Editing Thomas Cromwell (section)

===Fall of Anne Boleyn===
[[File:Hans Holbein the Younger - Jane Seymour, Queen of England - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Jane Seymour]] by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]]]]
The final session of the Reformation Parliament began on 4 February 1536. By 18 March, the [[Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535]] ([[27 Hen. 8]]. c. 28), an act for the suppression of the Lesser Monasteries, those with a gross income of less than £200 per annum, had passed both houses.<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=23 September 2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6769 |pages=ref:odnb/6769 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |place=Oxford |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/6769 |access-date=16 February 2023 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.}}</ref> This caused a clash with Anne Boleyn, formerly one of Cromwell's strongest allies, who wanted the proceeds of the dissolution used for educational and charitable purposes, not paid into the King's coffers.{{sfn|Ives|2005|pp=307–310}}

Anne instructed her chaplains to preach against the Vicegerent, and in a blistering sermon on Passion Sunday, 2 April 1536, her [[almoner]], [[John Skypp]], denounced Cromwell and his fellow Privy Councillors before the entire court. Skypp's diatribe was intended to persuade courtiers and Privy Councillors to change the advice they had been giving the King and to reject the temptation of personal gain. Skypp was called before the council and accused of malice, slander, presumption, lack of charity, sedition, treason, disobedience to the gospel, attacking "the great posts, pillars and columns sustaining and holding up the commonwealth" and inviting anarchy.{{sfn|Ives|2005|pp=307–310}} Cromwell took no action against Skypp beyond the unsympathetic questioning, and he remained as the Queen's almoner, attending her when she was awaiting execution in the [[Tower of London|Tower]].{{sfn|Schofield|2011|pp=176–179}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=331}}

Anne, who had many enemies at court, had never been popular with the people and had so far failed to produce a male heir. The King was becoming impatient, now enamoured of the young [[Jane Seymour]] and being encouraged by Anne's enemies, particularly Sir [[Nicholas Carew (courtier)|Nicholas Carew]] and the Seymours. In circumstances that have divided historians, Anne was accused of adultery with: [[Mark Smeaton]], a musician of the royal household; Sir [[Henry Norris (courtier)|Henry Norris]], the King's [[groom of the stool]] and one of his closest friends; Sir [[Francis Weston]]; Sir [[William Brereton (courtier)|William Brereton]]; and her brother, [[George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford]].{{sfn|Lipscomb|2013|pp=18–24}}{{sfn|Schofield|2011|pp=192–205}} The Imperial Ambassador, [[Eustace Chapuys]], wrote to [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] that: <blockquote>he himself [Cromwell] has been authorised and commissioned by the king to prosecute and bring to an end the mistress's trial, to do which he had taken considerable trouble... He set himself to devise and conspire the said affair.{{sfn|Lipscomb|2013|p=23}}{{sfn|Calendar of State Papers, Spain|loc=5(2), [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol5/no2/pp137-162 61], and footnote 1}}{{sfn|Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII|loc=10, [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol10/pp440-470 1069]}}</blockquote> Regardless of the role Cromwell played in Anne Boleyn's fall, and his confessed animosity to her, Chapuys's letter states that Cromwell claimed that he was acting with the King's authority. Some historians, such as [[Alison Weir]] and [[Susan Bordo]], are convinced that her fall and execution were engineered by Cromwell,{{sfn|Weir|1991|p=69: "[…]Cromwell was ambitiously plotting[…]no less than the removal of the Queen."}}{{sfn|Bordo|2014|p=93: "[…]the plot against Anne was orchestrated by Thomas Cromwell without Henry's instigation or encouragement."}} while others, such as [[Diarmaid MacCulloch]] and John Schofield, accept that the King instigated the process.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=315:&nbsp;"So Henry put Cromwell and Wriothesley secretly to work […] he needed agents to turn the rumours into a case."}}{{sfn|Schofield|2011|p=170: "Cromwell became involved in the royal marital drama only when Henry ordered him onto the case."}} [[Alexander Alesius]], a theologian and associate of Cromwell, wrote that it had indeed been Cromwell who hinted to Henry of Anne's infidelity, but the King had in turn instructed Cromwell to turn the rumours into proceedings.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=315}}

The Queen and her brother stood trial on Monday 15 May, while the four others accused with them were condemned on the Friday beforehand. The men were executed on 17 May 1536 and, on the same day, Cranmer declared Henry's marriage to Anne invalid, a ruling that illegitimised their daughter, [[Elizabeth I|Princess Elizabeth]]. Two days later, Anne herself was executed. On 30 May, the King married Jane Seymour. On 8 June, a new Parliament passed the [[Second Succession Act]], securing the rights of Queen Jane's heirs to the throne.{{sfn|Leithead|2008}}