by J P Ceark
Cranmer looked on at the array of meats provided. Thomas gave a wry smile towards him. ‘Meat on a Friday?’ noted Cranmer.
‘If we are to plan to defy Rome, we may as well start now.’ There was no hesitation from Cranmer and they began to eat. Both could feel the horror of the servants looking on. Thomas signalled for them to leave.
‘Tell me, what have you put forward for the King?’ enquired Thomas.
‘I have devised a set of questions to ask the leading academics of Oxford and Cambridge University. On a favourable wind, these questions can go to every university in Christendom. Once support is gathered for Europe, the Pope cannot refuse Henry his divorce.’
‘And if he does?’ queried Thomas.
‘An instruction to the King to break with Rome,’ Cranmer stated, matter-of-fact.
Thomas chewed on his meat, thinking over Cranmer’s idea.
‘What if the universities reject the King’s argument?’
‘It is not what you ask, but how you ask it,’ Cranmer replied with confidence. ‘Present a simplistic argument and even the most astute will succumb to reason of plain sense.’
‘And what questions will you be asking?’
‘The question currently plaguing Rome is, is the marriage between King Henry and Queen Katherine valid. I’ll question the universities, does the Pope have the divine rule to make that decision.’
Thomas sat back in his chair. ‘Well of course they will determine not,’ he thought on the question. ‘Because the Pope is meant to be the servant of servants, the divine law is not set or enacted by the Pope but by theologies and priests, cardinals and bishops. He is cornered by his own contract …’ Thomas said with amazement.
‘Correct, and if the Pope is not ruled to have divine right exclusively, then when theologists and holy men are asked was the dispensation granted at the time of the marriage a clear allowance for Henry to marry his sister-in-law? — which as has already been established by the Pope, was not, — the Pope has to agree with the theologists and holy men and announce the marriage invalid.’
Thomas skewed meat with his knife, bringing the piece to his mouth and ripping it with his teeth. ‘Well done, my friend,’ he spoke while chewing. ‘It’s check mate.’
March 1539
Greenwich Palace
As soon as morning had appeared, Mary had walked about the palace. She had been to the King’s apartment and then walked about the courtyard garden, but the King was not to be found. She wondered if his intention was really to converse with her. She too would prefer to avoid him but she also had matters of importance to discuss.
Eventually she spotted Henry with his esquires of the body surrounding him beside the river. She walked with trepidation but his eyes remained on her without a word of discontent to anyone around him.
He sat with some other companions; Mary did not recognise them but they were far younger than Henry. She smiled at him as she approached and fell into a deep curtsey. As she raised her eyes to his face, she saw his beard flecked heavily with grey, his cheeks full, his eyes sunken.
‘Mary, you’ve come,’ he voiced, acknowledging her with a nod.
‘As it has always been,’ she stated while she stared deeply into his ageing eyes and they creased with renewed amusement.
‘I’ll walk a little, shall you join me?’ he enquired.
‘Aye, Sire.’
He struggled out of his chair, relying on the young men around him for help to come to his feet.
She walked beside him for some minutes before he began to speak again; this time he asked about Catherine.
‘She is well and grown into a fine young lady,’ Mary replied.
‘She will be wed soon?’
‘She is still a little young but I do hope to make a good marriage for her.’
Henry nodded, thinking as he did so. ‘Would you allow her to be at court?’
‘Aye, Sire. Should you be so kind?’
‘Of course!’ he said hastily but corrected himself. ‘I plan to marry again. Cromwell is searching for the bride. Catherine can join the new Queen’s household. And what of your husband?’
‘He is with Lord Lisle’s house but his heart has always been to serve you. I ask on his behalf, if you would consider giving him admittance to the court as a soldier?’
Henry again nodded his consent. ‘I’ll see to it that your annuity is returned as well.’
‘Thank you, Sire. Your kindness has always been consistence.’
‘I am sorry to hear of the Earl Wiltshire. Prayers will be said for his soul.’
