Abstract
Cromwell was the King’s servant and in that relationship lay the source and limitation of his power. As the holder of high office and a councillor he was expected both to execute royal policy and by giving counsel to shape policy. For Cromwell the art of government lay in conceiving of policy in terms of its enforcement. A devotee of achieving the possible, he has appeared as an executive who was concerned above all with ways and means. Occupied with the drafting of legislation and the details of administration, his role as the agent who put policies into force seems so demanding and absorbing that it is tempting to regard him as the mere servant who obeyed the King and carried out the King’s policies.
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Notes
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© 1978 B.W. Beckingsale
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Beckingsale, B.W. (1978). Limitations and Opposition. In: Thomas Cromwell. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-01664-8_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-01664-8_6
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