#a big part of this I guess is would Cromwell do it w/o the king’s permission/approval

[historyartthings]

Has this been done as a poll yet?? Apologies if it has! It’s a very morbid one but it’s always been an incredibly divisive question and I’m curious.

Admittedly these are very simplistic answers. The reason being, whilst I acknowledge there’s more room for dimension of feeling there, I wanted to get to the basics of it if you like? Boiled down, when those charges against Anne were drawn up, did Henry honestly think they were true?

#it’s a difficult question #someone take one for the team and ouija board Henry lol #but anyway #a big part of this I guess is would Cromwell do it w/o the king’s permission/approval #he was clearly more than happy to construct the charges. that he was the architect is beyond doubt #but w/o henrys involvement or knowledge? I’m not so sure.. #have to say I’m convinced by MacCulloch’s suggestion that Anne and Thomas Did Not Get On #even if they worked together on aspects of the reformation his evidence is solid enough imo to support the idea they weren’t allies #(the reformation is where they found some common ground it seems? #they agreed on the poor laws he’d had drafted it looks like? #and both disliked and pushed back against the legislation that went through parliament re: monastic closure) #for example #but overall #seems they tried to work around each other for the most part. again elements of the reformation excepted #and that would presumably cause issues and conflicts of interest. #on top of any personality clashes etc. #but could that crystallise into a plot of that calibre absent of Henry’s involvement? #or his approval? #again.. not so sure #henry viii #anne boleyn #thomas cromwell #Tudor history #poll