How Did Cromwell Lose His Power

Now that Thomas Cromwell was Henry the VIII’s right-hand man, it was his duty to follow through with Henry’s plan to detach religiously from Rome. This was the ideal opportunity for Cromwell to prove that not only was he loyal to Henry and what he wanted, but that he was also capable of going beyond even what Wolsey had achieved. Fortunately, Cromwell recognized the power of the people in Parliament, and planned to use that power to his advantage in securing the strength of Henry’s overall power. His plan was rather simple, but could have completely fallen apart had it not been dealt with properly. Parliament needed to be convinced that the King’s sudden claim for supreme power was totally legitimate, and that the proposition to end Rome’s power and replace it with Royal Supremacy would be beneficial. In 1533, an Act referred to as the Act in Restraint of Appeals was …show more content…
This is something that Cromwell already has experience with, having helped Wolsey with the same project less than a decade earlier. By 1536, the monasteries in England were covering about one sixth of the available land. Henry had appointed Cromwell as the ‘King’s deputy’ as head of the church. From then, until 1540, Cromwell claimed the land for the crown and in many cases, sold off parts of the buildings . This created large sums of money for the crown, and Cromwell got to keep some for himself as a reward for his work. Even though his own religious views were “not very strong”, and no matter his opinions of the faith of others, his political ideas were always shown to have more importance in his actions. By the time Cromwell’s tirade was over, Henry had already beheaded the wife he’d fought so hard to marry. He had also married Jane Seymour, who unfortunately died soon after giving birth to the future King Edward VI; the King’s long awaited