Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Wolf Hall, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Ambition, and Deception
Poor Leadership and Violence
Children and Human Connection
Dogmatism vs. Open-Mindedness
Myth and Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
Long ago, a Greek king had 33 daughters and each one of them murdered her husband. Their father exiled them and set them adrift on a ship. They reached a land they named Albina, where they mated with the demon inhabitants and gave birth to a race of giants. Eight centuries later, Brutus and his band of men landed in Albina and defeated the giants. King Arthur descended from Brutus, and his namesake, Prince Arthur, married Katherine, but died at the age of 15. If he were alive, his brother, Henry, would most likely be Archbishop of Canterbury and wouldn’t be pursuing “a woman of whom the cardinal hears nothing good.”
The ancient history of England is narrated in mythical form and ties in with the characters of the novel, which underscores the idea that they, too, are characters as much as people. While history is being narrated in the novel, Mantel suggests that all history is, in essence, a story—not objective truth, but a version of events.
Themes
The lady first appears at court at Christmas of 1521. Soon, there is a rumor that she will marry Harry Percy, the Earl of Northumberland’s heir. Cardinal Wolsey is upset at this news, and he calls in her father, Thomas Boleyn, to tell him that this can’t proceed. Harry Percy is to marry the Earl of Shrewsbury’s daughter, just like Wolsey and the king planned. The Boleyns—who were traders not so long ago, and therefore are not an important family—must be happy with the match the cardinal has arranged for their daughter with the Butlers of Ireland.
When Wolsey was a powerful man in court, he even controlled the marriages between the courtiers to ensure that matches were made between equals. Ironically, he considered Anne Boleyn to be too inferior to marry even an earl, which explains why he never considered her a threat to his plans of marrying King Henry off to a princess.
Themes
Thomas Boleyn says that his daughter Anne and Harry Percy have already “pledged themselves before witnesses,” but Wolsey tells him this is irrelevant. He says that Boleyn should marry his daughter off to the Butlers before the court starts speaking of her as “spoiled goods.” Thomas Boleyn is angry after this meeting, and he mutters under his breath that the cardinal is a “[b]utcher’s boy.” He says that Cromwell, who is also in the room, is the “[b]utcher’s dog.” Cromwell notices that in the firelight, Wolsey’s arms look very long—“his reach is long, his hand is like the hand of God.”
Wolsey considered the Boleyns an inferior family because they were not long-established nobility, but Wolsey’s own father was a butcher, a fact that Thomas Boleyn doesn’t let him forget. Thomas Boleyn calls Cromwell a “butcher’s dog,” implying that Cromwell gets Wolsey’s scraps while he himself has no real power. In contrast, Wolsey seems all-powerful, with an almost supernatural reach.
Themes
After Thomas Boleyn leaves the room, Cromwell mentions to Wolsey that the king is rumored to be sleeping with Boleyn’s older daughter, Mary Boleyn—not his younger daughter, Anne Boleyn, the one who is involved with Harry Percy. This does not worry Wolsey because Mary, “a kind little blonde,” is already married, which would be useful if she got pregnant with the king’s child—the king would have the option to not acknowledge the child as his own if he preferred not to.
When confronted with the king’s indiscretions, Wolsey is always in problem-solving mode and thinks a step ahead to how the indiscretion might cause a larger problem. Cromwell seems to be hinting that Wolsey should be a little kinder to Thomas Boleyn since he has such a close connection to the king, at this point through his daughter Mary.
Themes
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The king already has an illegitimate son, called Henry Fitzroy, whom he has made a duke. The cardinal asks Cromwell if Katherine knows about the king and Mary Boleyn, and Cromwell says she does. Wolsey says she is “a saint.” He also tells Cromwell to let him know immediately if he hears any more London gossip.
Katherine is aware that the king has mistresses and seems to have made her peace with this, confident in the knowledge that she is the queen and can’t be replaced—all of which is about to change. Cromwell has a good handle on court gossip, which makes him a valuable resource to Wolsey as he conducts his business.
