History Video Blog #10

Posted on February 10, 2010 by admin

Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540) was the Chief Minister of Henry VIII for the last eight years of Cromwell’s life. He has had a public relations problem. In the 1960s the Hollywood film, A Man for All Seasons, portrayed him as an ambitious and amoral man who was willing to frame Thomas More by causing the latter to lose his position as Lord Chancellor, and then to lose his life by being beheaded for his principles. In short, Cromwell was a villain.

The truth is that all people who are English speakers owe Thomas a great debt. He championed the publication of the English Bible, and took Bible reading from the realm of subversion to the state, to the normal practice of every English person. In this video we consider his rise to power, and in a subsequent episode we will ponder his equally spectacular fall from the king’s graces.

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  • http://twitter.com/culfinatan/status/8965891398 Dr. Liam Atchison

    Another New Post! Who should have portrayed Thomas Cromwell in AMFAS, Leo McKern or perhaps David Suchet? http://is.gd/8absQ The Raft #hvb

  • Kelly

    Mysteriously, I was suckered into singing that song to my entire class (in a microphone, nonetheless) during lunch in third grade.

    As for the actual man, I don’t know much about Henry. If I recall, A Man For All Seasons paints him to look like a petulant child. However, they also made More seem likeable.

  • http://www.elfnaturals.com andrew elf

    Second verse, same as the first….

    Brutal, self absorbed, egotistical, flatulating butthead!

  • http://www.emmahouse.org admin

    You mean H8!

  • http://www.elfnaturals.com Andrew Elf

    Yes Sir

  • http://www.emmahouse.org admin

    Andrew: Do you know something about the personal habits of Henry VIII that you would like to share with the group?

  • http://www.emmahouse.org admin

    Kelly: What was the name of the original artist?

  • http://www.readwithjoy.com Dee Anne

    Do you mean the Herman’s Hermits?

  • http://www.readwithjoy.com Dee Anne

    My answer about Henry 8 is that I have absolutely no idea! My opinion of him is far too colored by fictional accounts of his rule.