On This Day in Tudor History:

On July 28, 1540, Thomas Cromwell was executed on charges of treason.
Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, served as King Henry VIII's chief minister from 1532 to 1540. Cromwell rose to such power because he was one of the strongest advocates of the English Reformation, the English Church's break with the papacy in Rome, something which was vital to King Henry in having his marriage to Katherine of Aragon annulled so he could marry Anne Boleyn.
Cromwell started his political career with the patronage of the Boleyn family and then, ironically, he was instrumental in the family's downfall and the execution of Queen Anne and her brother George.


Also on this day: Because Henry VIII liked nothing better than to get married the same day as a high profile execution (he was formally betrothed to Jane Seymour the day Anne Boleyn was beheaded), the King married his 5th wife, Catherine Howard, on this same day.