It was Thomas Cromwell who destroyed all evidences of Black Rule in Britain?
Article from the Telegraph Media Group Limited 2015
Thomas Cromwell was the Islamic State of his day: this pathologically ambitious "ruffian" sent hundreds to the chopping block and destroyed England's religious and artistic heritage. By Dominic Selwood: 22 Jan 2015
Main Quote: No one can be sure of the exact figure, but it is estimated that the destruction started and legalised by Cromwell amounted to 97% of the English art then in existence. Statues were hacked down. Frescoes were smashed to bits. Mosaics were pulverized. Illuminated manuscripts were shredded. Wooden carvings were burned. Precious metalwork was melted down. Shrines were reduced to rubble. This vandalism went way beyond a religious reform. It was a frenzy, obliterating the artistic patrimony of centuries of indigenous craftsmanship with an intensity of hatred for imagery and depicting the divine that has strong and resonant parallels today. Note: Oliver Cromwell was not directly descended from Thomas Cromwell himself but from Thomas's sister, Katherine, who had married Oliver's great-great-grandfather Morgan Williams, after which the family began adopting the Cromwell surname.
On July 24, 2014, worshippers in Mosul were asked to leave one of the city’s most historic and famous buildings — an ancient Nestorian-Assyrian church that had long ago been converted into the Mosque of the Prophet Younis (biblical Jonah). The Islamic State then rigged the entire building with explosives, and blew it into oblivion. Tragically, it was a Shia mosque - one of many that have suffered the same fate. The UK's current primetime TV fantasy blockbuster du jour is Wolf Hall. Everyone loves a costume drama, but there is a world of difference between fictional history and historical fiction. One dramatizes real people and events. The other is an entirely made-up story set in the past. The current tendency is to blur the two, which Wolf Hall does spectacularly.
It can only be a good thing that
people are again thinking about
Cromwell. Because as we look to the
east, to the fanaticism that is
sacking the cultural and artistic
heritage of other ancient societies,
we can all draw the same, inevitable
conclusions about religious
extremism in any age, whether
Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or
Buddhist. None of it is pretty. All of
it is real. And we, in England, are not
in some way removed from it. We
only have to survey the smashed up
medieval buildings the length and
breadth of the country, or
contemplate Cromwell's record of
public beheadings and other
barbarous executions. It is plain that
extremists come in all shapes and
sizes
As an adviser to Henry, Cromwell
could have attempted to guide the
hot-headed king, to tame his wilder
ambitions, counsel him in patience,
uphold the many freedoms enjoyed
by his subjects. But Cromwell had
no interest in moderation. He made
all Henry's dreams come true, riding
roughshod over the law of the land
and whoever got in his way. For
instance, we are hearing a lot about
Magna Carta this year, but Cromwell
had no time for tedious trials and
judgement by peers. With lazy
strokes of his pen, he condemned
royalty, nobles, peasants, nuns, and
monks to horrific summary
executions. We are not talking half a
dozen. He dispatched hundreds
under his highly politicised
"treason" laws. (When his own time
came and the tables had turned, he
pleaded to Henry:
"Most gracyous
prynce I crye for mercye mercye
mercye." But he was given all the
mercy he had shown others.) And
then there is his impact on this
country's artistic and intellectual
heritage. No one can be sure of the
exact figure, but it is estimated that
the destruction started and legalised by Cromwell amounted to
97% of the English art then in
existence. Statues were hacked
down. Frescoes were smashed to
bits. Mosaics were pulverized.
Illuminated manuscripts were
shredded. Wooden carvings were
burned. Precious metalwork was
melted down. Shrines were reduced
to rubble. This vandalism went way
beyond a religious reform. It was a
frenzy, obliterating the artistic
patrimony of centuries of
indigenous craftsmanship with an
intensity of hatred for imagery and
depicting the divine that has strong
and resonant parallels today.
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