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Norfolk is one of the members of Henry’s council and uncle to Anne Boleyn. He hates Wolsey for wielding influence over the king and is happy to raid his house and get rid of him. He admires Thomas Cromwell’s loyalty to Wolsey and paves the way for Cromwell’s entry into the king’s council. Norfolk is a violent man who threatens “to tear [Wolsey] with his teeth” if he won’t move up north after he is dismissed as Lord Chancellor. Despite Norfolk’s bluster, Cromwell realizes that Norfolk is in fact nervous to be in King Henry’s presence, which highlights for Cromwell that the king can be a dangerous man when displeased. Since Anne Boleyn is his niece, Norfolk is supportive of her rise in power since it would also guarantee his place in court.
Duke of Norfolk/Thomas Howard Quotes in Wolf Hall
The Wolf Hall quotes below are all either spoken by Duke of Norfolk/Thomas Howard or refer to Duke of Norfolk/Thomas Howard. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 2: Chapter 1 Quotes
This is an indecent spectacle: the man who has ruled England, reduced. They have brought out […] the scarlet silk in which he braves the summer heat of London, the crimson brocades that keep his blood warm when snow falls on Westminster and whisks in sleety eddies over the Thames. […] There have been days when, swaggering out, he would say, “Right, Master Cromwell, price me by the yard!”
[…] So day by day, at his request and to amuse him, he would put a value on his master. Now the king has sent an army of clerks to do it. But he would like to take away their pens by force and write across their inventories: Thomas Wolsey is a man beyond price.
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Part 3: Chapter 1 Quotes
“Cromwell, I am content you are a burgess in the Parliament.”
He bows his head. “My lord.”
“I spoke to the king for you and he is also content. You will take his instructions in the Commons. And mine.”
“Will they be the same, my lord?”
The duke scowls. […] “Damn it all, Cromwell, why are you such a…person? It isn’t as if you could afford to be.”
He waits, smiling. He knows what the duke means. He is a person, he is a presence. He knows how to edge blackly into a room so that you don’t see him; but perhaps those days are over.
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Part 3: Chapter 2 Quotes
“A thousand pounds?” Henry whispers.
It is on the tip of his tongue to say, that will be a start on the ten thousand which, to the best of my knowledge and belief, you have owed the Cardinal of York for a decade now.
He doesn’t say it, of course. At such moments, Henry expects you to fall to your knees—duke, earl, commoner, light and heavy, old and young. He does it; scar tissue pulls; few of us, by our forties, are not carrying injuries.
The king signals, you can get up. He adds, his tone curious, “The Duke of Norfolk shows you many marks of friendship and favor.”
The hand on the shoulder, he means: the minute and unexpected vibration of ducal palm against plebeian muscle and bone. “The duke is careful to preserve all distinctions of rank.” Henry seems relieved.
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Duke of Norfolk/Thomas Howard Character Timeline in Wolf Hall
The timeline below shows where the character Duke of Norfolk/Thomas Howard appears in Wolf Hall. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 2: Chapter 1: Visitation, 1529
The Duke of Norfolk and the Duke of Suffolk arrive at Cardinal Wolsey’s house and tell him that he...
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Part 2: Chapter 2: An Occult History of Britain, 1521-1529
...lifted, showing a fine pair of green silk stockings.” She tells him that her uncle Norfolk and her brother George Boleyn were complaining about Cromwell that morning for being a man...
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...next. The Duke of Suffolk “threatened him to his face,” and Suffolk is joined by Norfolk, Thomas Boleyn, and Lord Darcy in a campaign against Wolsey, saying that Wolsey has failed...
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...has become more powerful than the king. The Duke of Suffolk and the Duke of Norfolk take the Great Seal of the Lord Chancellor away from him. As they look among...
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Part 3: Chapter 1: Three-Card Trick, Winter 1529-Spring 1530
...couldn’t have gotten the seat without the approval of the king and the Duke of Norfolk. Cromwell wonders what Norfolk’s intentions were in approving him for the seat, and Rafe tells...
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Norfolk rattles as he walks since “his clothes conceal relics: in tiny jeweled cases he has...
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Norfolk tells Cromwell that the king hasn’t forgotten that Cromwell argued against his war with France...
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Later, Cromwell goes to the Duke of Norfolk, “who is always ready to see him,” to ask for his help in managing the...
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...cardinal in return for his wealth, and that he no longer likes the company of Norfolk and Suffolk. Norfolk tells Cromwell that the cardinal must go north, away from the king—if...
