Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell was the son of a blacksmith but he, himself was a lawyer. He ascended to power and remained chief minister of Henry VIII for eight years. He influenced the decisions of king from his marriage to the matters of public concern. He orchestrated matters including the foundation of the Church of England for king’s marriage with Anne Boleyn, after refusal of marriage from the pope. Thomas started considering himself as equal to the king and in his obsession with power, he started dismissing the aristocrats, who helped him in various matters. The people thought of taking revenge for his actions. It was rumored that Thomas wants to marry king’s daughter, so he was arrested, tortured and later beheaded on the commands of the king. Despite of his strong affiliation with the king, he was executed on king’s orders.
King Henry
Another important character in the book is King Henry VIII. Thomas Cromwell was his chief minister and the king trusted him blindly. Cromwell eliminated his second wife, Ann Boleyn from his life and the king married Jane Seymore for his heir. Jane passed away while giving birth. Henry had no respect for his third wife, and he decided of getting married again. Thomas started the search for his fourth wife and the king rejected most of the potential brides and decided to marry Ann of Cleves. Cromwell did not want to marry him to the Ann of Cleves but despite of his unlikeness, the king married her. Although Henry adored Cromwell for his advices but he ordered to kill him when he heard that Cromwell wanted to marry his daughter.
The Aristocrats
There are the characters of aristocrats, who helped Cromwell in eliminating the queen Anne Boleyn from king Henry’s life. These aristocrats also assisted Cromwell in various other matters but after becoming power hungry, Cromwell started executing them. The aristocrats could not tolerate this insult so they decided to take revenge from him. As Cromwell was a member of privy council so the aristocrats could not harm him. They decided to execute him from the hands of king himself. They alleged that Cromwell was a traitor and he wanted to marry king’s daughter, Marry Tudor. The king did not ask for his justification and Cromwell was murdered.
