HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: The official website for BBC History Magazine
date: 2024-12-16T17:08:58.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Thomas Cromwell's death – a rapid descent from the pinnacle of power
items: Thomas Cromwell on screen: is Wolf Hall the best depiction of the Tudor statesman?
items: Thomas Cromwell’s life before Henry VIII
items: ‘What did a Tudor coffin look like?’: the weird and wonderful world of a Wolf Hall adviser
items: Wolf Halls: take a look inside the properties where the new BBC series is filmed
items: Wolf Hall and medieval civil war
items: Wolf Hall: author Hilary Mantel talks Tudors, historical accuracy and winning the Man Booker Prize
items: Thomas Cromwell: a thug in a doublet?

Thomas Cromwell's death – a rapid descent from the pinnacle of power
type: item
date: 2024-12-13T16:10:45.000Z
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Trends-Entertainment
subject: Wolf Hall
description: Thomas Cromwell’s final six months were a Greek tragedy of hubris and political venom, all presided over by a tyrannical king. Diarmaid MacCulloch charts Cromwell’s rapid descent from the very pinnacle of power to the executioner’s block
encoded: As downfalls go, it was spectacular – and brutally swift. On 10 June 1540, Thomas Cromwell arrived at court for what should have been a routine meeting of the Privy Council. As this son of Putney was soon to discover, the meeting was anything but routine. On entering the council, Cromwell – Henry VIII’s immensely gifted chief minister and among the most powerful men in England – dressed in his formal splendid attire as Knight of the Garter, was arrested and humiliated by his old enemy the Duke of Norfolk. The duke ripped the collar of St George from Cromwell’s neck, while the Earl of Southampton, not to be outdone in malice, untied the garter from his knee. Cromwell was then bundled off to the Tower of London down the Thames by barge from Westminster. He would never see the king again. Cromwell’s anguished plea to Henry – “Most gracious prince: I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy!”, written in desperation in his Tower cell – was met with a stony silence. On 28 July, Cromwell was led out to the scaffold on Tower Hill to face his executioner. On that very same day, the king distracted himself by marrying a new wife, Catherine Howard. How had it come to this? How had a man who that April had reached the pinnacle of his success by being appointed 16th Earl of Essex and Lord Great Chamberlain suffered such a vertiginous fall? What led to Thomas Cromwell’s death? For once, the picturesque traditional story deserves priority. That story is the personal disaster of physical repulsion that destroyed the marriage of Henry VIII to his hapless wife, Anne of Cleves. The marriage had seemed such a neat idea to Cromwell – for it was his idea. Anne’s chief virtue for Cromwell as he sought to secure the king a fourth bride was that she was not the daughter of an English nobleman, and so as queen consort, she would not disturb the uneasy balance in English court politics between leading aristocrats. Diplomatically, advantages stacked up. Anne’s family had carried out their own Reformation …

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Thomas Cromwell on screen: is Wolf Hall the best depiction of the Tudor statesman?
type: item
date: 2024-11-08T15:17:35.000Z
creator: Tracy Borman
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
description: Move over Thomas More – Tracy Borman argues that it was Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's 'faithful servant' who was truly the man for all seasons
encoded: This weekend sees the release of the long-awaited BBC dramatisation of Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light, the final instalment of her globally bestselling and Booker Prize winning Wolf Hall trilogy that traces the meteoric rise and dramatic fall of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII. Here, historian Tracy Borman looks at five of the most famous screen portrayals of Henry’s trusted adviser – and makes the case for which comes closest to reality. Wolf Hall (2014 & 2024) The late Hilary Mantel’s compelling portrayal of Henry VIII’s henchman, Thomas Cromwell, (traditionally one of history’s greatest villains) so fired the public imagination that scriptwriters scrambled to translate it to stage and screen. The RSC’s production, starring Ben Miles, attracted sell-out crowds in the UK and US. The BBC’s screen version followed hot on its hills, a lavish six-part dramatisation starring Mark Rylance in the lead role and Damian Lewis as his royal master, Henry VIII. Rylance gave us an altogether different Cromwell to the ruthless schemer who masterminded Anne Boleyn’s fall, destroyed the monasteries and lined his own pockets in the process. The screen version was both more sympathetic and attractive: a tender husband and father, charming and self-deprecating, a self-made man and – as Mantel put it – “clever as a bag of snakes”. Rylance’s Cromwell was quiet and watchful, his expression conveying a thousand words without his lips uttering a single one. There was a dazzling supporting cast. Damian Lewis was just as charismatic, mercurial and, at times, psychopathic, as the Tudor king himself. Claire Foy’s Anne Boleyn was masterful: capricious, magnetic and vulnerable, with a hint of a French accent (‘Cremwell’) that was both condescending and entirely authentic. Jonathan Pryce gave us a charming, clever and humorous Cardinal Wolsey; Mark Gatiss was suitably snide and sinister as Cromwell’s archenemy Stephen Gardiner; and Saskia Reeves played his love interest with …

