Have finished the first two Parts of Wolf Hall.
Six Parts total. Each Part has three Sections.
This woman is an organizational force.
I just have to stop and talk with you. This book is riveting. I am delving into Tudor England. That's basically the 1500's to us non-history people.
Parts One and Two of Wolf Hall span 1500-1529.
Columbus had already claimed America for powerful Spain. Leonardo da Vinci finished his Mona Lisa and Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Renaissance is in full glory.
Magellan's Spanish expedition went round the world (he died en route in the Phillipines.) Verazzano also tried sailing around the world, a northern passage, for France. Ended up in New York Bay.
The Protestant Reformation was launched when Martin Luther nailed his criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Suleiman the Magnificent takes over Ottoman Empire. Lots of battles in France, Germany, Italy. Egypt, Middle East. In the Far East, China's Ming Dynasty is seeing problems, especially those Manchus.
Okay. Back to England.
In 1500, the English people remember the period of the Wars of the Roses (1455-85). Lots of battles to see who would be the King of England. York and Lancaster both claiming the succession rights.
The main players were the powerful and turbulent nobles, so, when the Henry VII triumphed (he reigned 1485-1507), he set about curbing their power and centralizing government in his own hands. Henry VII was the first of the House of Tudor. He was of the Lancaster side, and married a York, so the schism would be healed. Or so he thought.
Henry VIII was the second son. His older brother Arthur was to succeed his father as king,
but he died before his father in 1502. Arthur was 15. Henry was 10. So from then on, Henry was
groomed to be king.
Arthur had been married to the Spanish royal Catherine of Aragon for 20 weeks before he died. An arranged marriage to cement the Spanish and English alliance.
When Arthur died, it took some time for everyone to approve of Henry marrying his brother's widow, Catherine. Both England and Spain wanted this, but they needed approval from Rome. From the Pope.
Then his father died. King Henry VII died in 1509.
Within two months time, Henry married Catherine of Aragon.
And was crowned King of England.
Quite the two months.
Enough background. I felt it was important to know going into this book, why the idea of having a clear successor was so enormously important to Henry VIII.
Enormously important.
More so than just for any monarch.
Henry's entire life has been hearing about and living the question of "Who's the successor?"
Thomas Cromwell. This book is really about him, so far. Remember, I'm only on page 130. So my comments are only through what I've read so far.
We hear Cromwell's thoughts, though sometimes he refers to himself as "he." I find that a little confusing at times. Maybe it is to give the book the formality of people's thoughts in the 1500's.
A tough childhood. An exhausting career. People die. Mothers. Children. Wives. And some so quickly.
I am so fortunate to be removed from that world. We can romanticize Tudor England all we want. But in reality, there was stinky (no modern plumbing), there was cold and wet (material science we love you for your water-repellent jackets.) There were no antibiotics (fever in the morning, dead in the evening.) No grocery stores (pluck that chicken, if you ever have one.) No cars with air conditioning or heating. Must I go on?
What we see is that human nature remains the same. Now and then. There was kindness. There was charity to those less fortunate. There was anger and violence. There were power struggles and scandals. And there was love. There were the haves and the have-nots. And it was much better to be a have.
Cromwell rises from the gutter, self-taught in the social graces as well book learning, accounting, business acumen and people skills. He is quite the guy.
As Cardinal Wolsey's right hand man, we have a front row seat in the world of 1529 England. The church and the state are revving up for conflict.
Cromwell learns much from his service to the powerful Lord Chancellor Cardinal Wolsey.
"Try always, the cardinal says, to learn what people wear under their clothes, for it's not just their skin. Turn the king inside out, and you will find his scaly ancestors" his warm, solid serpentine flesh."
Here's a map of Tudor England, with the various Duke's properties marked on the main map. So far the Duke of Norfolk has appeared (Anne Boleyn's uncle) and the Duke of Suffolk (Charles Brandon, friend of Henry VIII.)
On the little map to the top right are the two areas of ecclesiastical dominion. The pink area is Cardinal Wolsey's.
Cromwell is a lawyer. A really good lawyer. Many come to him for sound business advice. He is practical. He is knowledgeable about every subject. He is not pompous. He is confident and street smart.
Just when you think he has too many responsibilities, too many balls juggling, to stop and think of heaven and God and eternity, here comes a passage that lets us peek into his soul. Or Mantel's vision of his soul.
Cromwell's just lost his two daughters Grace and Anne. Grace died in his arms. Cromwell is grieving. He thinks of Tyndale's new translation of the Bible (banned in England as being too anti-Catholic):
"now abideth faith, hope and love, even these three; but the greatest of these is love."
[Thomas] More, he knows, thinks "love" is "a wicked mistranslation. He insists on 'charity' . . . He would, for a difference in your Greek, kill you.
He wonders again if the dead need translators; perhaps in a moment, in a simple twist of unbecoming, they know everything they need to know.
Tynedale says, "Love never falleth away.""
Oh wow.
And the drama of the court hearing on Catherine's marriage to Henry. Was it valid? Was her previous annulment (from Arthur) on false pretenses? Mantel did this well. I felt as if I were in the court room. And I was ever grateful for today's legal system, flaws and all.
