Thomas Audley, Baron Audley

Thomas Audley, Baron Audley (born 1488, Earls Colne, Essex, England—died April 30, 1544, London) was the lord chancellor of England from 1533 to 1544, who helped King Henry VIII break with the papacy and establish himself as head of the English church. Historians have viewed him as an unprincipled politician completely subservient to Henry’s will.

Trained in law, Audley rose in politics to become speaker of the House of Commons in 1529. Because he gained Parliament’s acceptance of Henry’s antipapal policies, the king made him lord keeper of the great seal (1532) and lord chancellor (1533). As lord chancellor, Audley presided at the trials of Bishop John Fisher and Sir Thomas More; he had both Fisher and More executed for refusing to repudiate their support of papal supremacy in England. Although he worked with Thomas Cromwell to establish the supremacy of statute law in England, Audley played a prominent role in securing the attainder of Cromwell (1540) as well as of Henry’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard (1542). In 1538 he was created Baron Audley of Walden, and four years later he founded Magdalene College, Cambridge. The barony became extinct upon his death in 1544.