Wolf Hall's Thomas Cromwell was really a 'bullying monster' says Simon Schama 

Simon Schama criticised Wolf Hall\'s portrayal of Thomas Cromwell

The historian said that Hilary Mantel\'s version of Henry VII\'s ill-fated chief minister is much more favourable than the statesman deserved.

He told the Financial Times: "When I was doing research for A History Of Britain, the documents shouted to high heaven that Thomas Cromwell was, in fact, a detestably self-serving, bullying monster, who perfected state terror in England, cooked the evidence, and extracted confessions by torture.

"He also unleashed small-minded bureaucratic \'visitors\' to humiliate, evict and dispossess thousands of monks and nun, not all of whom hand their hands up each other\'s robes or were passing off pig bones as holy relics.

"On at least one occasion he had the fake relic and the custodial friar burnt side by side. Witty, that.

"The fact that Thomas More (who could use some help right now) was likewise not averse to burning people as well as books, if they strayed from sound doctrine, does not mean that Cromwell, in comparison, was a paragon of refreshing straight-forwardness.

Schama, who regularly presents historical documentaries as well as writing a number of books, also denied the fact that Cromwell was a "good family man" had any bearing on his character.

He said: "Sure, he was a good family man. So was Himmler."

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Despite Schama\'s comments, he also admitted he is not "an authority on the Tudor Reformation".

Mantel\'s novel, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2009, has been adapted by the BBC.

The drama, in which Cromwell is played by Mark Rylance, has received mixed reviews, after many viewers struggled to follow the complex plot.

The series also features Damian Lewis as the hot-headed Henry VIII.

Many historians have been unimpressed with Wolf Hall - including the outspoken historian David Starkey, who labelled it "a deliberate perversion of fact".

Schama himself said that there are many historians "who are happy that Hilary Mantel\'s prodigious storytelling has drawn millions into the realm of the past where, once captive, they can be informed about what really happened".

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