Books of Interest
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“The Mirror and the Light” (Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Optimism)
By: Hilary Mantel
Narrated by: Ben Miles
Hilary Mantel (1952-2022, British author, Booker Prize winner acclaimed for historical fiction like the Thomas Cromwell trilogy. Died at the age of 70.)
Historical fiction is a valuable tool when combined with a research-driven imagination. Hiliary Mantel’s trilogy, “Wolf Hall”, “Bring Up the Bodies”, and “The Mirror and the Light”, offer a fascinating picture of Thomas Cromwell.
Thomas Cromwell has been labeled as a dictator by some and a hero of liberty by others. He gained a reputation as a consummate power broker and political advisor, but some consider his protestant religious convictions bordered on zealotry. The famous Winston Churchill disparaged Cromwell’s role in England’s 16th century as a dictator. Winston Churchill was an aristocrat from a wealthy family. One is inclined to think Churchill would have been one of many noblemen in King Henry’s time that would have disparaged Cromwell for being the son of a blacksmith. Mantel’s historical fiction envisions Cromwell as a brilliant political tactician who initiated democratization of England’s government. (By democratization, one must recognize Cromwell believed the King’s decisions were paramount, but that monarchy is limited by dependence on consent.) Far from being a dictator, Mantel shows Cromwell was an astute leader of men superior to him in rank but beneath him in ability.
Henry VIII (1491-1547, King of England from 1509-1547, died at the age of 55.)
Many views of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell have been offered by historians. One is that the King was a great sportsman who enjoyed participating in violent competitions like jousting. Mantel mentions one of those events when the King is unhorsed and appears dead from the impact of an opponent’s lance. The King is unconscious for some time and is pounded on the chest by an attendant that brings him back to consciousness. This is later in his reign, possibly after the beheading of Anne Boleyn. One wonders if his many marriages are in part because of something more than want of a male heir. There is little doubt that a male heir was extremely important, but six wives seem extreme and his decision to execute Cromwell unjust.
Some fundamental truths about King Henry VIII’s era make Mantel’s fictionalized history easier to follow.
King Henry needed money to expand and sustain his monarchy. His greatest opportunity to gain wealth was in confiscation of assets held by the papist Church in England. The King and Cromwell opposed the idea of the Roman Catholic Church’s influence on England’s affairs. Papal opposition was reinforced by Cromwell’s Calvinist beliefs, aligned with England’s Puritan radicals who offered support for history’s course of events. The King needed money. Cromwell’s Puritan and political beliefs coincided with the monarchy’s needs.
Anne Boleyn (Born 1501 or 1507, beheaded in 1536 at age 29 or 35.)
A second fundamental truth is that Anne Boleyn was unable to give the King a surviving male heir. One might question Boleyn’s alleged affairs, but her motives were obscured by history. Maybe Boleyn simply exercised her libido in the same way men often did and still do. On the other hand, if King Henry could not sire a male heir, maybe Boleyn believed a secret conjugal partner would provide an heir. A male heir may have insured Boleyn’s life as long as secrets are kept.
(The great number of historical characters in “The Mirror and the Light” distract from Mantel’s view of King Henry’s time. One often has to look-up the characters she has introduced to keep track of the story. Thirty to forty characters are too many for a casual reader to appreciate the context of an historical novel’s era.)
Human nature’s faults, like desire for money, power, and prestige were the same then as they are now.
The King’s prestige was dealt a blow when Boleyn’s affairs become public. Like today, a cuckolded husband rarely forgives a wife’s extramarital affairs. With the King’s need for a male heir, accusation, trial, and execution were justification for getting rid of Henry’s second wife. She was beheaded by a sword’s blade alluded to in the title of Mantel’s novel. Cromwell provided the evidence, which is to this day, questioned by historians.
Martin Luther (1481-1546)
Cromwell lived in the time of Martin Luther’s attack on the Catholic church and the printing of the Tyndale Bible in Germany.
The middle of “The Mirror and the Light” gives its listeners a view of the religious evolution of Thomas Cromwell. The King’s desire for the wealth of Papal holdings in England seems enough to motivate the King. One wonders if Cromwell’s experience with “royal power” or protestant belief are the primary motivation for his actions.
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (1473-1530, English statesman and Catholic cardinal.)
Cardinal Wolsey resisted King Henry’s desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. Wolsey was dismissed by the King. Ironically, Cromwell owed his rise in parliament to Wolsey and remained loyal to Wolsey despite the King’s dismissal. Despite Wolsey’s resistance and dismissal by the King, he died of natural causes. Cromwell’s abilities and skill as a go-between came to the attention of King Henry. However, Mantel suggests Cromwell is never forgiven by Wolsey’s children for the King’s demotion of their father. What remains in Mantel’s story is how the King loses faith in Cromwell as his advisor.
Holbein portrait of Anne of Cleaves (1515-1557, the fourth wife of King Henry VIII.)
The proximate cause of Cromwell’s conviction for treason and heresy was his negotiation and recommendation to King Henry for marriage to the Duke of Cleaves’ sister.
Thomas Cromwell was executed for treason and heresy in 1540. Cromwell’s intent was to provide an alliance with the Duke of Cleaves against the Holy Roman Empire. Hans Holbein’s painting of Anne was said to have unfairly enhanced her looks. The Duke of Cleaves alliance did not appreciably improve England’s defense and the questionable value of the alliance was laid at the feet of Cromwell. King Henry declared his six-month marriage to Anne of Cleaves was unconsummated. Cromwell’s English aristocratic enemies used the King’s discontent as grounds for the accusation of treason and heresy for which he was executed.
The power and intrigue of King Henry VIII and Thomas Cromell are munificently rendered by Hilliary Mantel in her trilogy. Lessons may be drawn into the 21st century by the power and intrigue of the 16th century.
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