Posted on 07/28/2020 5:08:06 PM PDT by CheshireTheCat
...It was on this date in 1540 that the Machiavellian minister of Henry VIII fell by the instrument he had wielded so ably against so many others.
While Henry strove to get his end away, Thomas Cromwell made the Reformation, setting his energetic hand to the needfully violent reordering of England.
In almost a decade as the king’s chief minister, he had dissolved so many monasteries, annulled so many noble prerogatives, backstabbed so many courtiers, and sent so many of every class to the scaffold that most at court had some reason to hate him. (Cranmer was the only one to (cautiously) object to his old partner’s arrest.)...
(Excerpt) Read more at executedtoday.com ...
Just about succeeded in genociding the Irish.
I must admit that to this day I still have nightmares about my visit to the Tower of London.
When you see pictures of religious ruins in England, you have to remember that most would still be standing if not for Henry’s seizure. He ordered that the roofs and windows be removed. Ironically, he paid for prayers for soul at one abbey he didn’t destroy—Westminster Abbey.
Strange. I’ve been watching old movies from that time all last week. ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (two versions) and several others.
I still remember when the PBS broadcast THE WIVES OF HENRY VIII almost forty seven years ago.
A couple episodes from The Tutors were really brutal to watch. His death was one of them. A drunken execution that took something like 5 wacks before a Yeoman finally finished him off. Thomas More at least went in one clean stroke, although original sentence was to be drawn and quartered.
If you have cable, I recommend Wolf’s Hall, about Thomas Cromwell. Not as sexual or graphic as the Tutors.
There are some GREAT BBC docu’s on about the kings and queens of England.
The Devils Brood..
About the reigns of the Plantagenets.
“From the devil we came, and to the devil we will go.”
Nasty bunch them.
Wolf Hall on PBS Masterpiece lays out the full life of T. Cromwell based on a work of fiction by Hillary something. Watched season one- two is pending. It’s pretty good.
These are great stories. Thanks for posting them.
That was Oliver Cromwell, and it was a hundred years later.
Glad to hear that.
IIRC Oliver Cromwell was a nephew of Thomas C. Nephew took the Cromwell name.
-—Wolf Hall on PBS Masterpiece lays out the full life of T. Cromwell based on a work of fiction by Hillary something. Watched season one- two is pending. It’s pretty good.——
It’s not just pretty good - it’s great. I don’t really care about the complaints that Hilary Mantel made bad-guy Cromwell into a more sympathetic figure, because it actually improves the story, even if it IS historically questionable.
Everyone in it is excellent, and Claire Foy’s turn as Anne Boleyn is insanely good.
The Wolf Hall trilogy by Hillary Mantell brings this to life in an exceptional manner. After the first two books, then see the series from Masterpiece which has a great portrayal by Mark Rylance.
One of my VERY favorite Masterpiece Theatre historical portrayals....the actors were excellent, every one of them and I think he won an Emmy (Golden Globe) for his portrayal of Cromwell.....
LOL We were composing at the same time and similar opinions. I think Tracy Borman’s historical work influenced Mantell’s character make-up of Cromwell,
Yes, she just finished the final book of the trilogy. The actor playing TC was in Dunkirk (he was the boat captain) also played the giant in BFG. Really loved it as a kid and adult.
Getting England free of Rome’s corrupt grip was worth It. Anne Boleyn’s Last prayer (before she was beheaded) was answered that England would be Christian, not Babylonian
Perhaps MacCulloch as much as Borman
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