Using epistolary networks built from over 30,000 letters in the State Papers of England between 1523 and 1547, The king’s hand offers a new approach to the career and legacy of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s right hand man and ‘most faithful servant’. This book foregrounds for the first time Cromwell’s use of correspondence to manage and maintain his control and authority, using digital and quantitative methodologies from historical and social network analysis to demonstrate his position in power structures at court, and offering fresh insight into his relationships with the king, other advisors at court, and the lasting impact of his administrative changes. In doing so, it uses quantitative measures to argue that Cromwell was a minister and advisor entirely unparalleled and unique in influence and power in the Henrician reign and beyond.
Price: £85.00
Pages: 272
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Publication Date:
16 February 2027
ISBN: 9781807070229
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Tudor & Elizabethan Era (1485-1603), European history: Renaissance, HISTORY / Europe / Renaissance, HISTORY / Social History, European history, Public administration
Caitlin Burge is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Early Modern History and Literature at the University of Galway
Introduction
Section I: Thomas Cromwell and the Tudor court
1. 1522–47: Henrician court culture and power in the network
2. A rise to power: Cromwell, Wolsey, and shared epistolary networks, 1522–34
Section II: Cromwell in power, 1534–40
3. King and minister: Modelling data and power dynamics
4. The court lynchpin: Cromwell and network functionality
5. The King’s gatekeeper: Intermediaries in the network
Section III: Power post-Cromwell, 1540–47
6. Shifts and vacuums: Key players in the post-Cromwell network
7. Cromwell’s legacy: Administrative structures in the network
Conclusion: Post-Scripta
Bibliography
