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Part 2, Chapter 2: Pages 237-259
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Mirror & the Light, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Loyalty, Volatility, and Absolute Power
Nobility, Meritocracy, and the Aristocracy
Risk, Progress, and Downfall
Masculinity and Misogyny
Corruption and Injustice
Summary
Analysis
Cranmer, Fitzwilliam, Riche, and Cromwell come up with a plan to counter the rebels. Charles Brandon will take men to restore order in Lincolnshire. Meanwhile, authorities order London guilds (organizations that regulate trade and are involved in civic life) to arm their men to counter the rebels. Riche, Cromwell, and Call-Me discuss moving Mary. They’re concerned that if rebels get ahold of her, she could be used by the opposition—including the Holy Roman Emperor—to raise a competing claim to the throne against King Henry.
Cromwell, Riche, and Call-Me’s discussion about Mary’s possible involvement in the rebels’ plans, as well as possible incursions from the Holy Roman Empire, point again to the high-stakes nature of royal succession in a monarchist society where one sovereign ruler holds absolute power. In this case, people think that if they could only replace King Henry, that is all they would need to create a political situation that would be much more amenable to their goals.
Themes
Cromwell goes to speak to Chapuys and raises the possibility that Chapuys’s master, the Holy Roman Emperor, will aid the rebels. Chapuys dismisses the possibility by playing down the threat the rebels pose. As the two continue talking, Cromwell says that he told Mary she’s received all the help from him she can expect to get. If she supports the rebels to any extent, then Cromwell will “cut off her head.” Chapuys smiles. He thinks Cromwell is bluffing and says that while King Henry may hate the Pope, he hates Luther even more, which leaves Cromwell with limited options.
Again, Cromwell shows the lengths that he’s willing to go to support the king’s goals, in this case implicitly threatening to execute Mary, whom he is fond of, if he catches a hint that she is challenging the king’s authority. Chapuys’s assessment that Cromwell is bluffing also shows that while Cromwell has made his name by helping the king carry out some of his cruelest decisions, he (Cromwell) doesn’t necessarily have a reputation for cruelty himself, at least not among people involved in politics.
Themes
Cromwell goes to see Norfolk in Lambeth and brings Rafe and Call-Me with him. Norfolk has raised a battalion of 600 hundred armed men and asks Cromwell how many soldiers he has mustered. Cromwell feels almost ashamed when he says 100. Norfolk brings up the fact that Cromwell’s upbringing means that he doesn’t have as large of a staff as Norfolk does. Norfolk adds that if Mary takes a step toward the rebels, he will neither speak to her nor defend her. Cromwell says the same is true for him. Norfolk asks about his brother, Tom Truth, and Cromwell says he is still locked in the Tower of London.
This passage shows once more the tension between Norfolk and Cromwell and underlines how that tension is related to the conflict between hereditary aristocracy, which Norfolk represents, and meritocracy, represented by Cromwell. In this case, because Cromwell didn’t grow up in nobility, his staff is limited to the people he’s been able to hire in the years since he’s become politically connected. Norfolk’s family, on the other hand, has always had a significant staff due to the family’s noble status.
Themes
After leaving Norfolk, Rafe and Cromwell discuss what is happening. Rafe has heard of monks leading the rebels armed with battle axes. Cromwell returns to Windsor to be with King Henry. Governance must continue even while they are raising an army. The king’s army gathers force and prepares to march. By mid-October, the king’s forces arrive at Lincolnshire and defeat the rebels. Most rebels ask for pardons in exchange for handing over the ringleaders. Meanwhile, the King of Scotland travels to meet the King of France. Bishop Gardiner, the English ambassador to France, writes to ask how he should handle the situation. King Henry says that Gardiner should pass along the information that Henry plans to use the full force of England’s army against the rebels. Cromwell and King Henry then make a list of supporters and how many soldiers each person can supply.
Notably, Rafe hears that monks are helping to lead the uprising. That points to the idea that much of the motivation for the uprising is religious in nature, namely that supporters of Catholicism are rejecting the king’s Protestant reforms (including his policy to seize Catholic religious properties and use the money from those seizures to enrich himself and his supporters). King Henry’s statement to Gardiner—that Gardiner should say that Henry plans to use the full force of England’s army against the rebels—shows once more Henry’s attempts to present an image of strength. Notably, though, he does that at a time when he and his regime seem to be under significant threat and in a vulnerable position.
Themes
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