‘He’ll be comforted by that, thank you …’
Henry paused for a moment and Mary had kindness enough to play along and admire the view. Once the King had caught his breath, he turned to her.
‘You leave for Hever?’
‘Aye, within the hour. I see my servant up ahead, I wish not to delay.’
‘Then we’ll part now but I’ll see you about the court? You’re to return?’
‘Aye, I should very much like Catherine to know her cousin, the Lady Elizabeth.’
He grunted slightly and turned to retrace the footsteps they had just taken.
‘I’ll go to my servant,’ Mary spoke to the King’s back. ‘I’ll return to court in a few months?’ she asked to confirm, but Henry merely raised his hand without turning back to view her. ‘Until then, Your Majesty.’ She curtseyed low once more, watching his lonely figure limp away towards his keepers.
* * *
‘Come along then,’ she said to Amy as she approached her from the riverbank onto the pier. A foot soldier was holding their satchels.
‘He said he would carry it to the barge,’ Amy explained.
‘Aye,’ said Mary. ‘A pretty face can invite the kindest of actions.’
Amy blushed a little and hurried to distract Mary from her assumptions. ‘Did the meeting go well?’
Mary motioned for her to sit close to her. They looped arms as they sat within the barge. ‘He wasn’t as I remembered him. He’s a defeated man. He said nothing of Anne, nothing of our past … I suppose to admit to his errors would render him as any other fallible being.’
‘So what did you converse on?’ Amy enquired again, though she knew her mistress to be shaken by the reunion.
‘I petitioned for my husband to recover his position at court. Which he granted. Prayers will be said on my father’s demise.’
‘He must still hold some affection for you?’
Mary smiled. It amused her how her innocent mind would seek any example of kindness and believed that person to be good. ‘He does good to feel good … somewhere within him, there is guilt. He won’t admit it but he’ll try to correct his wrongs … Catherine will at least benefit from his pricked conscience.’
The river was still and quiet for the morning but the bargeman was cautioning heavy traffic and difficult progress out of London, such was the reliance on the waterways.
Upon the open water the air was cooler. Both tightened their woollen cloaks about them. ‘He plans to remarry,’ Mary said finally, as though up until that moment she didn’t believe it. ‘He has offered Catherine a place in the new Queen’s household.’
‘That is a good thing,’ encouraged Amy.
‘Aye, for she will make a good marriage. I should despise him. I should vilify everything he offers me as guilt to soothe his soul but I cannot. I betrayed my sister long ago … Another betrayal will only confirm my disloyalty towards her.’
‘Do you cry, mistress?’ asked Amy, afraid to comfort her.
‘Aye, she protected me from a wretched existence. Pleaded for me to be given admittance at Hever. Adopted my son so he could have the best education and secured an annuity so I needn’t worry for money. She put my needs before herself and this is my offering to her … Cranmer spoke to me of relying on God’s forgiveness. If I cannot afford my father my forgiveness, how can I expect God to afford me his? I too did wrong; I too need mercy.’
Octob
er 1529
Hever Castle
Mary,
I hope all the comforts of Hever have brought you some peaceful times after your harrowing events. I trust your leisure time is filled with pleasure of knowing your children and rest assured in their fortunate futures. I burden myself with the welfare and expense of your son. Trust in me to nurture him with the same diligent care as I would my own son.
In other events, I am much better after falling ill to the sweats, it proves that God preserves me for a high purpose. I hope the unlawful woman whom he kept for so long will feel the plagued rage of God’s punishment for the prolonged unhappiness she has caused us. If she truly loved Henry, as I do, she would free him from her burdensome barrenness. If I should ever lose the love of my King, I would surrender to my fate. I would incur all the unhappiness for his pleasure.
In truth though, I must urge you again to return to court. There are few who love me, Henry and I quarrel and few show me benevolence.
