After establishing himself in London's legal and mercantile world, he went on to gain a seat in the House of Commons as MP for Taunton and to serve in the household of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was himself a formidable politician, statesman and diplomat.
Born to a working-class family of no position or name. Thomas Cromwell was born around 1485 in
Putney, London, as the son of Walter Cromwell, a blacksmith, fuller and cloth merchant, and owner of both a hostelry and a brewery.
As a youth, he left his family in Putney and crossed the
Channel to the continent.
There are various accounts of his activities in
France, Italy and the Low Countries .
It is alleged that he first became a
mercenary and marched with the French army to Italy, where he fought in the
battle of Garigliano on 28 December 1503.
While in Italy, he entered service in the household of the
Florentine banker Francesco Frescobaldi.
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| Thomas Cromwell -National Portrait Gallery, London |
Networker
par excellence and mixed among salespeople
Later, he visited leading mercantile centres in the Low
Countries, living among the English merchants and developing a network of
contacts while learning several languages.
He returned to Italy.
The records of the English Hospital in Rome showed that he
stayed there in June 1514.
Documents in the Vatican Archives suggest that he
was an agent for the Archbishop of York, Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge, and
handled English ecclesiastical issues before the Roman Rota.
Cromwell rose to
become the right-hand man of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, adviser to the King. He
survived Wolsey's fall from grace to eventually take his place as the most
powerful of Henry's ministers.
Cromwell
declared to Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer that he had been a
"ruffian ... in his young days".
As viewers of the TV drama, we realise that many of the behaviours in royal courts
and the intrigues of Tudor England are still to be recognised today.
The machinations of court life continue in our corporate world and the era of the Industrial Internet of things.
Corporate HQ are the equivalent to the palaces of Tudor times
We have few royal or ducal courts nowadays but their
‘descendants’ are some business HQs which have taken on the appearance of
powerful courts of the past .
Princedoms with their castles to house their entourage.
The design of the
Peterborough Pearl Assurance Castle, the
Doge palace of the Edinburgh HQ of RBS. Image links below
Courtyards of the Big Banks of the City of London tend to be a covered atrium now but vast spaces designed to impress and possibly impose or intimidate the visiting business courtiers of today.
Volumes of empty space convey corporate wealth and
stability.
In the world of TV depicted world of
business TV shows, people
pay court to the dukes and duchesses of the Dragons Den .
Apprentices court the
favour of Lord Sugar in front of his
throne like chair in the frosted glass boardroom.
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| How to achieve true greatness |
Courts require codes of behaviour, rules of etiquette a.
Book of etiquette
get written for our new age. Such an example would be DeBretts Etiquette for
the Digital Age.
Human Nature has not change much though.
So it is useful to
seek out past wisdoms to mix with the modern fads we must learn.
‘How to achieve true greatness’ No 29 in the Penguin Books
mini series * Great Ideas is worth reading.
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| The unabridged version |
Despite being a guide written for
16th Century Italian gentleman, its observations into human conduct
and the arts and crafts of success within a ducal court is fascinating.
It is
written as a discussion over two evenings between courtiers on the ideal virtues of a Renaissance
courtier.
Yet it covers the attributes ,
skills and knowledge covered in today’s HR requirements for job description and
personal profile.
It could even give inspiration to better written profiles of
Linked in.
Castiglione sets out values that continue to offer clarification in
questions of leadership espousing such qualities of prudence, courage, loyalty,
affability and style which still hold court for today’s sales professional.
It even covers extra mural activities some may wish to
covering their CVs.
It also suggests time honoured advice in the best way to
gain influence in power.
Who knows , maybe Thomas Cromwell could have saved his head in 1540 if he had kept to its precepts ! The first English edition was published in 1561
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