Themes
In 1529, on the first night when the cardinal is at his Esher residence, Cromwell thinks back to that night all those years ago and asks Cavendish what happened next with Harry Percy and Anne Boleyn. Cavendish pretends he is Percy and asks Cromwell to take on the role of Wolsey, and they act out a scene in which Percy begs to be with Anne and the cardinal refuses, even getting Percy’s father to threaten to disinherit him. Percy is then forced to marry Mary Talbot. Cromwell wonders how Anne could ever respect a man who would leave her because he feared his father, and Cavendish says she didn’t, but that she “liked his title.” When Anne heard what Wolsey had done, she vowed to have her revenge, but she was laughed at by the cardinal’s men, who could not imagine “how she would rise and rise.”
When the cardinal is ousted from his position as Lord Chancellor, Cromwell seems to guess that Anne Boleyn had something to do with it, which is why he tries to better understand the consequences of Wolsey’s decision to prevent her from marrying Harry Percy. Cavendish insists on performing the scene as a play, which lends the scene an air of comedy and also highlights the fact that all these historical events have several interpretations. In Cavendish’s version, Anne promises to have her revenge on Wolsey for ruining her prospects, while this whole angle was missing in the cardinal’s own narration of events. Cavendish also portrays Anne as a very ambitious young woman who wanted to marry Percy only for his title, which hints at the ruthless ambition she will also display in her relationship with King Henry.
Themes
Cavendish says that their biggest mistake was that they didn’t realize why the king had opposed Anne Boleyn’s marriage to Percy—it was because he himself had his eye on her. Cromwell wonders if this was when he was already sleeping with her sister Mary Boleyn, and Cavendish says it was. Cromwell wonders how the king’s every desire was thwarted by all these people who aimed to please him—Anne, too, refused him, and nobody knows how. He also cannot understand how the cardinal could have missed all these details.
The reason for the cardinal’s fall seems to be that he didn’t pay enough attention to the power shifts that were taking place behind the scenes. Later, when Cromwell is a courtier, he ensures he stays informed on court gossip since he understands from this experience that it can be dangerous to ignore it.
Themes
In a flashback, the novel narrates how the cardinal opens a court of inquiry in May 1527 to look into the validity of the king’s marriage. It’s supposed to be a secret court, without even Katherine knowing about it, but in reality, the whole of Europe knows. The king produces the documents that permitted him to marry his brother Arthur’s widow, and he expects the court to find these documents defective. Wolsey is prepared to comply, but he tells Henry that even if the court agrees with him, Katherine will surely appeal to Rome.
Henry is a willful king who expects all his demands to be met. Wolsey is desperate to help him find a way to end his marriage because he knows that his own career—and probably his life—depends on it. Still, Wolsey’s verdict can be overturned by the church in Rome, so he is rather powerless in this matter.
Themes
Henry and Katherine have had six children, but only one of these children lives—Mary Tudor, who is “small but vigorous.” Henry is disappointed that he has no male heir, and he tells the cardinal that he is sure it is because he and Katherine have sinned by marrying each other. The cardinal admits to Cromwell that the king’s claim doesn’t seem “entirely sincere” since no rational man could believe in such a “vengeful” God. Henry sends his daughter Mary to Ludlow when she is 10 years old, so she can hold court as Princess of Wales. Katherine thought this meant that her husband was content with their one child, but she now realizes that she was wrong.
Henry wants the cardinal to declare that his marriage to Katherine was invalid from the beginning, and Wolsey is forced to acquiesce even though he doesn’t quite agree with him. While Henry claims that his children with Katherine die because their relationship is an incestuous—and therefore sinful—one, Wolsey admits to Cromwell that he doesn’t believe the king is “entirely sincere” in this claim. Wolsey would never admit his doubts about the king to anyone else because he knows it is dangerous to contest the king’s claims.
Themes
Katherine blames Wolsey for the secret hearing, and she accuses him of conniving for years to push her out of power by placing his spies in her household and denying her meetings with the Spanish ambassador. Wolsey tells Cromwell that he expected her to see the whole business as Wolsey’s fault while completely exonerating Henry. Wolsey insists that he favors neither the French nor the Emperor—he just wants peace. Cromwell admires Katherine’s stateliness and her gowns that are stitched with so many gemstones “that they look as if they are designed less for beauty than to withstand blows from a sword.”
