Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII and chief architect of the English Reformation, was executed on Tower Hill on 28 July 1540. Born around 1485 in Putney, Surrey, he had risen from humble origins to become the most powerful man in England after the king, reshaping both church and government. His downfall came after he arranged the king’s disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves, a union annulled within six months. Arraigned under an act of attainder for treason and heresy, he was beheaded without trial.
On the same day Cromwell lost his head, Henry VIII married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. Henry later expressed deep regret at the execution of his chief minister, widely regarded as one of the most consequential acts of his reign.
