Wolf Hall, Parts V, VI (Entry 6)

We knew where we were heading the entire book.
And still Mantel kept me reading up to the last.
I didn't want this story to end.
I didn't want to leave these people.
Here's how the book ends:

Before "Bromham," he makes a dot in the margin, and draws a long arrow across the page.

 "Now here, before we go to Winchester, we have time to spare, and what I think is, Rafe, we shall visit the Seymours."

Map of Wiltshire, 1600's

He writes it down

Early September, Five days. Wolf Hall. 

Well done. Mantel.

And, well done Cromwell.
More is stone cold.
Henry VIII is married to Anne.
Cromwell is expanding his empire.

The boy who started the book lying on the cobblestones looking at his father's boot, is now planning a stop over at Wolf Hall en route to visiting the King. A stop over where he sees a bright future.

King Henry with Cramer and Cromwell,
 giving bibles to the people, 
ruling over church and state

I'm a born and raised Episcopalian (Church of England). Always knew branched off from Catholicism due to Henry VIII wanting localized rule over the church and state. And that the cardinals in England had gone overboard, growing in wealth at the expense of the people they served. You had to buy forgiveness (indulgences) was the main thing I remember.

And yes that Henry wanted a divorce from Katherine. Now to have walked through the process of splitting from the church in Rome... wow.

With Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany, was split in England inescapable?  If not over divorce,  would King Henry VIII have found another tenet to pull away power from the Bishop of Rome? And don't forget, to divert the money paid to Rome to his coffers instead?

We will never know.
And such marches forward the flow of civilizations.

Henry VIII

I have been walking in 1500's England. I have sat at More's trial, have stood in his prison cell. I have listened to Cromwell's dreams during his illness, was there when he told Richard he couldn't marry Mary. The realist. Accept fact, move on. It's just one more bump in the road.

Richard looks up. "He said this?"
"He left me to understand it. And as I understand it, I convey it to you, and we are both amazed, but we get over it." 

And I really like this guy.  Smooth talker that he is. He accomplishes things.  He stretches his hand down to pick up those beneath him. Some who will never do anything for him. He gives More several ways and means to recant, to rephrase.

What was his driving force? The power? The good of England? That he could benefit others, as he was benefited by the Cardinal?

So, a few passages that stand out.

1. "You think you can buy hearts?" Charles Brandon says. He sounds as if he would be sad if the answer were yes. 
He thinks, the heart is like any other organ, you can weigh it on a scale. 

Okay, here's the part of Cromwell which isn't pleasant. He carries out the orders Henry (or Cardinal Wolsey) request. Henry just doesn't want to know the details.

Thomas Cromwell portrait by Holbein

 But don't they say, politics is like making sausages, no one likes to see them made, but we all like a good outcome? Hmm.

2. For one never thinks of you alone, Cremuel, but in company, studying the faces of other people, as if you yourself mean to paint them.  

You make other men think, not 'what does he look like?' but ' what do I look like?' ... 

Still. Looking at that, one would be loath to cross you. To that extent, I think Hans has achieved his aim. 

Chapuys response to Hans Holbein's portrait of Cromwell.

And remember what Mark (house boy) said about Cromwell in the beginning of the story? I looked like a murderer. 

3. The saying comes to him, homo homini lupus, man is wolf to man. 

1534 Act of supremacy

Her it is, the second meaning of Wolf Hall. He has just been promoted to Master Secretary. He has his own barge, with his Coat of Arms flying next to Henry's. He remembers Cardinal Wolsey, when Duke of Norfolk came to fetch him.

4. the Act of Supremacy... It doesn't, as some say, make the king head of the church. It states that he is head of the church, and has always been. If people don't like new ideas, let them have old ones. 

Clever Cromwell. Very Clever.

Holbein's Sheba and Solomon

5. ... a miniature on vellum, which shows Solomon on his throne receiving Sheba.

 It is to be an allegory, he explains, of the king receiving the fruits of the church and the homage of his people. 

Hans gives him a withering look. "I grasp the point." 

Oh yes, you have to love this writer Mantel.

 I can absolutely hear those words coming out of Holbein's mouth.

Thick German accent.

Tired of the privileged getting their way. Just tired.

 Listening to Cromwell going over the details of this commissioned gift.

"I grasp the point."

6. The fate of peoples is made like this, two men in small rooms.

 Forget the coronations, the conclaves of cardinals, the pomp and processions. 

This is how the world changes: a counter pushed across a table, a pen stroke that alters the force of a phrase, a woman's sigh as she passes and leaves on the air a trail of orange flower or rose water; her hand pulling close the bed curtain, the discreet sigh of flesh against flesh.

Cromwell and Chapuys sitting in Cromwell's home. Yes, je agree.

7.  I keep you, Master Cromwell, because you are as cunning as a bag of serpents. But do not be a viper in my bosom. You know my decision. Execute it. 

All Cromwell said was, This is not going to be easy. Convicting More to die. Well, Henry wants none of that worry. Just do it, he says. And I wash my hands of the blood. Wow.

8.  Words, words, just words. 

Holbein Thomas More

He thinks, I remembered you, Thomas More, but you didn't remember me. You never even saw me coming. 

Did Cromwell harbor anger all these years? Towards the privileged More who didn't take note of him as a boy? Cromwell forgave Christophe easily for being the boy thief of gold plate from Cardinal Wolsey. But towards the high and mighty, no. Towards those with pride, who think they are pure white and innocent. No. Forgiveness doesn't come easily for this sin.

9. You can have a silence full of words. A lute retains, in its bowl, the notes it has played. 
The viol, in its strings, holds a concord.  A shriveled petal can hold its scent, a prayer can rattle with curses; 
an empty house, when the owners have gone out, can still be loud with ghosts.

Just think on this one. Cool.

Wolf Hall, Parts III & IV (Entry 3)

I have finished Parts III and IV. The roof did cave in on the heart of England . .. but not everyone got squished.

Thomas Cromwell

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. 

Anne Boleyn with Marmoset

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.

Tudor England

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.

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

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.

         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. 

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. 

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.

Two hours. Two kings. What do you know, Walter? He stands in the salty air, talking to his dead father. 

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...

On to Parts V and VI.