While attempting to procure the king’s annulment, Wolsey seems to be falling out of favor with the king because he isn’t succeeding in his project, and also ends up making an enemy of Katherine. Wolsey wants to avoid the political chaos that an annulment and remarriage might cause, which could weaken England’s position. Cromwell perceives Katherine as being regal and strong, with her bejeweled gowns symbolizing her toughness and resilience under pressure.
Themes
Cardinal Wolsey tells the king that even if the documents that permitted him to marry Katherine are found to be defective, Pope Clement might just suggest that it be fixed with new documents rather than agree to break up the marriage. The king loses his temper at this and shouts at Wolsey, which Wolsey bears with a “half-smiling, civil, regretful” expression.
It is not Wolsey’s fault that he can be overruled by the Pope, since the Pope is the religious head. Wolsey also gives King Henry good advice that the Pope will likely align with Katherine’s desire that the marriage be saved, since the Pope is allied with Katherine’s nephew, Emperor Charles. The king, however, is frustrated by his situation and takes out his anger on Wolsey. Even though this is unfair, Wolsey must bear it with equanimity. It seems like no matter how powerful someone gets in court, the king can—and will—tear him down in an instant.
Themes
Cardinal Wolsey is most worried about the hold that Anne Boleyn has on the king—he wishes she would “drop her coy negotiations and please the king,” which he thinks would calm the king down. When Cromwell tells Wolsey how much the king spent on an emerald ring for her, he is in disbelief. Wolsey hears rumors that she is bargaining with the king and wants to be his new wife. He finds this “laughable,” but he is also aware that the king is completely infatuated with Anne.
Wolsey seems to blame Anne Boleyn for the king’s bad mood, chalking it up to Henry’s frustration at not being able to have sex with her. Wolsey still doesn’t consider that the king might want to marry her, though this is the rumor in court. Once again, Wolsey ignores court gossip to his own loss, a mistake that Cromwell is careful to avoid later on.
Themes
Wolsey says that after his own death, Cromwell might get to be close to the king and that he should accept him for being the “pleasure-loving prince” he is. He says the king, too, would have to accept Cromwell for being like “one of those square-shaped fighting dogs that low men tow about on ropes.” Cromwell thinks that it is unlikely that he would ever get to be close to the king because of his low birth, and also because he doesn’t have an association with the church to cover up his past, like the cardinal does.
When Cromwell serves the king, he doesn’t forget Wolsey’s advice and never questions or censures Henry’s pursuit of pleasure, which is part of what makes Henry value him so much. At the time that Cromwell and Wolsey have this talk, Cromwell is still learning the ways of the court through watching Wolsey. Wolsey thinks him too combative, which is why he likens him to a “fighting dog.” However, by the time Cromwell makes his way into court, he has smoothed all his rough edges and seems better at the game than even Wolsey.
Themes
Just as the court of inquiry is about to be adjourned, news comes from Rome that Emperor Charles’s Spanish and German troops, who have not been paid in months, are plundering the city’s treasures and raping its women. They also take the Pope prisoner. Since Charles is Katherine’s nephew, no one expects the Pope to favor any appeals from England while he is Charles’s prisoner.
This incident highlights the huge international implications that King Henry’s domestic affairs will have. The Pope is now at the mercy of Katherine’s nephew, which is unfortunate timing for Henry—and also for Wolsey, who knows that they will now certainly not be able to get the Pope to side with them against Katherine.
Themes
Thomas More says that the emperor’s soldiers are having great fun by “roasting live babies on spits,” a claim that Cromwell finds ridiculous because he knows that the soldiers must be “busy carrying away everything they can turn into ready money.” Cromwell thinks of how More wears a “jerkin of horsehair” under his clothes, and he cannot understand why people like More feel they have to “invite pain in” since it is “waiting for us: sooner rather than later. Ask the virgins of Rome.”
Thomas More’s claim about the emperor’s soldiers killing babies shows his flair for exaggeration, his lack of rationality, and his desire to inflame passions. More also seems ignorant of the soldiers’ real motivations. Cromwell knows from his experience as a soldier that soldiers would be most interested in making money—not in the pointless task of murdering babies. Cromwell also considers how More wears a horsehair shirt that would irritate his skin and cause blisters and sores. The hair shirt symbolizes More’s tendency towards martyrdom, which Cromwell finds pointless and unnecessary. Cromwell thinks that life is full of pain and sorrow, and that one need not seek it, like More does. Cromwell empathetically feels the pain of the virgins who are being raped by the soldiers in Rome, and Mantel implies that his ability to feel others’ pain is more generous than More’s self-inflicted, self-involved physical pain.
