Show Notes
Thomas Cromwell and Oliver Cromwell are among the most recognisable figures of Tudor and Stuart history – but few people realise that they were related. Separated by a century, their lives were shaped by remarkably similar rises from relative obscurity to the centre of English political life.
In this episode of the Aspects of History podcast, historian Miranda Malins joins Mark Turnbull to discuss her new book, The House of Cromwell. Together they explore the Cromwell family’s origins, its two branches, the wealth and estates inherited from Thomas Cromwell, and how fortunes were made and lost across the Tudor and Stuart periods.
Miranda also explores the striking parallels between Thomas and Oliver, from their early obscurity and religious convictions to their relationships with Parliament and the Reformation. The conversation also considers how both men’s reputations have changed over the centuries – and how their family continued to navigate the political and religious upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries.
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