I have finished Parts III and IV. The roof did cave in on the heart of England . .. but not everyone got squished.
Think of it this way. Thomas Cromwell, through whose eyes / thoughts /life we are watching history unfold, lost his wife and several beloved children in Part II. He said good bye to his healthy wife one morning, she was cold before he returned home that evening. In his childhood, Cromwell lost his mother young, and had a more-than-terrible father.
So loosing his mentor Cardinal Wolsey, and having to gain the favor of the mercurial King and his perhaps-to-be future bride to maintain his upward climb, well, these are just bumps in the road.
And knowing that all of England was going to be thrown in turmoil over the Pope / annulment / Tyndale Bible issue... well, just another bump in the road.
Cromwell doesn't have time to grieve. To be sentimental. Must march forward. But I do love the glimpses into those once in a blue moon thoughts that bubble up from inside his heart. They bubble up, they float for a brief moment, then POP! they are no more.
Cromwell was fond of Wolsey.
Cardinal Wolsey had done so much for Henry. And in the process built up quite an empire of his own. King Henry benefited as well. As Cromwell says, What was England before Wolsey? A little offshore island, poor and cold.
All this because Henry wants Anne. Yes he wants an heir. But really, don't you get the idea that he really wants Anne?
What did she have that he was totally bewitched? She is not portrayed as beautiful in any classical or sensual manner. Is it her ability to create mystery? The art of the allure. I don't really know.
Being so unversed in history, I am struggling through some sections not understanding the brief asides Mantel throws at us. These are asides she assumes we understand.
Where is Flanders? Who is The Emperor? When Henry wants the Houses to vote on something, exactly who are they? Why can't the king just say something and it happens? He has to answer to some other political body? Sometimes I put down the book, pull out my IPAD and google away.
Mantel isn't sculpting everyone's story. She is showing us scenes in a play. There are gaps between. The interludes are left to our imagination.
Mantel is writing Cromwell's story. He is three dimensional. He has more than three dimensions, as we see his thoughts, his soul. We see his sense of humor. We hear his side comments when he has to bow down to those higher born yet lower on the evolutionary scale.
Take Call-Me. As in Call-Me-Risley. Which is short for the pompous Thomas Wriothesley. Every time I see Call-Me written, I can't help but smile and say, Yes Cromwell, you know this is all a game you are playing, and you play it so well! Pity others take themselves so seriously.
And there's Norferk. And love those French... calling upon Cremuel.
Cromwell's household all refer to the pompous Thomas as Call-Me.
Speaking of households, have you noticed they are huge. So many deaths produce so many orphans. So much living hand-to-mouth produces so many young people hoping for a future, willing to leave or be forced to leave home for that chance. The Cromwell household has in-laws, friends' sons, and a few picked up randomly. Cromwell sees the best in each, nurtures it. He sees himself in these young men. In some of them.
Then there are those born with a silver spoon in their mouths. We see the tide rising and falling in Thomas More's life.
Yes, More is the Lord Chancellor. Take a breath. No, he's not Lord Chancellor anymore.
He is not a sweet kind nice type of guy. Tortures and burns people because they are heretics, they believe the Bible should be translated into English and put in the hands of all people. Well, I agree with them.
More has strength in his convictions. He is loyal to the Pope, to the church he loves. And there's good in that. Sounds like a Pharisee in Jesus' time. No mercy. Hard of heart. Thomas More reminds me of Javert in Les Miserables. We will see.
So, remarkable passages. Two phrases jump out at me. They've been repeated. They describe Cromwell perfectly to me. I can hear him saying these, to himself and to his children.
Choose your prince.
Cromwell was loyal and energetically served Cardinal Wolsey. Once Wolsey fell out of favor, Cromwell started nurturing his relationship with another "prince", the King, without turning his back on the Cardinal. Then when Cardinal Wolsey died, Cromwell was in a plump position to become one of the King's advisors.