Themes
Cardinal Wolsey plans to call a council of cardinals in Avignon so they can approve of King Henry’s separation while the Pope is Charles’s prisoner. In June 1527, when Henry tells Katherine that they should separate, she is furious and shouts so much that “the windows are rattled.” Cromwell is impressed by the strength of her anger. She tells Henry that she will get better lawyers, and that he, too, should get better lawyers and better priests. After this, she cries, and Henry “doesn’t like her crying.” That evening, Cromwell asks Liz if he has ever made her cry, and she replies, “Only with laughter.”
Wolsey comes up with yet another innovative way to get Henry his annulment while the Pope is out of the way. While Wolsey is motivated by his desire to hold onto his power, he is also afraid to incite the king’s wrath. In contrast with Henry’s relationship with Katherine, Cromwell’s relationship with Liz comes across as being warm and respectful.
Themes
In July 1527, when the sweating sickness strikes in London and claims many lives, Wolsey is set to embark on his trip to France. He tells Cromwell to let him know immediately when the king has slept with Anne Boleyn. Cromwell asks Wolsey what he plans to do if the king does not tire of Anne, since she has neither property nor title. Wolsey sighs and talks for a long time about England’s mythological past—about the many kings who have ruled it and the women they loved. His tale includes the story of King Edward, Henry’s grandfather, marrying a woman who descended from the serpent woman Melusine, who had prophesied that “her children would found a dynasty that would reign forever.” Cromwell wants to know if the Boleyns have “serpent fangs,” and the cardinal accuses Cromwell of laughing at him.
Most people, including Cromwell, seem to be entertaining the idea that Anne Boleyn might be a fixture in the king’s life. Wolsey, however, seems to be in denial about this. He resorts to misdirection when Cromwell wants to know how he would bear it if Henry married Anne—because the truth is that he probably cannot bear it. If this comes to pass, it would mean the end of Wolsey’s political choreography and would leave England without an ally. To Wolsey, this fate seems as bad for England as the mythical one of Edward marrying a snake-woman.
Themes
Cromwell heads home and decides that the important thing to remember is that King Edward could not have achieved much without the money he got from the Medicis—“signs and wonders” seem irrelevant. There are rumors that Edward’s mother had slept with an archer, who was his real father, so Edward wasn’t really the son of the Duke of York. If Edward’s wife was a serpent woman, then that makes Henry “unreliable,” since his history is so vague. One thing Cromwell knows for certain about Henry is that he is in debt to the Italian banks.
Cromwell is always practical when confronted with large problems and thinks that money and the lack of it are at the heart of power struggles. His talent for managing money is useful to him as he rises in power at court. Cromwell spends some time thinking about the various stories about Henry’s past, and then comes to the conclusion that Henry is “unreliable” since his origins are vague. This also seems to be Mantel’s comment on Cromwell as a character. The real Thomas Cromwell also had a vague history (just like Henry), and the character Thomas Cromwell who lives in the pages of Wolf Hall is just that—a character.
Themes
Liz mutters sleepily as Cromwell gets into bed beside her. His dreams that night are filled with the cardinal’s stories, and he dreams that under his clothes, Henry has “serpentine flesh.” When he wakes up early the next morning, he notices Liz’s damp sheets and warm forehead.
Cromwell’s dream of Henry being a serpent under his clothes seems to be a premonition that the king can be extremely dangerous when displeased—a truth that will become increasingly important as Cromwell grows closer to the king. This dream also seems to be a bad omen which alludes to Liz’s illness.
Themes
Cromwell heads to Gray’s Inn, where he meets in secret with a priest called Little Bilney who is opposed to Catholic doctrine, and he then meets a man who teaches him Polish. When he returns home, his servants inform him that Liz has died. He wonders that she didn’t fight her illness more vigorously, and he thinks that he would have beaten Death up if he’d known it was coming for her. When he sees her, he thinks that Liz already looks “like the dead.” She had taken ill earlier that day with the sweating sickness and sent Rafe out to find him, but Cromwell couldn’t be found.