Mantel has set the stage for the ensuing drama of Henry VIII's life. The Catholic Church and the Pope. Catherine of Aragon. Anne Boleyn. Thomas Cromwell. Thomas More. The Dukes.
King Henry VIII hasn't made much of an appearance, yet. We did see him at the court hearing. We have heard about his wishes (break marriage to Catherine, marry Anne). Have seen the results of his wishes (Cardinal Wolsey leaves Hampton Court, loses the title of Lord Chancellor.) It appears Englishmen pretty much do what he says. The King was mighty and powerful.
So the two Dukes (Norfolk and Suffolk) come to Cardinal Wolsey at York Place, to take back the Great Seal. Henry VIII has demoted the Cardinal once again. He's on the down slide. Watch out Cromwell.
Then comes
Section III of Part 2, Make or Mar - All Hallows 1529.
Oh Hillary Mantel, this is just brilliant.
Thomas Cromwell is fully human to us now. It is All Hallows and he is in the presence of his deceased wife and kids.
Her prayer book in hand, he walks through the prayers with them. Through the Hours with them. So tender. Oh man.
Then six paragraphs on Simonides' story, as recanted by Cicero.
This is the story of the discovery of Memory Palace remembering technique. To remember a list, walk through (in your mind) a familiar physical location and place the objects from your list along the walk, making connections. Use different parts of your brain power to remember the list.
Cromwell is quite the remember-er. Excellent transition piece.
“Once, in Thessaly, there was a poet called Simonides. He was commissioned to appear at a banquet, given by a man called Scopas, and recite a lyric in praise of his host. Poets have strange vagaries, and in his lyric Simonides incorporated verses in praise of Castor and Pollux, the Heavenly Twins. Scopas was sulky, and said he would pay only half the fee: ‘As for the rest, get it from the Twins.’
A little later, a servant came into the hall. He whispered to Simonides; there were two young men outside, asking for him by name.
He rose and left the banqueting hall. He looked around for the two young men, but he could see no one.
As he turned back, to go and finish his dinner, he heard a terrible noise, of stone splitting and crumbling. He heard the cries of the dying, as the roof of the hall collapsed. Of all the diners, he was the only one left alive.
The bodies were so broken and disfigured that the relatives of the dead could not identify them. But Simonides was a remarkable man. Whatever he saw was imprinted on his mind. He led each of the relatives through the ruins; and pointing to the crushed remains, he said, there is your man. In linking the dead to their names, he worked from the seating plan in his head.
It is Cicero who tells us this story. He tells us how, on that day, Simonides invented the art of memory. He remembered the names, the faces, some sour and bloated, some blithe, some bored. He remembered exactly where everyone was sitting, at the moment the roof fell in.”
Do you get the feeling the roof is about to cave in?
Six Parts total. Each Part has three Sections.
This woman is an organizational force.
I just have to stop and talk with you. This book is riveting. I am delving into Tudor England. That's basically the 1500's to us non-history people.
Parts One and Two of Wolf Hall span 1500-1529.
Columbus had already claimed America for powerful Spain. Leonardo da Vinci finished his Mona Lisa and Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Renaissance is in full glory.
Magellan's Spanish expedition went round the world (he died en route in the Phillipines.) Verazzano also tried sailing around the world, a northern passage, for France. Ended up in New York Bay.
The Protestant Reformation was launched when Martin Luther nailed his criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Suleiman the Magnificent takes over Ottoman Empire. Lots of battles in France, Germany, Italy. Egypt, Middle East. In the Far East, China's Ming Dynasty is seeing problems, especially those Manchus.
 |
| Henry VII |
In 1500, the English people remember the period of the Wars of the Roses (1455-85). Lots of battles to see who would be the King of England. York and Lancaster both claiming the succession rights.
The main players were the powerful and turbulent nobles, so, when the Henry VII triumphed (he reigned 1485-1507), he set about curbing their power and centralizing government in his own hands. Henry VII was the first of the House of Tudor. He was of the Lancaster side, and married a York, so the schism would be healed. Or so he thought.
.jpg) | |
| Henry VIII at age 18 |
Arthur had been married to the Spanish royal Catherine of Aragon for 20 weeks before he died. An arranged marriage to cement the Spanish and English alliance.
When Arthur died, it took some time for everyone to approve of Henry marrying his brother's widow, Catherine. Both England and Spain wanted this, but they needed approval from Rome. From the Pope.
Then his father died. King Henry VII died in 1509.
Within two months time, Henry married Catherine of Aragon.
And was crowned King of England.
 |
| Catherine of Aragon |
Enough background. I felt it was important to know going into this book, why the idea of having a clear successor was so enormously important to Henry VIII.
Enormously important.
More so than just for any monarch.
Henry's entire life has been hearing about and living the question of "Who's the successor?"
We hear Cromwell's thoughts, though sometimes he refers to himself as "he." I find that a little confusing at times. Maybe it is to give the book the formality of people's thoughts in the 1500's.
 |
| Thomas Cromwell |
A tough childhood. An exhausting career. People die. Mothers. Children. Wives. And some so quickly.