This is how you rise in station. Cromwell is not a man of conviction to political sides. He is a man of conviction to rising in power and wealth. He can go one way or the other. He doesn't seem to be immoral. So far. The jury is still out. He needs to find the next stepping block. He had to choose his prince.
Arrange your face.
Cromwell was brilliant. Knowledgeable in every area I can imagine - numbers, business, language, diplomacy, counseling, theology, politics. He had only his service to others to propel his fortunes forward.
Humbler than humble background, his future lay in what he could do for those in power. Therefore his emotions and opinions were always filtered. What a life.
Except perhaps with Anselma, back in his youth.
Now he had to hide his true feelings, arrange his face. Take a deep breath. You can do it. Anselma.
The Tapestry of Queen of Sheba visiting King Solomon was given by Cardinal Wolsey to Cromwell. The face of Queen of Sheba reminds Cromwell of Anselma, the love of his youth, who is now married. To someone else.
Don't know if this tapestry means something more. Certainly it shows honoring the King.
Okay, other passages. Longer ones.
1. Bonvisi's house in Bishopsgate. The guests have departed. Didn't you feel as if you were seated right there at the table with More, Monmouth, Cromwell as Chapuys entered?
Anyway. Everyone has left. Cromwell reflects on all the players in this drama sitting at that same table - adding such as King Henry and his doughty little queen, Lady Anne restlessly tugging at the pearls around her neck, Pope Clement snarling at the too coarsely cut quinces, and Brother Martin greasy and fat.Mantel enlarges the roof falling in, to encompass Christendom.
This will be interesting.
2. A glimpse into Cromwell. Inside Cromwell. Only in his dreams can he let his guard down. Mantel is doing a superb job. I know this guy. I understand his thinking. I see his flaws. He's going to do what he needs to do to survive. To thrive. He's not mean. He just isn't sentimental. He's a survivor. Survived childhood. He will survive this roof falling down.
He hardly sleeps. He dreams of Liz. He wonders if she would know him, the man he vows that soon he will be: adamant, mild, a keeper of the king's peace.
3. Cromwell reacts to dissention in his own household, Austin Friars. By the way, Austin Friars is a 5 acre monastery just outside London (inside London now), where the Cromwells home was right at the monastery walls. Back to Cromwell
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| Thomas Cromwell |
So loosing his mentor Cardinal Wolsey, and having to gain the favor of the mercurial King and his perhaps-to-be future bride to maintain his upward climb, well, these are just bumps in the road.
And knowing that all of England was going to be thrown in turmoil over the Pope / annulment / Tyndale Bible issue... well, just another bump in the road.
Cromwell doesn't have time to grieve. To be sentimental. Must march forward. But I do love the glimpses into those once in a blue moon thoughts that bubble up from inside his heart. They bubble up, they float for a brief moment, then POP! they are no more.
Cromwell was fond of Wolsey.
 |
| Anne Boleyn with Marmoset |
What did she have that he was totally bewitched? She is not portrayed as beautiful in any classical or sensual manner. Is it her ability to create mystery? The art of the allure. I don't really know.
Being so unversed in history, I am struggling through some sections not understanding the brief asides Mantel throws at us. These are asides she assumes we understand.
Where is Flanders? Who is The Emperor? When Henry wants the Houses to vote on something, exactly who are they? Why can't the king just say something and it happens? He has to answer to some other political body? Sometimes I put down the book, pull out my IPAD and google away.
Mantel isn't sculpting everyone's story. She is showing us scenes in a play. There are gaps between. The interludes are left to our imagination.
Mantel is writing Cromwell's story. He is three dimensional. He has more than three dimensions, as we see his thoughts, his soul. We see his sense of humor. We hear his side comments when he has to bow down to those higher born yet lower on the evolutionary scale.