Liz’s death is a huge shock to Cromwell, and he seems to momentarily revert to the rough ways of his boyhood in his desire to beat up Death.
Themes
Liz has to be buried quickly to limit the spread of infection, and the family must stay inside their house for 40 days. Cromwell reads and plays chess with Rafe, who is always by his side. When he sleeps, he dreams of Liz, so he doesn’t sleep. His daughter Anne Cromwell sits with him too and practices her Latin, which she is very good at. Meanwhile, he gets news of the cardinal’s popularity in France. In England, the king has made Thomas Boleyn a viscount, and there are rumors that he intends to marry Anne Boleyn.
After Liz’s death, Cromwell struggles to cope, but he is surrounded by people he loves who give him companionship and support. Despite his grief, Cromwell keeps tabs on the news from France and from court, where Anne Boleyn and her family seem to be getting even more powerful.
Themes
In September, there are no more cases of the sweating sickness, and the family gathers to pray for Liz. Cromwell’s sisters Kat and Bet discuss who should move into Cromwell’s household to help Liz’s mother Mercy with the girls. Liz’s sister, Johane, is there too, and Cromwell thinks that she looks just like Liz. Her husband, John Williamson, has a cough, and Johane jokes that if he dies of it, she will marry Cromwell as soon as she gets “the right piece of paper from Rome.”
Cromwell notices Johane not only because she looks just like Liz but also because she seems to share her wit. Her joke about Cromwell’s political skill is also a subtle hint at the way his influence at court is becoming a bigger part of his life.
Themes
Surrounded by his family, Cromwell thinks of Walter and is glad that he is dead. He thinks of the time when he went back to Putney to see Walter, after he’d been married a year and Gregory had already been born. Walter mockingly asked him if Cromwell was now a fancy lawyer who wouldn’t admit to doing blacksmith work or helping his Uncle John, who was a cook in Cardinal Morton’s kitchens at Lambeth. Cromwell used to go there sometimes to try to get some scraps to eat, and that was where he’d first seen Thomas More, who was a page already well-known for his intelligence and wit.
Walter was physically abusive when Thomas Cromwell was a little boy, and all these years later, he seems to be emotionally abusive in the way he mocks his son’s career. The adult Cromwell is glad that Walter is dead—Cromwell’s household is warm and filled with love, and Walter would have certainly not fit in. Cromwell thinks back to the days when he worked at the kitchens at Lambeth, and he recalls that there was a huge social gulf between himself and Thomas More.
Themes
At Lambeth, Cromwell taught himself to read from the orders for groceries that the stewards wrote. He followed them around, memorizing the numbers and weights they called out, and he became well-known for having an excellent memory. He could look at a sack of food and accurately gauge its weight, which helped his uncle know that he wasn’t being cheated by the grocers. In the evenings, Cromwell and the other kitchen boys played and fought outside while the young gentlemen, including Thomas More, practiced their singing inside.
Cromwell’s past is startling because he seems to have had no formal education as a child, and yet is well-read and very intelligent. Cromwell was self-taught while More had all the advantages of education and wealth. Cromwell’s background seems to have made him empathetic to those unlike himself—since he himself used to have nothing, Cromwell never judges anyone else based on their wealth or status.
Themes
Back in the year 1527, Cardinal Wolsey returns from France. His mission has been a failure. The other cardinals refused to meet him in Avignon, making the excuse that it was too hot. So, Wolsey has promised to help finance a French army that can go fight Emperor Charles in Italy. Then, he thinks, the Pope will be grateful and indebted to Henry and hear out his demands. Cromwell, however, knows that the French can never be true allies of the English because of the English soldiers’ brutal behavior outside their own land. He is also aware that Henry has sent his own delegation to Rome without informing the cardinal. Cromwell is stunned by the “double-dealing” taking place.
Foreshadowing Wolsey’s fall is the fact that he wasn’t in the loop on major decisions. In the Tudor court, knowledge is power—one must always be aware of others’ actions. Since Wolsey is being pointedly excluded, readers can guess that his days of power are behind him.