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Thomas Cromwell’s life before Henry VIII
type: item
date: 2015-02-17T13:01:04.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Tudor kings and queens
subject: Wolf Hall
description: Much has been written about Thomas Cromwell, the self-taught ‘Putney boy’ who went on to become the henchman of Henry VIII and who brought down Anne Boleyn, only to suffer the same fate. But long before establishing himself as the king’s trusted adviser, Cromwell spent much of his early adulthood in Europe, namely Italy
encoded: Little is known about this period in his life – what exactly was the son of a London brewer doing on the war-torn peninsula? Here, Dr Catherine Fletcher, a lecturer in public history at the University of Sheffield, explores Cromwell’s ‘Italian years’, and reveals how his time in Rome influenced his views on religion… As far as we can tell, after leaving England early in the 16th century Thomas Cromwell joined the French army and found his way south. There had been war in Italy since 1494. In this period the peninsula was divided into numerous different states: Florence, Naples, Venice, Milan, the Papal States and many smaller territories. In alliance with the big European powers – France on one side, the holy Roman empire on the other – they fought to expand their influence. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Borgia family held the papacy, while the Medici [a very powerful family] were in exile from Florence. Shortly after the death of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) in 1503, Cromwell fought with the French against a Spanish army at the battle of Garigliano. The Italian wars were notorious for the extensive use of mercenary troops, and Cromwell would have been one of many foreigners – Swiss pikemen, German landsknechts – fighting on Italian soil at this time. Niccolò Machiavelli famously described mercenary armies as “disunited, ambitious, without discipline, disloyal... they have no fear of God, they keep no faith with men”. We don’t know whether this was Cromwell’s experience: we do know that he ended up on the losing side. The French were defeated at Garigliano. Cromwell made his way to Florence, where he met Francesco Frescobaldi, a banker. Frescobaldi took the young Englishman into his household, providing him with clothing and money. The tale of Cromwell at Garigliano and his subsequent encounter with Frescobaldi is told in a series of rather romanticised stories by the Italian writer Matteo Bandello. It shouldn’t be taken at face value, but the conn…

