Sir Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell were both born in England more than 500 years ago, and both lost their heads after falling from favor with the Tudor tyrant King Henry VIII. Even after all that time, a fictional depiction of their lives is causing passionate debate.
“Wolf Hall” premiered on PBS’ “Masterpiece Theatre” on April 5. It’s a six-part BBC television series that tells the story of Cromwell. His supporters regard Cromwell as a leading figure in the English Reformation and one of the founders of modern England. His detractors regard him as a cutthroat political hack.
(“Wolf Hall” is excellent television by the way. If you missed the first two episodes of the series, you can still watch them online.)
The series is based on two novels of historical fiction by English writer Diane Martel, “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies.”
Martel was raised a Roman Catholic but left the church. She has harshly criticized the church, leading to charges that her novels and the TV series based on them are anti-Catholic, as well as anti-historical.
Some of Martel’s Catholic critics point out that Cromwell, the hero of her books, presided over the dissolution of monasteries in England. They fail to mention that Cromwell began this under orders from his employer, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was then Henry’s lord chancellor, or top adviser.
Some reviews complain about Martel depicting Cromwell as an intelligent, sensitive human being while More — who was made a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 1935 — is one of the show’s villains. One reviewer even griped about Cromwell being shown cuddling kittens.
Another historical fiction film, “A Man for All Seasons,” has helped shape modern views on More. The 1966 film depicts More as the ultimate man of conscience, who remains true to his principles and religion. Cromwell is one of the movie’s villains, of course.
More and Cromwell were both lawyers. Even in the late Middle Ages, lawyers were at the center of power. Though they were political foes, they appear to have been friends, at least for a time.
The two men were opposites in many ways. More was the son of a nobleman and educated in England’s finest schools. He was a devout Catholic and lived for a time in a monastery. He wore a hair shirt and practiced flagellation, practices considered eccentric even then.
Cromwell’s life is more mysterious. He was the son of a blacksmith and brewer. He seems to have left home at an early age and gone to Europe. There he was reportedly a mercenary soldier before becoming a merchant and lawyer. He returned to England in 1515 and became Wolsey’s top adviser.
More was a brilliant and witty man. His satirical novel “Utopia” is considered a classic. Interestingly, the views on property expressed in the novel earned More a statue at the Kremlin. (It was dismantled in 2013.)
More became Henry’s lord chancellor in 1529. He saw the Protestant Reformation as a heresy and particularly opposed the translation of the Bible into English. More persecuted Protestants in England. He has been accused of participating in the torture of Protestants, a charge his modern supporters deny. (Cromwell has been accused of using torture, too.)
Henry wanted a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, his wife of 20 years, because she had failed to produce a male heir. When the pope refused to annul their marriage, Henry broke with the Catholic Church and created the Church of England with himself as the supreme head.
More refused to accept Henry’s schism with Rome. He resigned as lord chancellor in 1532.
Later, More refused to take an oath acknowledging the king as head of the English church or to attend the king’s wedding to Anne Boleyn in 1533. More was charged with treason and, following a sham trial, was beheaded in 1535.
Cromwell became the king’s chief minister in 1532. He helped to engineer Henry’s break with Rome, as well as Henry’s marriage to Boleyn. After she failed to produce a son, Cromwell helped to engineer her downfall. She lost her head in 1536.
After Henry’s third wife died giving birth, Cromwell arranged the king’s fourth marriage, to Anne of Cleves in 1540. That union was a short-lived disaster. It proved to be Cromwell’s downfall.
Cromwell had made many enemies among the aristocracy during his rise to power. This was the opening they were waiting for. He was arrested for treason and heresy, and executed without a trial soon after the annulment of the king’s marriage to Anne of Cleves.
Henry later said he regretted executing Cromwell and accused his ministers of causing Cromwell’s downfall through false charges.
“Wolf Hall,” as with all historical fiction, is more about the story than history. But even history books almost always have a viewpoint to present.
• Contact Charles Corder at 581-7241 or ccorder@gwcommonwealth.com.