Themes
In the spring of 1528, Thomas More, who is “always genial,” asks Cromwell if the cardinal will be sending him to Frankfurt to buy more of Luther’s books. More writes vitriolic pamphlets against Luther, and he wants to try to extradite Luther to England so he can be tried there. Cromwell tells him that he takes no interest in “heretics’ books.” More says that Tyndale has been seen in Hamburg, and he wonders if Cromwell knows anything about it. More is also critical of the cardinal’s decision to close monasteries and use their endowments to finance his colleges. As Cromwell sees More walk away, he recalls that after More’s first wife died, he took a new wife immediately, since “human flesh called to him with its inconvenient demands.”
Thomas More seems to have a grudge against Wolsey—and by extension Cromwell—because he knows that they read and might even be responsible for spreading the work of Luther and Tyndale. He is yet another person who dislikes Wolsey—the number of powerful enemies he has seems to be growing. More’s immediate remarriage after his first wife’s death seems to contradict his religious persona and is also very unlike Cromwell’s deep attachment to Liz.
Themes
Meanwhile, Wolsey writes a personal letter to the Pope in which he praises Anne Boleyn’s virtues. He tells Cromwell that if he thought there were any chance of the king successfully getting an annulment, he would “go to the Vatican in person […] and allow the documents to be written in [his] own blood.” He doesn’t believe this will ever happen, and he knows that Anne blames him for it. Meanwhile, the Pope is sending Cardinal Campeggio to England to determine whether the king’s marriage to Katherine has valid grounds for annulment.
Power has shifted—while Wolsey was previously disdainful of the Boleyns and considered Anne unworthy of marrying even Harry Percy, who was just an earl, Wolsey has now made peace with the fact that the king does intend to marry her. Wolsey tries to ingratiate himself with Anne, but she holds onto her grudge against him, despite his sincere efforts to get what she and Henry want.
Themes
Johane moves into Cromwell’s house at Austin Friars with her husband, John Williamson, and their daughter, Jo. She has heard the talk about the cardinal closing monasteries and disapproves of it, and she doesn’t want her husband involved in this business. Cromwell knows there is no use in trying to explain to her that the cardinal is building colleges and furthering scholarship.
The cardinal’s actions seem to be disliked not only by courtiers like Thomas More, but also by the common people, many of whom are devoutly religious.
Themes
Cromwell’s older daughter, Anne Cromwell, has a sharp mind just like his, and she thinks her little sister Grace is “slow.” Cromwell says Grace isn’t slow, just young. Anne then tells him she would like to marry Rafe when she is older. As Cromwell considers this, he thinks “his life might mend” after the sadness of Liz’s death, but then realizes that Anne is too young and that it would be unfair to ask Rafe to wait so long. Anne admits that this is true. Cromwell recalls how he brought Rafe into his household when he was a little boy of seven—his father, Henry Sadler, had told Cromwell to teach Rafe everything he knew. It was a cold, rainy evening when Cromwell brought Rafe to the house, and as he toweled the child’s hair dry, Liz came in and laughingly asked if Cromwell had brought a “boy or hedgehog.”
As court politics get more complicated and dangerous, Cromwell seems comforted by his home life and his memories of Liz. He loves his clerk, Rafe Sadler, just like a son, and the idea of having Rafe and his daughter Anne marry sounds so ideal to him that he thinks he can finally put his grief behind him and move on. At the same time, he is careful not to impose his will on Rafe, which shows his considerate nature.
Themes
In the summer of 1528, the sweating sickness returns, and Cromwell sends his daughters out of London. When they return, they are bigger, and Grace is shy around him because he has hardly spent any time with her. Gregory, too, does not speak openly around his father and shows no aptitude for or interest in learning. Cromwell wonders if he can train him to be a businessman instead of a scholar, but Johane says that Cromwell must “marry him well” because Gregory is a gentleman.
Cromwell is never frustrated by his children for being different from him or for lacking his aptitude for learning. He respects their differences and tries to plan futures for them that will suit their personalities.
Themes
Cromwell gets a letter informing him that two Oxford scholars whom the cardinal was sponsoring are dead. They were caught reading Lutheran books, and the cardinal said they should be locked up and reasoned with. They were thrown in a damp cellar where they succumbed to the sweating sickness, and they died alone. Cromwell is upset at this news, which shows the limits of the cardinal’s powers even in his own colleges. Cromwell appeals to the cardinal to use his influence to release Little Bilney, who has been locked in the Tower for over a year for heresy. The cardinal says he will do his best.