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‘What did a Tudor coffin look like?’: the weird and wonderful world of a Wolf Hall adviser
type: item
date: 2015-01-21T09:37:11.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Wolf Hall
description: Starring Homeland’s Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall follows the meteoric rise of Thomas Cromwell in the Tudor court, from his lowly start as the son of a blacksmith to becoming Henry VIII’s closest advisor. We caught up with Dr Catherine Fletcher, a historical adviser on the BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s award-winning novels. Here, she shares some of the more unusual elements of the job…
encoded: Q: How did you become involved with the making of Wolf Hall? A: I was recommended by a colleague. The production team was looking for someone who knew about the ceremonial world in Tudor times, and I had written about Henry VIII’s relationship with the court of Rome. We remember Henry for his break with Rome, but we forget that all the way up until that point Henry took his role as a Catholic prince seriously, paying close attention to what the papacy thought. I was available to talk to the set dressers and prop designers during filming – from April to August last year – so that they could ask questions and make sure what they were doing was historically accurate. It was not all that glamorous – sadly I wasn’t hobnobbing with Damian Lewis [who plays Henry VIII] or anything! But it was fascinating. The production team were very keen to ensure that, as far as possible, what they were doing was correct. Of course, there are not sources to answer every question, but we do our best. Q: What was the most bizarre or memorable question you were asked? A: ‘What shape was a Tudor coffin?’ was a particularly unusual one! The team wanted to know for the scene where Catherine of Aragon dies. Thankfully I managed to find a watercolour of the vault under St George’s Chapel in Windsor, where Henry VIII and Jane Seymour are buried. Jane’s coffin was shaped around the head. So I was able to suggest that to them. Another moment that was quite wonderful was a scene featuring Franciscan monks carrying a cross, when they bump into another group – I can’t remember who. Of course, for health and safety purposes you couldn’t have actors ramming into one another with a large, wooden cross! So the team instead designed a soft cross, and they asked me what it should look like. I tracked down an image from the 1530s, to give them an idea. I was also asked what sort of hats the characters should be wearing. The wide cardinals’ hats you see on coats of arms were reserved for ceremonial purposes o…

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Wolf Halls: take a look inside the properties where the new BBC series is filmed
type: item
date: 2015-01-20T16:00:00.000Z
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Wolf Hall
description: Hilary Mantel fans are eagerly awaiting a major TV adaptation of her award-winning Wolf Hall, set to be broadcast on BBC Two this week.
encoded: The six-part serial, featuring Homeland star Damian Lewis and Olivier Award-winning Mark Rylance, will follow the meteoric rise of Thomas Cromwell in the Tudor court, from his lowly start as the son of a blacksmith to becoming King Henry VIII’s closest advisor. Filming began earlier this year at six National Trust properties across the South West. Here, we take you on a historical tour… Montacute House Situated in southern Somerset, Montacute House is a classic example of Elizabethan Renaissance architecture. The house was completed in 1601 by Sir Edward Phelips, who would later become known for his role as opening prosecutor at the trial of the Gunpowder plotters. Within the mansion is a Long Gallery, which features more than 60 Tudor and Elizabethan portraits, including the works of Francis Bacon. The property also boasts rooms of portraiture dedicated to Elizabethan England, the Jacobean Court and – of most interest to fans of Wolf Hall – the court of Henry VIII. The intricate stonework was crafted under the instruction of William Arnold, a master mason. However, Montacute House’s honey-coloured glow can be attributed to the hamstone used in its construction. Sourced just two miles from the property, hamstone features in many of the medieval churches in the area. Barrington Court Just seven miles west from Montacute, across the river Parrett, lies Barrington Court, another Somerset National Trust property – but one that has a more fractious history. The site of the Tudor manor house was occupied from the 11th century, and the estate’s owner, Henry Daubeney, started work on the house seen today in around 1538. It was a time of good fortune for the new Earl of Bridgewater, as he was finally able to develop the property he had inherited in 1514. Unfortunately, however, his lavish spending resulted in bankruptcy, and his political influence waned. He was implicated in the disgrace of Queen Katherine Howard in 1541, and seven years later he died without issue. The est…

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Wolf Hall and medieval civil war
type: item
date: 2015-01-08T14:12:06.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Medieval battles
subject: Medieval life
subject: Wolf Hall
description: Peter Kosminsky, director of the upcoming dramatisation of Wolf Hall, gives an insight into the series, while David Crouch describes a 12th-century clash for England’s throne
encoded: As the BBC TV dramatisation of Wolf Hall is shortly due to air, series director Peter Kosminsky reveals the challenges and joys of filming Hilary Mantel’s acclaimed novels. Meanwhile, Professor David Crouch visits Wallingford Castle in Oxfordshire, which played an important role in the 12th-century battle for England’s throne between King Stephen and Empress Matilda.

