Person of the Month

Cromwell, soldier, merchant, lawyer, politician and reformer, cut a swathe through tradition to begin the transformation of England from a mediaeval country within Catholic Christendom to a Protestant Nation State. His exceptional administrative ability made him indispensable to Henry VIII, and his political acumen helped him out-manoeuvre his many rivals. Like others before and after him, he eventually fell from power through entanglement with Henry’s matrimonial problems.