Join us for an evening of talks delving into the fascinating life of Thomas Cromwell at Southwark Cathedral in partnership with Tudor Times the online repository for all things Tudor and Stewart (1485–1625).
Discover the rise and fall of this influential historical figure on Thursday 11 September from 6.00pm
Hear from three experts as they explore Cromwell's impact on British history. Each talk will be 40 minutes long followed by audience Q&A. This event will be taking place in the Cathedral library and is in-person only.
Don't miss this unique opportunity to learn more about one of the most intriguing figures of the Tudor period.
Our Speakers
Melita Thomas - Thomas Cromwell: Hero or Villain?
For centuries, Thomas Cromwell was the man we loved to hate – the despoiler of monasteries, the tormentor of Henry VIII’s queens, and the destroyer of anyone who stood in his ambitious path. But then Hilary Mantel’s tremendous Wolf Hall trilogy gave us a new Cromwell – a sensitive family man, a seeker of social justice, and a counterpoint to all that was bad about the pre-Reformation church. Do either of these extremes reflect the real man? In this talk, Melita Thomas will give an overview of Cromwell’s life, and try to find the reality behind these competing myths.
Melita Thomas is an historian of the early modern period, a doctoral candidate at UCL and the co-founder and editor of the popular Tudor Times website. She is the author of The King’s Pearl: Henry VIII and his daughter Mary, The House of Grey: Friends and Foes of Kings, and 1000 Tudor People.
Dr Owen Emmerson - Thomas Cromwell and Anne Boleyn: Allies or Adversaries?
Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell are often seen as political allies, united by reformist ideals and their roles in England’s break from Rome. But were they ever truly aligned? This talk will explore their complex relationship, from collaboration to conflict. It will examine their clash over the dissolution of the monasteries and the redistribution of wealth - was it policy or power that drove them apart? Finally, it will assess Cromwell’s role in Anne’s downfall. Did he orchestrate her destruction, or was he merely the instrument of a wider conspiracy?
Dr Owen Emmerson is a social and cultural historian, author, and consultant. He works as an Assistant Curator at Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn's childhood home. In 2024, he was a historical consultant for the BBC adaptation of Dame Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. Emmerson was part of the research teams that identified the Book of Hours captured in Hans Holbein the Younger’s famous portrait of Thomas Cromwell (2023) and a miniature portrait of Princess Mary (later Queen Mary I) by Suzannah Horenbout (2024). The co-author of five books, he has also contributed to numerous television documentaries, such as The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family (BBC2).
Dr Joanne Paul - Cromwell and More: Saints, Sinners and the Succession
Tudor England has few more antagonistic pairings that the battling Thomases: Cromwell and More. In popular retellings, they are presented as the other’s antithesis – if one is a goodie, the other must be a baddie – and history shows them as diametrically opposed in their views of politics, religion and even family life. Their enmity is both mortal and immortal; Cromwell is seen to have orchestrated More’s treason trial, though it is More who is worshipped today.
But what if we have it all wrong?
Together we will explore the untold story of Cromwell and More, from the very beginnings of their friendship, a quarter century before More’s demise, through to their divergent presentations in popular media today, questioning the history we think we know.
Dr Joanne Paul is an award-winning historian, broadcaster and writer with a passion for sharing her research on Renaissance and Tudor history. She is Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Sussex and a 2017 AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker. Her first trade book, The House of Dudley, was hailed as a 2022 Book of the Year by The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and History Today. Her biography of Thomas More is the result of more than a decade’s research into the man and his work.
