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Thomas More
Gardiner is King Henry’s Master Secretary and envoy to Rome and France. Henry also names him Bishop of Winchester, which is a high honor since it is one of the richest bishoprics in the nation. Like Cromwell, Gardiner begins his career by working for Wolsey. Cromwell and Gardiner dislike each other from the beginning because they compete for Wolsey’s favor. Wolsey is a father figure and mentor to them both, though he and Cromwell are closer, which Gardiner resents. Gardiner is an illegitimate child of a royal, which makes him a distant cousin of King Henry. While Gardiner is insecure about his own background, he enjoys mocking Cromwell for being the son of a blacksmith. Their mutual dislike continues through the years, even after Gardiner becomes Henry’s Master Secretary and Cromwell begins to make his way into court. While Cromwell goes out of his way to help Wolsey after Wolsey is dismissed from his position as Henry’s Lord Chancellor, Gardiner does nothing to help, and Cromwell holds this against him. Cromwell vows to get his revenge against Gardiner, and he achieves this years later when he takes over Gardiner’s role as Master Secretary. While Cromwell and Gardiner are constantly butting heads, Gardiner nevertheless comes across as a conscientious and intelligent man. Wolsey and King Henry trust him and send him as a delegate to Rome and France. Unlike Cromwell, Gardiner is surly and cold, and he is also a little too principled for Henry’s liking. Gardiner doesn’t balk at questioning the king’s orders or leading an opposition against him, as he does when he disapproves of Henry’s attempt to declare himself the head of the church. This is why Gardiner’s career stalls, while Cromwell, who unquestioningly carries out the king’s orders, rises at court.
Stephen Gardiner Quotes in Wolf Hall
The Wolf Hall quotes below are all either spoken by Stephen Gardiner or refer to Stephen Gardiner. 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 6: Chapter 1 Quotes
There is a feral stink that rises from the hide of a dog about to fight. It rises now into the room, and he sees Anne turn aside, fastidious, and Stephen puts a hand to his chest, as if to ruffle up his fur, to warn of his size before he bares his teeth. “I shall be back with Your Majesty within a week,” he says. His dulcet sentiment comes out as a snarl from the depth of his guts.
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Henry says, “Stephen is a resolute ambassador, no doubt, but I cannot keep him near me. […] I hate ingratitude. I hate disloyalty. That is why I value a man like you. You were good to your old master in his trouble. […]” He speaks as if he, personally, hadn’t caused the trouble; as if Wolsey’s fall were caused by a thunderbolt.
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Stephen Gardiner Character Timeline in Wolf Hall
The timeline below shows where the character Stephen Gardiner appears in Wolf Hall. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1: Chapter 2: Paternity, 1527
Despite the warmth of the April night, Stephen Gardiner is dressed in black furs that “look like oily and dense black feathers” that he...
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Wolsey plans to send Gardiner to Rome to talk to the Pope and other papal delegates about the king’s wishes....
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Part 2: Chapter 2: An Occult History of Britain, 1521-1529
In January of 1529, Stephen Gardiner travels to Rome to threaten Pope Clement on the king’s behalf. The Pope falls seriously...
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...declares that he believes Katherine, but Cromwell tells him to “Believe nobody.” They run into Gardiner, who tells them that if this court cannot grant Henry what he wants, the cardinal...
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Part 3: Chapter 1: Three-Card Trick, Winter 1529-Spring 1530
...is. The king “flushes with displeasure” but Suffolk doesn’t notice. Afterward, Cromwell runs into Stephen Gardiner, who is now the king’s Master Secretary. Gardiner wants to know if Cromwell’s meeting with...
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Part 3: Chapter 2: Entirely Beloved Cromwell, Spring-December 1530
...meet with the king to discuss this, but instead he gets his Master Secretary, Stephen Gardiner. Gardiner has a menacing attitude as he tells Cromwell that he will “put [him] straight...
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Cromwell “takes away the menace conveyed, and the message” as he mildly tells Gardiner that his cousin Richard Williams “sends greetings.” Gardiner’s “eyebrows bristle, like a dog’s hackles,” and...
