Altogether, Cromwell in his travels around monasteries gained an interest in and country-wide knowledge of monastic life which was very unusual among laypeople in his day, and which fatefully transmogrified with remarkable speed after he gained real power under King Henry in 1532. This distinctive set of relationships reflected his anomalous place among Wolsey’s servants dealing with Church affairs. Most were clergy, as one would expect from the Pope’s legate a latere in England, but Cromwell was not, because of his specialist role in preparing the Cardinal’s plans for immortality in both this
...more
