[SunkenCiv]

VIIIth had been readied to become Archbishop of Canterbury, and his older brother Arthur to succeed their father. As such, Henry was better qualified and better educated to run the church in England than the Popes were. :')

It inverts the conventional view of the saintly More being undone by the corrupt, amoral, serpentine Cromwell, the king's chief minister.

The Boleyn faction had managed to get Catherine of Aragon removed, as it had earlier gotten rid of Wolsey, predecessor of More. Cromwell helped get rid of More. Ultimately, Thomas Cromwell was exactly what Henry VIII wanted him to be. Those are the kind of officials all absolute rulers want. Of course, it wasn't enough -- when he finally made a misstep, he was given a show trial and executed.

Thomas' nephew was great-grandfather to Oliver Cromwell, victor in the English Civil War. Oliver was installed as the first modern dictator, and had King Charles I executed. Try that on for size, monarchy.

[Pelham]

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