Were Thomas Cromwell’s reforms the most significant development in government?

Cromwell made a lot of changes in government during being chief minister for 7 years for the king. One of the main things that helped him stay in power for so long and that got him the trust and support of the king was managing to get the annulment between Henry and Catherine of Aragon which Thomas Wolsey, earlier failed to do. Cromwell was thought to have modernised the government system to the extent that Elton who is a very well respected historian said it was “revolutionary”. He reformed what used to be a very medieval style feudal system, where it was easy for one person to dominate, such as Wolsey, into a modern government, based on a bureaucracy, organised by capable people following specific rules and procedures. Cromwell was credited with two reforms of major importance. Whereas in the past, individuals who were never systematically audited and bound by procedures had received the king’s income, Cromwell introduced a bureaucratic model. In the Thomas Cromwell model, departments received money from pre-specified sources –...

100 15 1530 1536 20 300 7 70 abil abl achiev act adjud administ advanc advis allow alreadi also annul anoth aragon argu attend audit augment away base becam becom believ best better bodi bound bring brought bureaucraci bureaucrat capabl catherin central chamber chang chief chosen church close come control could council councillor court creat credit cromwel crown day day-to-day depart develop didn dismiss disput dissolut divorc domin done duchi earlier easi edward effect effici elton enabl end england essay establish even ever exampl exclus exist expand extend extent fail famous feudal financi first follow fruit function gave get given good got govern grace head help henri historian hold hous howev import incom independ individu influenc intent introduc king lancast land larg larger law legal like local long look lot made main major make man manag meant mediev men minist minor model modern modernis monasteri money must need never north number obvious offic old one oppos organis otherwis overlap paid parliament part past peopl perhap person pilgrimag place power pre pre-specifi prevent previous privi procedur provid realli reason receiv reduc reform regul reign reorganis replac represent respect respons result revolut revolutionari rich right rigor rule run said sanction say second seem self self-advanc set signific sole someth sometim sourc specif specifi start state status stay strong style support suprem surviv swept system systemat tenth theori thing thoma though thought titl took trust twenti two union use usual vi wale way well wherea whose wolsey would year