Did Thomas Cromwell Plot Anne Boleyn’s Downfall?

Queen of England and King Henry VIII's second wife was Anne Boleyn. One of the key architects of the English Reformation, which saw the Church of England reject papal supremacy, was the king's senior minister Thomas Cromwell. Their alliance quickly deteriorated after they initially formed it, and it was abruptly ended when Anne Boleyn was put to death for treason. But did Cromwell mastermind the scheme to depose the queen, or did he merely execute the king's orders?

Three years into her reign as queen in 1536, Anne Boleyn had lost the king's favor due to her inability to bear him a son. Despite the fact that they were formerly close allies, she was also on bad terms with Thomas Cromwell because of their opposing ideas. Henry's first marriage was engineered to be dissolved so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, and in exchange, she appointed Cromwell as her right-hand man. However, Thomas Cromwell gathered proof that Anne had been having affairs with various men, including her own brother, in 1536. On May 19, 1536, she was judged guilty and put to death, opening the door for Henry VIII to wed Jane Seymour a few days later.

The majority of the evidence used against Anne Boleyn was without a doubt either fabricated or obtained by torture, although historians disagree as to what role Thomas Cromwell played in obtaining that proof. He either deceived the king and hatched a plot to eliminate a political rival, or he followed Henry's instructions all along.