Team Frain/Cromwell

"As I stated in another thread, I`m currently reading John Schofield`s biography of Thomas Cromwell, and have just finished reading about the fall of Anne Boleyn and her faction. I always assumed that the story about Smeaton`s torture with the knotted rope was true. Its` mentioned in several places, shown in just about every film adaptation of the period and really, took it at face value. However, according to the Schofield biography, the only evidence of this comes from the Spanish Chronicle, and isn`t mentioned anywhere else. The same Spanish Chronicle also claims Cromwell was pivotal in the downfall of Katherine Howard, that Anne of Cleves was Henry`s fifth wife and numerous other `howlers` (as Schofield calls them).
This is one of the key reasons why Cromwell has been portrayed as a blood stained monster for the last 500 years, and now it turns out it is almost certainly a fabrication. My mind is clean amazed, as Cranmer would say.
I`m sorry for starting a seemingly pointless thread about this, but its` a very interesting point, and something that needs to be taken into consideration before the vilification of Cromwell is continued."

"Watching S2 over and over and over again, but here in Ireland, Cromwell has just been executed again, so i've just gone through a relapse!"