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...“Call-Me-Risley,” because Wriothesley keeps explaining the pronunciation of his name. They also say Wriothesley is Gardiner’s spy since he works with Gardiner, too. Cromwell would like to ask these young men...
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...discuss Wolsey’s colleges and so he can show Cromwell his new carpet. Cromwell finds Stephen Gardiner there when he arrives at the house in Chelsea. Gardiner is trying to bait More...
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...laughs at his expensive tastes, as though “they were friends.” Later, More tells Cromwell that Gardiner has spoken on behalf of the cardinal’s colleges to the king, and that the king...
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...and his elderly father John More tell stories of “foolish women,” while Alice scowls and Gardiner, “who has heard all these stories before, is grinding his teeth.” More points to his...
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When Gardiner gets a chance to talk to Cromwell alone, he asks him if he knows which...
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...rich and she hears that he has “got everything in good working order,” which makes Gardiner laugh. Cromwell and Gardiner then head to Gardiner’s barge, and Cromwell says that More “daren’t...
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...this, and he had her placed under More’s care where he thought she’d be safe. Gardiner says she is safe, but Cromwell thinks she isn’t safe “from humiliation.” He tells Gardiner...
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Gardiner tells Cromwell he may still have other sons, since Alice is determined to find him...
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When Cromwell disembarks in Westminster, he tells Gardiner that the trip wasn’t too bad since “neither of them has thrown the other in...
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...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 Rafe. Johane’s...
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...him to lay his “magical hands” on their children, and “he prays for them all.” Gardiner tells Cromwell that the “council has the cardinal under observation,” while Norfolk says he will...
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...can reign. Norfolk is incredulous that “[t]hat talking shrimp” Mary Tudor might ever rule, but Gardiner seems interested in the idea. Cromwell says it would “depend [on] who advises her,” and...
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Part 4: Chapter 1: Arrange Your Face, 1531
...has already been decided that they are to be separated. He knows this from Stephen Gardiner. Rafe says it is harsh to “use the little girl against her mother,” and Cromwell...
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...is a sign of bad things to come. In August, Anne Boleyn tells Cromwell that Gardiner is to get Winchester, which was Wolsey’s richest bishopric. She says she wishes Cromwell were...
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...trusted, but Cromwell says that he understands “unprincipled men” like him. Wriothesley has seen both Gardiner and Cromwell rise in the world, and he can’t decide whom he should support—Cromwell completely...
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...it, too, Chapuys says that Cromwell “plays kings’ games now.” After dinner, Chapuys wonders what Gardiner will achieve in his talks with King Francois, since Francois wouldn’t be interested in supporting...
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Part 4: Chapter 2: “Alas, What Shall I Do for Love?”, Spring 1532
...new order” to cut revenues to Rome and make him the head of the church. Gardiner leads the opposition to the king, which angers Henry immensely, who demands to know if...
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...debate, not just knock [their] enemies down.” It “suits him, for the moment,” to have Gardiner in his post at Winchester in order to maintain “Henry’s reputation in Europe,” so he...
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Cromwell goes to see Gardiner in Westminster and tells him that Anne Boleyn is looking for a country house, and...
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Part 5: Chapter 1: Anna Regina, 1533
...Henry says this is his “best day.” Later, he tells Cromwell that he is sending Gardiner to France, and that Cromwell can perhaps be the new Master Secretary.
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Part 6: Chapter 1: Supremacy, 1534
Wriothesley brings news that Gardiner is back from France, and that he is threatening to ruin Wriothesley for working to...
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Later, the king calls in Cromwell and Gardiner to look through the bill he wants to put to Parliament that will “secure the...
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Gardiner declares that this bill is too personal. Cromwell says he means “to seal this act...
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After Gardiner leaves, the king says Gardiner might be “a resolute ambassador,” but that he is disloyal,...
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...he says that Cromwell is already doing the work anyway. He laughs to think that “Gardiner will be burning up inside.” Cromwell says that he plans to host the council at...
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