Month: February 2015

Wolf Hall Explained – Why did the Duke of Norfolk try his own niece?

One of the striking points of the trials of Anne and George Boleyn was the presence of the uncle, Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, on his raised seat presiding over them. Surely it could be construed as a conflict of interest? And did Norfolk want to be trying his relatives? Continue reading “Wolf Hall Explained – Why did the Duke of Norfolk try his own niece?”

Wolf Hall Explained – Where was Mary Boleyn?

Fans of Philippa Gregory may have found themselves wondering where Mary Boleyn was as his sister was falling from favour and ultimately meeting her fate at the hands of the executioner. After all, in The Other Boleyn Girl book, Mary is at court when Anne is arrested and her daughter is taken to the Tower as a companion to Anne. In the 2008 film, Mary rides back to court to plead with Henry for her sister’s life and then sees Anne, promising to look after her daughter, Elizabeth. In contrast, Mary Boleyn disappeared from sight after episode 3 of Wolf Hall. Continue reading “Wolf Hall Explained – Where was Mary Boleyn?”

Wolf Hall explained – Why no defence lawyers?

I have watched the final episode of Wolf Hall twice now and both times it has moved me to tears. I am familiar with numerous instances of executions ordered by Henry VIII to the extent that I had become matter of fact about them, feeling little emotion. Peter Kosminsky changed that with his powerful depiction of the interrogations, trials and executions that humanized this stories for me.

The episode also raised several questions for me that I wanted to explore and explain. In this first post looking at Anne’s fall, I want to ask whey there were no defence lawyers in sight? Continue reading “Wolf Hall explained – Why no defence lawyers?”

The Ambassador, the Minister and the King

In episode 5 of Wolf Hall, we saw Eustace Chapuys at Court, being tricked into bowing to Anne Boleyn before being yelled at by Henry VIII, after which Cromwell also found himself on the receiving end of Henry’s anger. So, what exactly was it all about?

To answer this, we need to delve into the international politics of the period…. Continue reading “The Ambassador, the Minister and the King”

Why did the Pole and Courtenay families matter?

In the 4th episode of Wolf Hall, Thomas Cromwell was shown discovering that Henry Pole, Lord Montagu, and Henry Courtenay, marquis of Exeter, amongst the visitors to Elizabeth Barton (the nun who has been prophesying that Henry will not be King if he divorces Katherine of Aragon and marries Anne Boleyn). He is then shown questioning Margaret Pole, countess of Salisbury and Gertrude, marchioness of Exeter. But why were the Pole and Courtenay families important? And why did it matter if they were meeting with the woman predicting doom for Henry and England? Continue reading “Why did the Pole and Courtenay families matter?”

Wolf Hall Explained – Anne’s Family

In episode 3 of Wolf Hall, Cromwell was summoned to a crisis gathering of Anne’s family to deal with Henry Percy’s claim that he and Anne had been contracted to one another (in Tudor England, promises of marriage were seen as binding contracts and would mean that Anne was not free to marry Henry VIII). But who exactly were all the people standing around? Continue reading “Wolf Hall Explained – Anne’s Family”

Wolf Hall Explained – Was Thomas Cromwell a hit with the ladies?

In the second episode of Wolf Hall, Thomas Cromwell found himself on the receiving end of a reasonable amount of female attention (for a drama that is marketing itself as a serious political interpretation not the sex fest that is The Tudors). First up was Mary Boleyn, perhaps better known in popular culture as the heroine of Philippa Gregory’s novel The Other Boleyn Girl. She made her interest in Cromwell clear, although her motivation appeared to have been that it would piss of her relatives who had little interest in her since she had been cast off as Henry VIII’s mistress. Whilst Cromwell turned Mary down he did give into Joan, one of the women in his household. Joan was in fact his dead wife’s sister and her husband worked for Cromwell. So, did he really have women throwing themselves at him? Continue reading “Wolf Hall Explained – Was Thomas Cromwell a hit with the ladies?”