These incidents are evidence that the cardinal is not the powerful man he used to be. In contrast, Thomas More’s prosecution of heresy seems to be getting stronger.
Themes
In the autumn of 1528, Cromwell is in court on the cardinal’s business. Mary Boleyn runs to him, “her skirts 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 of low birth who helps the cardinal bring the noble houses to ruin. Mary’s husband has died, and Cromwell thinks that “Mary alarms him” with her honesty. She says that the king discarded her in favor of Anne Boleyn, and now her entire family mistreats her. She has a son and a daughter from the king, but Anne has instructed the king not to acknowledge them as his own. Anne pinches and bruises Mary whenever she can. The king is firmly under Anne’s influence and writes letters that he signs with a heart drawn around his and Anne’s initials, and Mary believes that the two of them will do anything to get married.
Mary Boleyn seeks Cromwell out to update him on court gossip and flirt with him, which shows that Cromwell has already become something of a personality in court for the courtiers to notice him and speak about him, even if they do so disdainfully. Unlike Anne, who seems very guarded when Cromwell meets her later, Mary is forthcoming and open. Cromwell notices her hitched up skirts and green silk stockings, which symbolically suggest that she reveals too much—which is why she isn’t as successful as her sister at court. Secrecy and deception are the means to gain power in the Tudor court, and Mary Boleyn doesn’t seem to be made for them.
Themes
Cromwell is fascinated with all this information, and he even finds himself talking easily to Mary Boleyn about his own children. Mary says that she would like her next husband to be someone who “upsets” and “frightens” her family, but Cromwell says they would kill her for it. She laughs and acknowledges that they certainly would. She tells him that Anne Boleyn might want to see him soon to ask for his advice, and that he should avoid her for his own safety. She then “kisses the tip of her forefinger and touches it to his lips” and leaves. When Cromwell tells Rafe about all this later, Rafe is incredulous, saying that Cromwell certainly must have imagined the marriage proposal.
Mary seems to enjoy the fact that her family dislikes Cromwell, since she, too, is mistreated by them. Since Mary seems to want Cromwell for herself, she tries to warn him off associating with Anne. However, Anne seems to be the new center of power at the Tudor court, and Cromwell will have to encounter her on his own rise to power.
Themes
When Cardinal Campeggio arrives from Rome, the king wants him to focus only on dissolving his marriage with Katherine, so he sends Anne Boleyn out of London with Mary Boleyn. A rumor reaches Cromwell that Mary is pregnant, and he thinks he narrowly escaped having to acknowledge the king’s bastard as his own child. But it turns out there is no baby, perhaps because she lost it or because the rumor was a false one, and Cromwell thinks “it is like one of the cardinal’s strange fairy tales.” Later, he hears that Anne has taken over wardship of Mary’s son, Henry Carey, and he wonders if she will “poison him” or “eat him.”
Mary Boleyn might have had undisclosed reasons for flirting with Cromwell, though he never quite confirms this. The swirling gossip and deceptions of court begin to seem like a fairy tale to him, once again pointing out that histories are nothing but stories. Through all this, Cromwell is concerned for the well-being of Mary Boleyn’s illegitimate son, which shows his tenderness for children. In his imagination, Anne seems transformed into an evil fairy tale character—perhaps a serpent woman—who might poison or eat her own nephew.
Themes
In January of 1529, Stephen Gardiner travels to Rome to threaten Pope Clement on the king’s behalf. The Pope falls seriously ill soon after, and Wolsey is sure that he will be the next pope if Clement dies. This would be an easy solution to the king’s problem. However, Clement recovers, and Wolsey immediately thinks of another plan to dissolve the king’s marriage. He arranges for witnesses who knew the king’s brother, Arthur, to testify at court that Katherine wasn’t a virgin when she married Henry. Cromwell thinks it should have never come to this “public and unseemly exposure,” but Katherine has refused Cardinal Campeggio’s requests to accept that her marriage is invalid.
Katherine is holding out against all the pressure that the king and the cardinal are exerting on her to accept an annulment, which is evidence of her strength and resilience. However, as a result, the cardinal is forced to resort to convening a public court to discuss her virginity at the time of her marriage to Henry—an unseemly decision that Cromwell doesn’t support, which again goes to show his own empathy and sense of dignity.
