Historical fiction on 15th century England, and King [Henry VIII](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII)'s court. Told from the perspective of [Thomas Cromwell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cromwell), who was the king's right-hand man. It was also developed into a TV series starring Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance. The book starts from the point where Henry is trying to marry [Anne Boleyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn) by annulling his marriage to [Katherine of Aragorn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon) (which can be only done by the Pope at the time). Cardinal Wolsey, who tries to help him, is unsuccessful and ultimately falls out of favor, gets exiled, and dies. Cromwell, who is his former assistant, finds his way to Henry's court and, even though he's a common man, slowly ascends to being his right-hand man, Chief Minister, Master of the Rolls, and Lord Secretary (among others). Cromwell does so by getting Henry what he wants: a marriage to Anne. Given that Rome is not giving the annulment, the way to do it is to literally disavow the Pope and Catholicism, through the [Act of Supremacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Supremacy). This takes masterful politicking behind the scenes and aligning all the interests. This is all happening with the [Protestant Reformation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation) on the continent, and with [Tyndale's Bible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndale_Bible) and any association with it or the people who peddle it being considered heresy, and burning at the stake. [Thomas More](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More), who was Lord Chancellor at the time and later declared a saint by the Pope, was a staunch opponent of the reformation and tortured any Protestants who wouldn't recant. While Cromwell was not a Protestant per se, he supported the translation of the Bible into English and the dissolution of the monasteries. This aligned well with his acts of strengthening the monarch and the state at the expense of the Catholic Church and monasteries. Things that I learned about the era: * The Protestant Reformation was a struggle between deep beliefs. This book adds a great amount of texture to how each perspective looked. * You think about the monarch as an absolute ruler, and in some ways it is, but in lots of surprising ways it's actually not. The monarch needs approvals from the Church, legitimacy (and funds!) from the people, support from the nobility, and cooperation from the Parliament. All of it requires careful balancing. * Medieval and Renaissance Europe was a lot of power struggles between the French, the [Carolingian Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_Empire), and the English. A lot of marriages happened between those respective families. ### Notable quotes On one ruler replacing another: > One dog sated with meat is replaced by a hungrier dog who bites nearer the bone. Out goes the man grown fat with honor, and in comes a hungry and a lean man. On limits of honesty: > Christ, he thinks, by my age I ought to know. You don’t get on by being original. You don’t get on by being bright. You don’t get on by being strong. You get on by being a subtle crook On difficulties of retirement: > And I shall not be like Henry Wyatt and say, now I am retiring from affairs. Because what is there, but affairs? On intersubjective realities: > When you are writing laws you are testing words to find their utmost power. Like spells, they have to make things happen in the real world, and like spells, they only work if people believe in them. On the necessity of the REformation: > Christ did not bestow on his followers grants of land, or monopolies, offices, promotions. All these things are the business of the secular power. A man who has taken vows of poverty, how can he have property rights? How can monks be landlords?  #published 2025-02-09