Take Call-Me. As in Call-Me-Risley. Which is short for the pompous Thomas Wriothesley. Every time I see Call-Me written, I can't help but smile and say, Yes Cromwell, you know this is all a game you are playing, and you play it so well! Pity others take themselves so seriously.
And there's Norferk. And love those French... calling upon Cremuel.
Cromwell's household all refer to the pompous Thomas as Call-Me.
 |
| Tudor England |
Then there are those born with a silver spoon in their mouths. We see the tide rising and falling in Thomas More's life.
Yes, More is the Lord Chancellor. Take a breath. No, he's not Lord Chancellor anymore.
He is not a sweet kind nice type of guy. Tortures and burns people because they are heretics, they believe the Bible should be translated into English and put in the hands of all people. Well, I agree with them.
More has strength in his convictions. He is loyal to the Pope, to the church he loves. And there's good in that. Sounds like a Pharisee in Jesus' time. No mercy. Hard of heart. Thomas More reminds me of Javert in Les Miserables. We will see.
 |
| Sir Thomas More and Family. Thomas More is in center. His father Sir John More is near center in red robe. Wife Alice is on far right. Fool Henry Pateson is back row in gold robe. |
So, remarkable passages. Two phrases jump out at me. They've been repeated. They describe Cromwell perfectly to me. I can hear him saying these, to himself and to his children.
Choose your prince.
Cromwell was loyal and energetically served Cardinal Wolsey. Once Wolsey fell out of favor, Cromwell started nurturing his relationship with another "prince", the King, without turning his back on the Cardinal. Then when Cardinal Wolsey died, Cromwell was in a plump position to become one of the King's advisors.
This is how you rise in station. Cromwell is not a man of conviction to political sides. He is a man of conviction to rising in power and wealth. He can go one way or the other. He doesn't seem to be immoral. So far. The jury is still out. He needs to find the next stepping block. He had to choose his prince.
 |
| A tapestry from 1500's depicting Queen of Sheba visiting King Solomon |
Cromwell was brilliant. Knowledgeable in every area I can imagine - numbers, business, language, diplomacy, counseling, theology, politics. He had only his service to others to propel his fortunes forward.
Humbler than humble background, his future lay in what he could do for those in power. Therefore his emotions and opinions were always filtered. What a life.
Except perhaps with Anselma, back in his youth.
Now he had to hide his true feelings, arrange his face. Take a deep breath. You can do it. Anselma.
The Tapestry of Queen of Sheba visiting King Solomon was given by Cardinal Wolsey to Cromwell. The face of Queen of Sheba reminds Cromwell of Anselma, the love of his youth, who is now married. To someone else.
Don't know if this tapestry means something more. Certainly it shows honoring the King.
Okay, other passages. Longer ones.
1. Bonvisi's house in Bishopsgate. The guests have departed. Didn't you feel as if you were seated right there at the table with More, Monmouth, Cromwell as Chapuys entered?
Anyway. Everyone has left. Cromwell reflects on all the players in this drama sitting at that same table - adding such as King Henry and his doughty little queen, Lady Anne restlessly tugging at the pearls around her neck, Pope Clement snarling at the too coarsely cut quinces, and Brother Martin greasy and fat.Mantel enlarges the roof falling in, to encompass Christendom.
This will be interesting.
He will remember it, the fatal placement: if it proves fatal. That soft hiss and whisper, of stone destroying itself; that distant sound of walls sliding, of plaster crumbling, of rubble crashing onto fragile human skulls? That is the sound of the roof of Christendom falling on the people below.
2. A glimpse into Cromwell. Inside Cromwell. Only in his dreams can he let his guard down. Mantel is doing a superb job. I know this guy. I understand his thinking. I see his flaws. He's going to do what he needs to do to survive. To thrive. He's not mean. He just isn't sentimental. He's a survivor. Survived childhood. He will survive this roof falling down.
He hardly sleeps. He dreams of Liz. He wonders if she would know him, the man he vows that soon he will be: adamant, mild, a keeper of the king's peace.