I am so fortunate to be removed from that world. We can romanticize Tudor England all we want. But in reality, there was stinky (no modern plumbing), there was cold and wet (material science we love you for your water-repellent jackets.) There were no antibiotics (fever in the morning, dead in the evening.) No grocery stores (pluck that chicken, if you ever have one.) No cars with air conditioning or heating. Must I go on?
What we see is that human nature remains the same. Now and then. There was kindness. There was charity to those less fortunate. There was anger and violence. There were power struggles and scandals. And there was love. There were the haves and the have-nots. And it was much better to be a have.
Cromwell rises from the gutter, self-taught in the social graces as well book learning, accounting, business acumen and people skills. He is quite the guy.
 |
| Cardinal Wolsey |
Cromwell learns much from his service to the powerful Lord Chancellor Cardinal Wolsey.
"Try always, the cardinal says, to learn what people wear under their clothes, for it's not just their skin. Turn the king inside out, and you will find his scaly ancestors" his warm, solid serpentine flesh."
On the little map to the top right are the two areas of ecclesiastical dominion. The pink area is Cardinal Wolsey's.
Cromwell is a lawyer. A really good lawyer. Many come to him for sound business advice. He is practical. He is knowledgeable about every subject. He is not pompous. He is confident and street smart.
Just when you think he has too many responsibilities, too many balls juggling, to stop and think of heaven and God and eternity, here comes a passage that lets us peek into his soul. Or Mantel's vision of his soul.
Cromwell's just lost his two daughters Grace and Anne. Grace died in his arms. Cromwell is grieving. He thinks of Tyndale's new translation of the Bible (banned in England as being too anti-Catholic):
"now abideth faith, hope and love, even these three; but the greatest of these is love."
[Thomas] More, he knows, thinks "love" is "a wicked mistranslation. He insists on 'charity' . . . He would, for a difference in your Greek, kill you.
He wonders again if the dead need translators; perhaps in a moment, in a simple twist of unbecoming, they know everything they need to know.
Tynedale says, "Love never falleth away.""
Oh wow.
 |
| Catherine before Henry VIII at hearing |
Mantel has set the stage for the ensuing drama of Henry VIII's life. The Catholic Church and the Pope. Catherine of Aragon. Anne Boleyn. Thomas Cromwell. Thomas More. The Dukes.
King Henry VIII hasn't made much of an appearance, yet. We did see him at the court hearing. We have heard about his wishes (break marriage to Catherine, marry Anne). Have seen the results of his wishes (Cardinal Wolsey leaves Hampton Court, loses the title of Lord Chancellor.) It appears Englishmen pretty much do what he says. The King was mighty and powerful.
So the two Dukes (Norfolk and Suffolk) come to Cardinal Wolsey at York Place, to take back the Great Seal. Henry VIII has demoted the Cardinal once again. He's on the down slide. Watch out Cromwell.
 | |
| Book of Hours, circa 1500 |
Section III of Part 2, Make or Mar - All Hallows 1529.
Oh Hillary Mantel, this is just brilliant.
Thomas Cromwell is fully human to us now. It is All Hallows and he is in the presence of his deceased wife and kids.
Her prayer book in hand, he walks through the prayers with them. Through the Hours with them. So tender. Oh man.
Then six paragraphs on Simonides' story, as recanted by Cicero.
This is the story of the discovery of Memory Palace remembering technique. To remember a list, walk through (in your mind) a familiar physical location and place the objects from your list along the walk, making connections. Use different parts of your brain power to remember the list.
Cromwell is quite the remember-er. Excellent transition piece.
“Once, in Thessaly, there was a poet called Simonides. He was commissioned to appear at a banquet, given by a man called Scopas, and recite a lyric in praise of his host. Poets have strange vagaries, and in his lyric Simonides incorporated verses in praise of Castor and Pollux, the Heavenly Twins. Scopas was sulky, and said he would pay only half the fee: ‘As for the rest, get it from the Twins.’
A little later, a servant came into the hall. He whispered to Simonides; there were two young men outside, asking for him by name.
He rose and left the banqueting hall. He looked around for the two young men, but he could see no one.
As he turned back, to go and finish his dinner, he heard a terrible noise, of stone splitting and crumbling. He heard the cries of the dying, as the roof of the hall collapsed. Of all the diners, he was the only one left alive.
The bodies were so broken and disfigured that the relatives of the dead could not identify them. But Simonides was a remarkable man. Whatever he saw was imprinted on his mind. He led each of the relatives through the ruins; and pointing to the crushed remains, he said, there is your man. In linking the dead to their names, he worked from the seating plan in his head.
It is Cicero who tells us this story. He tells us how, on that day, Simonides invented the art of memory. He remembered the names, the faces, some sour and bloated, some blithe, some bored. He remembered exactly where everyone was sitting, at the moment the roof fell in.”
Do you get the feeling the roof is about to cave in?
No comments:
Post a Comment