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 I, II (Entry 1)

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.

Henry VII

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 at age 18

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.

Catherine of Aragon

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.

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

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. 

Catherine before Henry VIII at hearing

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.

Book of Hours, circa 1500

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?