religion. Hitler's Gestapo went into homes to count the number of pairs of leather shoes a woman possessed. In old England and in more modern Germany, you had best not speak ill of the ruling party, whether Henry's group or Germany's Nazis.

By the way, there are eight pages of color photographs of the protraits of many of the individuals involved. Anne of Cleves doesn't look too bad in her protrait just before page 153.

The atmosphere of Henry VIII's treacherous court is superbly evoked in this thrilling account. It is perhaps more a rich narrative about certain aspects of the reign than a detailed personal biography, and the author is not exactly sympathetic to Cromwell -- as long as he climbs to power and remains there; he considerably relents towards the minister's downfall. The best about this book are the many extracts from contemporary sources which nicely illustrate all kind of themes, for example the dissolution of the monasteries, or the government's venality, Cromwell's included. All in all, an exciting opportunity to delve into the England of Henry's most notorious minister.

This is an excellent introduction to one of Henry VIII's top minister who played an important role in the downfall of Anne Boleyn, It is an excellent compantion to the excellent new novel, Wolf Hall unless you don't want to know what ultimately happens in this royal soap opera.

Most enjoyable book describing Cromwell's work for King henry viii and his relation to king Henry viii