3. Cromwell reacts to dissention in his own household, Austin Friars. By the way, Austin Friars is a 5 acre monastery just outside London (inside London now), where the Cromwells home was right at the monastery walls. Back to Cromwell
if they are not to be flattened in the next charge it is he who must teach them the defensive art of facing both ways, faith and works, Pope and new brethren, Katherine and Anne.
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| Henry and Anne hunting |
4. Pivotal passage of King Henry's dream, with Cromwell interpreting and Cranmer nodding agreement. He's planting the seed for Henry to separate from the Pope. And all the while Cromwell thinking how immature King Henry is.
He bites back the temptation to say, because you are forty and he is telling you to grow up.... "Because now is the time to become the ruler you should be, and to be sole and supreme head of your kingdom. Ask Lady Anne She will tell you. She will say the same."
"She does", the king admits. "She says we should no longer bow to Rome."
"And should your father appear to you in a dream, take it just as you take this one. That he has come to strengthen your hand."
5. Cromwell is brilliant. Brilliant at creating a logical argument. For or against ... anything. The art of gentle persuasion. You get the feeling he doesn't have deep commitment to any one belief or person.
After he and Johane talk about proceeding forward as friends, nothing more, his mother-in-law Mercy says to Cromwell:
Thomas, when you're cold and under a stone, you'll talk yourself out of your grave.
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| Two merchants, circa 1515 |
6. Money is power. Even back then. Who would have guessed.
The world is not run from where he thinks. Not from border fortresses, not even from Whitehall. The world is run from Antwerp, from Florence, from places he has never imagined; from Lisbon, from where the ships with sails of silk drift west and are burned up in the sun. Not from the castle walls, but from counting houses, not be the call of the bugle, but by the click of the abacus, not by the grate and click of the mechanism of the gun but by the scrape of the pen on the page of the promissory note that pays for the gun and the gunsmith and the powder and shot.”
7. Cromwell is human after all. This is one of those spots I mentioned before. A glimpse into the vunerable human-ness bubbling up from Cromwell's heart. It appears. And like a bubble on the wind, it vaporizes.
Who of us hasn't stood overlooking the ocean (or a gravesite, or a sink of dirty dishes after Christmas dinner), and talked to a parent passed years ago?
Can't you just see Cromwell standing in Calais? Smell the salt in the air. Feel Cromwell's well-deserved pride in his successes dampened by long ago planted mistrust... that all good things will crumble.... eventually.
Who of us hasn't stood overlooking the ocean (or a gravesite, or a sink of dirty dishes after Christmas dinner), and talked to a parent passed years ago?
Can't you just see Cromwell standing in Calais? Smell the salt in the air. Feel Cromwell's well-deserved pride in his successes dampened by long ago planted mistrust... that all good things will crumble.... eventually.
Two hours. Two kings. What do you know, Walter? He stands in the salty air, talking to his dead father.
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| King Henry VIII |
8. And so, in fact, is the King human.
He had said, how will I know when it happens? The cardinal had said, "I should think you'll know by his face." ...
He looks large, broad, benign. His regal glance scans the crowd. It alights on him. The king smiles.
As he leaves the church, Henry puts on his hat. it is a big hat, a new hat. And in that hat there is a feather.
We finish Part IV with Henry and Anne stepping over the threshold into uncharted waters. Yes, they finally stepped.
No where for Henry to go but forward with his quest to rid himself of wife number 1 (Katherine of Aragon) and legally marry wife number 2 (Anne Boleyn).
And there's Cromwell, right in the middle of things. Waiting to be of service. His influence has spread into so many nooks and crannies. Now let's watch him use it.
Do you think Cromwell would have blogged? No, he wouldn't have wanted to show his hand...
Do you think Cromwell would have blogged? No, he wouldn't have wanted to show his hand...
On to Parts V and VI.
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