Cromwell

    Cards (8)

    • Government
      SK1 = Reduced Privy Council membership from 70-90 members to a more effective 20 allowing them to react quickly in emergencies
      SK2 = Split Wales into shires to bring it in line with England and gave Council of Wales powers needed to bring Wales under control of central government - major leap towards modernisation of gov
      CSK = Wolsey’s Eltham Ordinances had cut Privy council membership down to 6 which improved efficiency - modernisation process had already begun
      CONSENSUS = Wolsey’s chief advisor at the time was Cromwell
    • Religion
      SK1 = 1536 Ten Articles and 1537 Bishop’s Book both undermined Catholic sacraments
      SK2 = Greatest achievement was the distribution of an English bible to every parish in the country - Matthew’s Bible then the Great Bible
      CSK = 1539 Act of 6 Articles reasserted Catholic sacraments and made denial of transubstantiation punished by burning
    • Finances
      SK1 = Earned Henry £1.3 mil by dissolving the monastries
      SK2 = When this money ran out he persuaded parliament to agree to a peacetime taxation of £214,065 - was able to maintain success
      CSK = Sanctioned building of coastal defences around Calais costing £376,477 to defend against Catholic crusade - was a waste as no crusade took place
    • How did religion cause his fall?
      SK1 = Cromwell was caught harbouring over 60 protestants
      SK2 = Act of Attainder confiscating his property mentioned his support for Lutheran Robert Barnes
      CSK = Cromwell still had support from the protestant population due to his religious reforms e.g. The Great Bible
    • How did Anne of Cleves cause his fall?
      SK1 = Henry dubbed her the ‘Flanders Mare’ and was unable to consummate
      SK2 = Discord between France and Spain made the alliance unnecessary and Henry now wanted to marry Catherine Howard - divorce should’ve been easy as the marriage was unconsummated but Cromwell stalled until he was arrested in June 1540 - Henry married Catherine on the day of Cromwell’s execution
      CSK = Alliances were no longer needed as there was no threat of catholic crusade - Henry’s marriage would have always been his own decision rather than advisors
    • How did the Conservative Faction cause Cromwell's fall?
      SK1 = Norfolk took over as chairman of religious settlement committee at 1539 Parliament
      SK2 = Norfolk found him harbouring the protestants and accused him of treason - direct attack from conservative faction who provided Catherine Howard as an alternative to Henry
      CSK = Cromwell was able to assume leadership of the Privy Chamber in 1540 and pack it with his own supporters
      CONSENSUS = Ultimately not enough to counteract the opposition he faced from major members of Privy Council e.g. Norfolk whose niece was engaged to Henry
    • Luck
      SK1 = After Wolsey’s fall, he secured a nomination to the vacant parliamentary seat of Taunton, with the help of one of his contacts, Sir William Paulet.
      SK2 = He was of common birth in Putney even describing himself as a “ruffian” in his youth to Cranmer
      CSK = He approached the Boleyn faction to try and ally with them but they refused to work with anyone who had been aligned with Wolsey
    • Ability
      SK1 = Memorised the entire New Testament while riding from France to Italy
      SK2 = In his role of Principle Secretary, he was at the centre of affairs as so many instructions passed through his hands. He started to impress the King informally by coming up with solutions to problems e.g. the Great Matter, that more experienced/high status ministers were unable to solve.
      CSK = Cromwell was also helped by the fact that he had a number of friends who were close to Henry, including Bishop Stephen Gardiner and Thomas Heneage
    See similar decks