Master Secretary. : William Paget and the last years of the reign of Henry VIII
Andrew Johnston

William Paget was Henry VIII’s closest confidant in the last years of his life and was the central figure in the political drama of the final weeks of the reign, as Henry lay dying. Master Secretary. William Paget and the last years of the reign of Henry VIII tells the full story of this neglected period for the first time.

Henry left two daughters and a nine-year-old son, and this unstable legacy threatened the very existence of the Tudor dynasty. Internationally, England was vulnerable. The break from Rome, the wars against Scotland and France in the 1540s, and threat of a catholic crusade against England raised the spectre of invasion. This fear lasted for the rest of the Tudor century, but it reared its head for the first time in these years. Domestically, the rule of a nine-year-old boy threatened a return to the political chaos and civil war of the late-fifteenth century.     

From the moment he became Henry’s secretary in 1543, Paget very quickly became the dominant figure at court. Like Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Wolsey his origins were humble. He was born in the City of London, was educated at St Paul’s School and Cambridge, and was a servant of Thomas Cromwell. Through formidable intelligence and a hard-edged ambition, he found himself at the heart of power. 

His mission was to make England safe from foreign threats and ensure political stability at home. Paget rarely left Henry’s side, but when he did it was when the king sent him overseas, as his diplomatic expert, to negotiate directly with the two great European rulers, the Emperor Charles V and the king of France, Francis I. The wars of the 1540s made Europe a dangerous place and Paget sought security through peace, even when it put him dangerously at odds with the king.

Previous accounts of the 1540s have neglected this international dimension. Master Secretary. William Paget and the last years of the reign of Henry VIII, provides a new context to understand the deadly political conflicts at court at the end of the reign. Paget was a tough political operator and was instrumental in eliminating the great aristocratic family, the Howards, in the last days of Henry’s life. Above all, he wanted to destroy Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, who he saw as a grave threat to the Tudor dynasty.

Paget’s diplomatic and political machinations were all designed to ensure a stable transition to a new regime. The key document in securing that regime, one of the most controversial in English history, was Henry’s will. Paget spent hours with the king towards the end of his life drafting this document. Master Secretary. William Paget and the last years of the reign of Henry VIII provides a reappraisal of the will and the establishment of the new regime under King Edward.