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."
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| 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.
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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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
After stopping at the hotel to drop the bags, the next stop was Girl and the Goat. Remember Stephanie Izard from Top Chef season 4? Well, here she is .. her first restaurant. Girl and the Goat. In her humble words, “I’m just trying to make your whole mouth happy.” As I hear, she does. 
Cromwell was one of the rare lower class people who rose in power and wealth at that time. His influence spread so far, yet he gets little credit for it.
Kudos to Beth. I passed around my new little bracelet, asked people to guess what / how it was made? What new technology was used, that some people say will change our lives. Beth got it!
And how do we find ourselves in such alluring dinner time conversations, you might ask? By talking about Wolf Hall of course. 
