Assess the claim that reform of the Privy Council was the most important achievement of Cromwell’s
Thomas Cromwell became Lord Privy Seal in 1536, a role which gave him as much authority over the king as a chief minister and allowed him to influence Henry and impose his own beliefs on the kingdom. During his tenure in such a high position, he made a number of changes- so much so that it has even been argued his policies amounted to a “revolution in government”. His most important achievement should be judged by how important each of his successes were to him, but also by the extent to which his policies affected England positively. Cromwell’s reform of the Privy Council was part of a wider reform of central government and will be considered as such in response to this statement.
When Cromwell rose to power, he held four important offices, all of which gave him enormous influence in government. Since Henry was not very interested in the administrative side of things, Cromwell was given carte blanche to pursue his aims- one of which was to increase royal control throughout the entire country, creating a more uniform system of rule. An example of this was when Cromwell replaced the way the King’s income was received from a household system of finances to a bureaucratic system. Originally, Henry received his income from individual officers who were unregulated and whose accounts weren’t properly audited. But Cromwell created an organised system of departments, who received money from specific sources and were regularly checked to make sure they behaved as they should. Examples of these departments include the Court of Exchequer, who dealt with the income from sheriffs, and the Court of First Fruits and Tenths which handled church wealth that came to the King. The new system was far more efficient and modern than the old one; so much so that it can even be likened to the financial departments of today. The reason they were called courts was because they had the legal power to settle disputes over what was owed to the government, meaning his aim of increasing the extent of royal control was achieved. Through the new bureaucratic system he also managed to reduce the role of the King’s Chamber by increasing the authority of the Court of Exchequer. This was another major achievement of his, to further move from an informal, household way of finance to a larger and more efficient way of running things.
The other major governmental change of Cromwell’s was the establishment of the Privy Council. Previously there had been an informal, medieval system of a large council (between 70 and 90 members) with many who didn’t attend. Cromwell established a more elite group of twenty permanent councillors, who assumed responsibility of running the country each day. This ensured that no individual councillors were able to grab power for themselves, moving away from a system of control by a few people to a more bureaucratic group. The Privy Council turned out to be a great success, with the competence of its members allowing it to function extremely effectively during turbulent times, especially in the Pilgrimage of Grace. The creation of the Privy Council meant decision making in government was quicker, slightly more democratic and that factions were less likely to argue if they all had a greater say in how the country was run. The impact of the Privy Council, therefore, was large and can be considered a significant achievement for Cromwell in his overhaul of government.
However, it can also be argued that religious reforms were the most