Dr Butts is a wonderful companion to talk with and Hans Holbein amazes me with his sketches. Thomas Wyatt continues to be a source of amusement and even Thomas Cromwell has shown interest in pursuing my intentions towards state and government. Mother is of comfort and Jane too has been the dearest sister-in-law we could ask for but it is you I need to confide in. I know I can entrust my thoughts to you and you will not censure me for them. Come soon.
God keep you sister.
Anne Boleyn
March 1539
Hever Castle
Thomas had slept little. Memories of Anne and George abound in his head. He had questioned Cranmer earlier, ‘what could I have done to stop events? It was all of their making.’
Cranmer had nodded in acceptance and sympathy but did not offer comfort or excuses.
‘It was I that went to Rome; me who gave the conviction they should be wed …’ spoke Thomas, his voice strangely strong. ‘Wolsey kept waiting, though I would have done as he. The King was bound to tire of Anne and eventually give in to Rome’s authority on the matter.’
‘Like a web that takes so long to weave and so quick to be swept away,’ conceded Cranmer.
‘That was the Boleyn’s success,’ agreed Thomas. ‘I knew if I could expose Rome’s cunning to the King, we’d have secured success. And to think how jubilant we were in Rome.’
February 1530
The Vatican
A brief walk through the halls and corridors of the Pope’s palace induced Thomas’s appetite to punish the excessive greed of the multistate power. The final room he was shown into was bearing heavy religious decoration; the walls were warmed by the Italian sun but the subject matter was Christ suffering. A crucifix high above the canopy of holy power and the Pope sitting underneath it awaited a quiet audience of the Earl of Wiltshire, father of Henry VIII’s mistress. King Charles V of the Hapsburg Empire stood beside him.
‘Come forward, My Lord, Earl of Wiltshire,’ Pope Clement beckoned Thomas Boleyn to approach him.
Charles and Thomas locked eyes. ‘I had not expected this, Thomas Boleyn,’ Charles spoke while staring with rage in his heart. ‘You are still a mere ambassador, no longer negotiating for your country but negotiating a fee for your daughter. Well, kneel and kiss the foot of God’s chosen representative on earth, God’s servant, the holiest man in Christendom.’
Thomas looked towards Cranmer and both became rigid.
‘Kneel before the servant of God!’ bellowed Charles with indignation and exaggerated piety.
Thomas placed his dog on the ground and kicked it to approach the Pope. The canine, happy to be freed, joyfully ran towards the Pope and licked at his bare toes.
‘A dog’s job,’ explained Thomas.
Charles kicked the dog in the side of its stomach, this time causing the small mutt to whimper and hide itself behind Thomas.
‘For a father wishing to see his daughter married under Catholic law, your conduct is not inspiring my generosity,’ explained Pope Clement.
‘You assume, I wish to see my daughter marry under Catholic law,’ Thomas replied and smirked.
‘Your Holy Grace,’ began Cranmer with a calming voice that could soothe the devil to sleep. ‘This matter, and the decision that the holy servant of God should make, should not be made from self-service. And should it be done so, I dread the consequences. Oxford University, Rome universities and a few of the French universities have all agreed, King Henry is validated by the theologian opinion that his marriage to Katherine of Aragon was unlawful under the dispensation granted at the time and which has now resulted in their childlessness. It is deemed a type of excommunication caused by the actions of God’s servant.’
‘But King Henry is not childless,’ exclaimed Charles. ‘There is no excommunication, no law to annul or invalidate this marriage. These universities are not the Pope!’
Clement raised his hand to mute Charles. ‘Let me read what the universities have sanctioned and we will debate this further.’ Cranmer produced parchment after parchment. He signalled to the Pope where to read for ultimate understanding.
Charles began to walk towards the door. ‘Your daughter is a whore!’ he spat at Thomas. The doors reverberated around the hollow chamber as they were slammed open.
Thomas felt the satisfaction of his enemy’s anger. ‘You remember well! I serve my God and my King!’ Thomas shouted after him.
‘You serve yourself!’ screamed Charles. He doubled back, almost charging at Thomas. ‘The Pope will not sanction blasphemy! You and your daughter are below the sight of God, unworthy of his notice; he does not see you, he does not care for you.’