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Wolf Hall: author Hilary Mantel talks Tudors, historical accuracy and winning the Man Booker Prize
type: item
date: 2014-09-20T08:57:29.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Wolf Hall
description: Hilary Mantel, author of the Thomas Cromwell novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, talks to Rob Attar about the process of writing historical fiction and shares some of the secrets of her tremendous literary success
encoded: When did you first think of writing about Thomas Cromwell? The idea first came to me about 40 years ago but I put it away on a shelf, if you like, tabulated under ‘good idea – might do it sometime’. I swung into action in around 2005 when I realised that the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession was coming up soon [in 2009]. I thought to myself that if there is a time to do it, this is the time. The idea had been lying at the back of my mind but I hadn’t really been thinking about it or studying it. I was very much an 18th-century person: that was what deterred me and made me hold off. I felt so comfortably situated in the 18th century that I wondered if I had it in me to go and live in another era. But eventually I took courage, spurred on by knowing about that big anniversary. How important do you think it is to be historically accurate when writing a novel set in the past? I can’t see the point of doing it otherwise. Of course nobody can guarantee 100 per cent accuracy – you are never going to be completely free of mistakes. But I think you have to take your research seriously, otherwise there is no point in it at all. You can’t speculate emptily about the personal reality of people’s lives. It has to be grounded in time, place and context. If you don’t like research and don’t consider it important then it’s better, in my view, to leave the historical novel alone. I am not trying to prescribe for other people, but that is the way that I do things. I’m not really interested in writing about imaginary people against a historical backdrop, which is of course what many historical novelists do. I’m interested in real people against a historical backdrop and there I think you have to respect the complexity of their stories. You have to know that history isn’t tidy and that it doesn’t do what you as a novelist want it to. It doesn’t conform to your dramatic instincts. It often has a really awkward shape and so you have to make your fiction flexible to bend around …

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Thomas Cromwell: a thug in a doublet?
type: item
date: 2013-03-21T05:00:00.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Tudor
subject: Wolf Hall
description: For most of the five centuries since Henry VIII sent his chief minister to the scaffold, historians have cast Thomas Cromwell as a scheming, rapacious vulture. But does this characterisation really do him justice? Diarmaid MacCulloch investigates
encoded: Poor Thomas Cromwell. He has rarely been given a good press – even in the triumphant island story as told by the champions of Protestant England, in which the pope’s deluded followers were repeatedly put in their place so the British empire could flourish and spread Christian civilisation far and wide. In that telling, Henry VIII receives all the credit for leading Tudor England in walking tall – and he had the glamour that his most effective minister notoriously lacked. The various surviving copies of Hans Holbein’s portrait of Thomas Cromwell – showing him as pudgy and watchful, expensively but plainly dressed – are distinctly unflattering to this busy royal minister, to the extent that I wonder if vengeful Catholics in Queen Mary Tudor’s reign destroyed any pictures that presented him in a kinder light. Cromwell has long been unpopular among many Roman Catholics. Curiously, he has also been derided by many Anglicans who have turned away from their Protestant Reformation heritage and waxed sentimental about England’s monastic ruins – Cromwell’s central role in the destructive Dissolution can’t be denied. In his days, many politicians and notables hated him out of sheer snobbery: how, they must have felt, could talent and efficiency possibly be allowed to snatch power from good breeding and ancient pedigree? So, from several different points of view, Cromwell ends up being seen as a thug in a doublet, doing the bidding of Henry VIII, the Tudor Stalin. Learning from letters In two brilliant novels, with another to come, Hilary Mantel has worked to alter this dismal picture. She has done in semi-fictional style what I seek to do, first in an hour-long television documentary, then in a full-scale historical biography: recapture the complexity of this fascinating, self-taught man. Cromwell emerged from the back alleys of rural Putney (his father really was a thug) to become Earl of Essex, one of the oldest noble titles in the realm – yet in the moment of this greatest …

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