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Part 3: Chapter 2: Entirely Beloved Cromwell, Spring-December 1530
Norfolk threatens that he will go to Richmond “to tear [the cardinal] with his teeth,” and...
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Later, Cromwell returns to Norfolk and tells him that if he wants the cardinal gone, he must go with Cromwell...
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...in a cheerful mood and “will talk about anything except the cardinal.” After Cromwell and Norfolk are dismissed, the king calls Cromwell back into the room to talk to him alone,...
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The king comments that the “Duke of Norfolk shows [Cromwell] many marks of friendship and favor.” Cromwell knows that the king is surprised...
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...tell anyone about it. Cromwell leaves, “face composed, fighting the impulse to smile broadly.” When Norfolk asks him what the king said, Cromwell tells him he had “some special hard words...
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...but that Suffolk’s wife was Katherine’s friend. Also, his wife couldn’t bear the idea of “Norfolk’s niece” having precedence over her, since she herself used to be Queen of France. Suffolk...
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...whom he has started writing books in both Latin and English. While some say that Norfolk’s grandfather was involved in the deaths of two royal children in the Tower, More thinks...
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...tells her they do not mention her in More’s house. Cromwell says he knows that Norfolk and her father are busy meeting ambassadors from France, Venice, and the Emperor—he suspects that...
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...that the cardinal looks well and is popular with the people. The petition, one of Norfolk’s ideas, has the bishops and peers put their signatures on a letter asking the Pope...
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...the king can “be offended again” and bring back the charges against him. He notices Norfolk and Gardiner whispering together. Wriothesley diligently helps Cromwell and is a better assistant than even...
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...for them all.” Gardiner tells Cromwell that the “council has the cardinal under observation,” while Norfolk says he will “chew him up, bones, flesh, and gristle.” On October 2, the cardinal...
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Norfolk is furious when he meets Cromwell. He says that a “[c]ardinal’s hat [is] not enough...
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Norfolk says it’s a pity that Cromwell works for Wolsey and not for Norfolk. Cromwell says...
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It is November again—a year since the cardinal was ousted—and Norfolk tells an audience of gentlemen that they will be in a difficult situation if Henry...
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...shouldn’t be,” says that Henry does have a child born in wedlock who can reign. Norfolk is incredulous that “[t]hat talking shrimp” Mary Tudor might ever rule, but Gardiner seems interested...
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Part 4: Chapter 2: “Alas, What Shall I Do for Love?”, Spring 1532
...her their marriage was not valid since “he was married to Anne Boleyn.” Cromwell finds Norfolk and the Boleyns gathered together, worried and upset. Anne says she denies everything, and Cromwell...
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...Boleyn that “if the Pope cannot stop [her] becoming queen,” then neither should Harry Percy. Norfolk asks Cromwell to “[b]eat his skull in,” and Cromwell says he will do it “[f]iguratively.”
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...legal binding. He also tells him that if he makes any comments about Anne’s “freedom,” Norfolk will “bite [his] bollocks off.” He then calmly tells Percy that Anne hates him, and...
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...[…] stiff with […] personal terror.” He finally decides to end their flirtation by sending Norfolk to ask Anne to dance. Cromwell wonders if he really does love his king, which...
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Part 5: Chapter 2: Devil’s Spit, Autumn and Winter 1533
...next day, the king’s bastard son, Henry Fitzroy, the Duke of Richmond, marries Mary Howard, Norfolk’s daughter. Anne Boleyn has arranged this marriage so Fitzroy can’t be married off to some...
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Part 6: Chapter 1: Supremacy, 1534
Next, Cromwell goes to meet Audley and Norfolk, who say they should all go down on their knees and beg the king to...
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...things take a downturn,” and he asks Cromwell to remember the cardinal. Cromwell recalls how Norfolk had said he’d “tear” Wolsey with his teeth, and he thinks that “man is wolf...
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Part 6: Chapter 2: The Map of Christendom, 1534-1535
...go, and he says that if he falls off his horse or vomits, his father-in-law Norfolk will never let him forget it. However, after the executions, Norfolk himself is shaken by...
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Part 6: Chapter 3: To Wolf Hall, July 1535
...in [his] own house.” The jury took his “sudden animation” to be evidence of guilt. Norfolk asked More to leave Riche’s character aside and to clarify whether he spoke the words...
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...his execution. Cromwell said he hadn’t, but that the king would surely show More mercy. Norfolk told Cromwell to try to convince the king to be merciful, and he said that...
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