‘God sees! And God encourages! There have been no reprisals! This be the will of God!’ Thomas yelled at the Spanish Emperor. He glanced back to Cranmer who nodded with satisfaction. The Pope held his head in his hands, too horrified to look upon the heretics.
April 1530
Greenwich Palace
The exhilaration was almost too much. It was as if the tiled floor on which he thundered were not there. His retinue marched behind him and together with Cranmer they walked straight towards the King’s Council Chamber. The guards parted and Thomas headed for the council; there the members of the Privy Council waited for the Earl of Wiltshire. Henry was upon his feet the moment the heavy doors opened.
‘Sir!’ Henry almost bowed in the presence of his future father-in-law, irking the Duke of Norfolk.
‘Sire,’ Thomas began, leaning in to hug the King. ‘Despite every word of truth, every evidence presented and every theologian’s support, even in the heart of Rome, the Pope has refused to grant Your Majesty’s divorce. The end has now been reached.’
Henry almost staggered back. ‘Rome is still against me?’
‘Sire, this is not about God but Rome’s ultimate and authoritarian dictatorship; even over reason and truth they defy God’s will for their own self-interests.’
‘Aye, aye. So be it, so be it. They have brought me to this … I have no other choice.’ His voice raised in anger but he then stopped to ponder. Thomas was almost mouthing the words he longed to hear from the King. ‘England is to break from Rome. A set of intentions will have to be announced, declaring that England will no longer be a servant of Rome. As we had planned if it should come to this – which it now has …’
‘How would one proceed with such a venture?’ The Duke of Norfolk stood in sudden opposition. ‘Who would authorise it? It is blasphemy?’
‘‘Tis not blasphemy!’ argued Cromwell. ‘It is the foundation of truth. God’s anointed on earth is His Majesty, the spiritual head of this realm.’
The Duke of Norfolk dismissed Cromwell and looked towards his brother-in-law. ‘Cannot we disagree with the clergy of his realm that the marriage is in fact invalid and goes against Rome in this single enterprise, but remains within Rome, the spiritual kingdom of Rome.’
‘You be a traitor?’ asked Cromwell.
‘No!’ cried the Duke of Norfolk and turned to Henry. ‘No Sire! I request th
at other methods of change be considered, to air on the side of caution — a conservative approach to the subject of Rome.’
‘The bishops would not act against the Pope while Rome is still the ultimate authority. Once the King has declared the rightful intentions, the bishops must concede or else be fined,’ Cranmer explained, revealing his in-depth knowledge of the theology around a new church. ‘It must be stated that the Pope has no jurisdiction in this realm, that no law outside of this kingdom can be bestowed, that the custom and privileges of England are just and solid, that the King of England is the rightful head of the Church, that King Henry the Eighth is Pope, Emperor and the spiritual servant of all the English.’
March 1539
Thames River
‘To think at the beginning of this decade your sister was on the cusp of becoming Queen. What misfortune conspired against her?’ Amy asked.
‘I would never have believed at that point she would ever have fallen from grace. Her apartments were sumptuous, more so than Queen Katherine’s. People attended on her, paying court to her. She dressed herself in Empress purple, she never questioned her conceited arrogance, and through it made few friends; she had no need to, for the King was besotted with her and that was all she trusted.’
‘Do you ever wonder if you could’ve done something to stop her death?’
‘Oh,’ said Mary, her emotions conflicting. ‘Perhaps if I’d stayed, if she had a boy, if she curbed her behaviour, if … all if. There was nothing anyone could have done. Father and Mother knew. Even George knew.’
‘Strange how from a distance you think you know the person, know the story, yet when I hear it from you, it all seems circumstantial. As if many threads were being weaved and none in relation to the other until you step back and see the design.’
‘She floated down this very river, to her coronation and later to her death. Who knew the same water that carries you to victory can also sail you to destruction …?’