Thomas Cromwell, the chief minister to King Henry VIII, was executed on July 28, 1540. He was arrested on charges of treason, heresy, corruption, and an improbable accusation of plotting to marry the King's daughter Mary. His downfall was largely due to political enemies and the disastrous marriage he arranged between Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves, which humiliated the King. Despite being created Earl of Essex earlier that year, Cromwell was arrested during a Privy Council meeting, condemned by an act of attainder without trial, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Cromwell wrote desperate letters pleading for mercy, including one from the Tower where he appealed to the King with "Most gracious prince, I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy." However, this was unsuccessful. On the morning of July 28, 1540, he was publicly beheaded on Tower Hill. The execution reportedly took three blows of the axe to sever his head, performed by an executioner described as "ragged and butcherly." After his execution, his head was placed on a spike on London Bridge. On the same day, Henry VIII married Catherine Howard, signaling his swift move on from Cromwell's death

. Cromwell's execution marked a dramatic fall from power for a man who had been instrumental in the English Reformation and the administrative transformation of the government. His death was a result of court intrigue, political rivalries, and the King's changing favor.