Audley of Walden, Thomas Audley, Baron

Audley of Walden, Thomas Audley, Baron, 1488–1544, lord chancellor of England (1533–44) under Henry VIII. He was made speaker of the House of Commons in 1529 and lord keeper of the great seal in 1532. A loyal servant of Henry VIII, he supported the king's divorce (1533) from Katharine of Aragón and as chancellor presided (1535) over the trials of Sir Thomas More and John Fisher. He also aided in the prosecution of Anne Boleyn (1536), Sir Thomas Cromwell (1540), and other notables. He was created baron in 1538.

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