Themes
The court is packed, and Cromwell and Rafe are on the far edges of the crowd. The king speaks in his “full, echoing voice,” and Cromwell thinks it might be better for him if he seemed more humble—“[m]ost humility, in his view, is pretense; but the pretense can be winning.” Katherine makes her statement, which is so moving that “a few men have been seen to cry.” Rafe 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 “will be finished.”
Cromwell’s thoughts on humility and pretense reveal his ideas that deception and hypocrisy are the path to power—an idea that proves itself as he ascends the Tudor court. Cromwell knows even now that this is all a performance to hold onto position and power rather than any truth-telling, which is why he warns Rafe not to believe any of it.
Themes
After Katherine finishes her statement, she leaves the court, leaving her counsel to represent her. Cromwell thinks that if he were her adviser, he would have suggested she stay in court so that the witnesses who follow would be too uncomfortable to say what they intend to. But without her present, “the trial becomes a bawdy entertainment.” One witness recalls how Arthur had told him that he’d been “in Spain” on his wedding night, while others recall him saying “it is a good pastime to have a wife.” Rafe says that no 15-year-old groom would ever admit that he didn’t do anything on his wedding night. Cromwell understands that Rafe cannot imagine anyone wanting to have sex with the queen since it “would be like copulation with a statue,” though, according to the cardinal, she used to be a great beauty.
Cromwell is perceptive in his analysis that Katherine’s counsel could have strengthened her case by having her remain in the room. This points to the fact that he would be a valuable advisor if given the opportunity.
Themes
Cromwell recalls the cardinal telling him that Arthur would be around his age if he’d lived, and this thought fills him with sudden panic. He decides to go home and make his will. He worries that he might have unacknowledged children from the time he was a 15-year-old soldier in France, and he feels a sense of loss at this thought because “the only honest thing to be done” is to “look after your children.”
While other characters in the novel—like the king and Wolsey—are unconcerned about their illegitimate children, Cromwell worries about children that might not even exist. This shows his strong sense of responsibility toward his family.
Themes
In the summer of 1529, the plague returns and Cardinal Wolsey wonders if he will succumb to it this time. Either way, he tells Cromwell, he thinks he “may die.” Pope Clement and the Emperor have signed a treaty, and Wolsey’s plan to align England with King Francois has failed since Henry is interested only in Anne Boleyn. Wolsey tells Cromwell that he doesn’t know what to do 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 with the court and has “reduced the nobility.”
Wolsey is coming to grips with the fact that his life—or at the very least his position in court—is in danger because he cannot comply with Henry’s wishes—even though he’s tried everything he can think of to do so. Adding to this threat from the frustrated monarch, Thomas Boleyn doesn’t seem to have forgotten that Wolsey mocked him and threatened him when Anne Boleyn was involved Harry Percy, and he is out to get his revenge.
Themes
Cromwell wonders if he should once again send his children out of London to protect them from the sweating sickness. Mercy tells him Liz wouldn’t have approved of that, especially since Anne Cromwell cries when she is away from her father. Cromwell is astounded to hear that Anne cries. He lets Mercy make the decision to keep the girls in London, but Anne falls sick right after and dies. Grace soon follows.
Tragically, Cromwell’s affectionate relationship with his daughters leads indirectly to their deaths. This turn of events hints at how Cromwell’s warm bonds with others can turn on him in an instant.
Themes
In October 1529, the cardinal is charged with “asserting a foreign jurisdiction in the king’s realm,” or “exercising his role as papal legate,” which means that he 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 his papers, Norfolk seems to expect to find a wax figure of himself stuck through with pins, since he always believed the cardinal had made “a compact with the devil” in order to achieve his successes. Norfolk tells Cromwell to come see him after he has “mended [his] manners,” and Cromwell has no idea why.
The cardinal’s ascent in court has been so striking—since he made his way up from being the son of a butcher to the king’s Lord Chancellor—that Norfolk assumes he must have made a deal with the devil, even though he’s a religious figure. Wolsey seems to have become so powerful that he made Norfolk and Suffolk and others nervous, which is why they delight in bringing him down to size. The cardinal’s fall is a kind of warning to Cromwell that gaining power can also make one vulnerable to attack.
Themes
