de bene esse: Thomas Cromwell – a very modern politician?

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Painting of Thomas Cromwell by Hans Holbein the Younger

Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, painted by Hans Holbein the Younger

Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540) was Henry VIII's 'fixer' and right-hand man, one of the most influential figures in British history and arguably the first modern politician.

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, of Oxford University, and Mark D'Arcy, the BBC's Parliamentary correspondent, consider how Cromwell's life as a Tudor MP compares to that of his contemporary counterparts.

Dealing with backstabbing and resentment

Politics is awash with strong personalities and Cromwell often clashed with his peers. Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, resented Cromwell's low birth and was furious when Cromwell forced the destruction of Thetford Priory, his family mausoleum, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. There was also Anne Boleyn - a former ally of Cromwell. She wanted the wealth confiscated from the monasteries to be used for good causes rather than enriching her husband, King Henry.

Cromwell key facts

Born around 1485 in Putney, London
Mentored by Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII's advisor
Devised the plan for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon
Engineered the Reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Was behind the disastrous marriage of Henry and Anne of Cleeves
Executed on Henry's orders in 1540

Find out more about Thomas Cromwell's remarkable life

Diarmaid MacCulloch: Cromwell rose to the top from the back streets of Putney in London. He was a self-made man in a world of hierarchy, where nearly everyone believed God had put them in their place. It was easy to see someone who moved dramatically from one social place to another as defying God's will. In the end, Cromwell was destroyed by noblemen who considered themselves the natural rulers under the king.

Mark D'Arcy: The tribalism may take a different form today but the same dynamic is there. No-one in politics likes to see a favourite promoted, especially when they don't have the 'right' background. Currently, the muttering is aimed at "Etonians" promoted by David Cameron ahead of long-serving party loyalists. Similar resentments were directed at Peter Mandelson - a Blair favourite unloved by the Labour old guard. His elevation by Gordon Brown is one of the closest modern parallels to Cromwell's rise; installed as a powerful minister/fixer whose skills in presentation and intrigue made the government run more smoothly.

Public relations

When it came to PR, Cromwell was a visionary. During the Reformation he encouraged printed propaganda against the pope and traditional religion, commissioned Hans Holbein the Younger to make anti-papal wood cuts, and subsidised playwrights to publicise the Protestant message.
DM: Although Tudor England had no kiss-and-tell press nor paparazzi, London was still a crowded, face-to-face society where most people lived under the constant eye of their servants. This was before the age of the diary, still less the blog, and Thomas Cromwell's servants made sure at his downfall that his personal papers went up the chimney before the King seized them.
MD: Under the merciless gaze of Twitter, any political mis-step, real or imagined, can trigger a career-ending avalanche of ridicule. Modern politicians know that an offhand comment or off-colour joke can destroy them. Yet they're expected to be spontaneous, to speak from the heart and to be 'authentic'. Very few have the combination of street-smart and charisma to carry it off.

Navigating scandals

“Start Quote

Mandelson's elevation ... is one of the closest modern parallels to Cromwell's rise”

Mark D'Arcy BBC Parliamentary Correspondent

Few politicians stay completely beyond the tentacles of scandal. However, Cromwell initially dodged several, including the total discrediting of his mentor Cardinal Wolsey, and the anti-Reformation protests of the Pilgrimage of Grace. During Anne Boleyn's fall from Henry's favour, Cromwell encouraged charges of adultery and incest against her.

DM: Cromwell eventually fell victim to that commonest destructive fault of politicians, the belief bred by success that he was beyond harm, and no longer needed to listen out for trouble. His last years show all those signs: snubbing aristocrats, snaffling an ancient earldom and high office reserved for blue-bloods, and dragging Henry into a marriage with Anne of Cleves. Worse still, in order to have the marriage annulled, Henry had to give humiliating evidence of its sexual failings.
MD: Treason and heresy have been replaced by (in)credibility and avarice as the modern deadly political sins. Where Cromwell could help himself to the contents of abbeys, modern MPs can be sunk by excessive claims for expenses. It would take a pretty spectacular policy mistake to provoke an immediate sacking, but ministers who've stumbled tend to find themselves demoted or removed altogether come the next reshuffle. Still, it beats public decapitation.

Keeping the king/prime minister onside

As a politician, Cromwell knew that his survival depended on keeping the centre of power happy. This worked for a stretch - Henry made Cromwell the most powerful man in the kingdom (aside from himself), and gave him the ancient title of Earl of Essex. Unfortunately the Earl's luck ran out shortly after and he was executed for heresy, corruption and treason in July 1540.
DM: Given that his noble colleagues resented him, keeping Henry sweet was the only solution. Not easy: Henry was volatile, easily swayed from affection to furious, destructive hatred at any suggestion that allies were undermining him or not delivering the political goods. Henry consented to Cromwell's death, but a few weeks later lamented he had lost the best servant he'd known.
MD: The overwhelming power Henry enjoyed simply does not exist in a modern democracy. Ex-ministers can be separated from their office but not their heads - and then they lurk in the shadows, plotting vengeance. These were the folk who toppled Margaret Thatcher, destabilised Major, Blair and Brown, and who now nip at Cameron's heels. Tony Blair knew what a threat a sacked Gordon Brown would be, and endured years of provocation and snubs because he never quite dared to sack him.

Leaving a legacy

Modern politicians frequently talk about 'leaving a legacy'. Cromwell's not only outlived him, but still survives. He helped found the Church of England, with the monarch as head, set the precedent of using parliament to change the constitution, and introduced the first major secular laws over personal morality - normal practice today.

On TV

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch of Oxford University

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch is the presenter of Henry VIII's Enforcer: The Rise And Fall Of Thomas Cromwell
Watch the programme on BBC Two on Friday 24 May at 9pm, or catch up later on BBC iPlayer

BBC Two: Life and Death in the Tudor Court

DM: Cromwell's innovations were considerable and, more than most politicians, he left permanent legacies. He instigated a Protestant England, launched the careers of Protestant politicians who, under later monarchs, put England on a dramatic new path across the whole world. He also ordered every English parish to keep a register of baptisms, weddings and funerals - the first time this had been a requirement.

MD: During the Reformation, Cromwell presided over a redistribution of wealth beyond the wildest dreams of Lenin. It's hard to imagine how any modern politician could have similar impact on national life. Thatcher's privatisations are the closest recent parallel although on nothing like the same scale. And the central legacy of his legislative genius remains; the monarch is still the Supreme Head of the Church of England.