Thomas Cromwell

Thomas Cromwell was King Henry Tudor's senior courtier. At one point he was second in power only to the King. However, Thomas too suffered like many others that believed they were truly Henry's friend. Thomas was frequently referred to by his last name of Cromwell, and he was one of the few people that disliked Henry's third wife Jane Seymour.

A well educated and powerful courtier, Thomas made a sudden dramatic fall of favour and his execution was inevitable. Much of it was due to unintentionally getting Henry into the sticky situation of wedding Anne of Cleves. However, despite Thomas' blamelessness in the matter Henry ordered him to be executed. Thomas landed himself on the scaffold and was executed on July 28, 1540. Dignity was not very evident in his last words, but he didn't die without shame and had a cool air about him before his death, fortunately.

Biography
Thomas was born a commoner in Putney, London, sometime in 1485. He was the son of a brewer/blacksmith who was known for drunken and illegal behavior. Thomas was a soldier in Italy in the French army, a clerk in the Nertherlands and a lawyer in London. He later joined the service of Thomas Wolsey. He comes to prominence in season two of The Tudors.

Season One
Cromwell has a less prominent role in season one than he does in the next two seasons. He is Henry's average courtier, if a little higher, although Henry's favorite courtier of the moment is Thomas More. Cromwell isn't prominent yet.

Season Two
Cromwell's role is much more prominent in the second season.