Thomas Wriothesley was a pivotal figure in the political and religious upheavals of the 1530s and 1540s, yet to date his role has not been considered in any depth. This work rectifies that deficiency, and in the process illuminates further the workings of mid-Tudor government and politics. Wriothesley worked with both Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell, carried out Cromwell"s plans for the re-organization of the privy council and other administrative offices, had a hand in the monastic dissolution and in the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace. For the rest of Henry"s reign, Wriothesley was the conduit through which the king"s wishes were made known. He held the office of lord chancellor into the reign of Edward.