The Illegitimate Tudor by James M. Stuart

Author:James M. Stuart [Stuart, James M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-19T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER IX

Traitors & Heretics

Lady Anne Boleyn and her family seemed to be the happiest at court that Cardinal Wolsey was at long last out of the way and it appeared they were flourishing more and more by each passing month. However, they were not the only ones. The Dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk were named joined Presidents of the King’s Council. As for me, I was appointed a Gentleman of the King’s Privy Chamber and was now in His Majesty’s presence from dawn to dusk, listening and observing and of course doing his bidding. The grand seat of Lord Chancellor and Privy Seal of England was passed on to Sir Thomas More, a humanist and a pious man, who the queen had claimed was on her side.

Furthermore, another new and somewhat surprising appointment was that of a man called Thomas Cromwell, a lowborn lawyer who used to be Wolsey’s assistant in what had seemed petty matters of state. King Henry had been clearly impressed with Cromwell’s abilities, and eventually, he had appointed him as a member of the Privy Council. Norfolk, who was ever so fearful of Wolsey’s possible retaliation upon us all, saw that as a sign that the king was still fond of the cardinal and it was only a matter of time that he would recall him to court to resume his former state. He was after all, wrong…

Things were changing rapidly at court, and Wolsey’s name was not heard for many a month. However, before the end of 1530, Wolsey made a last stand to regain his position of power, although, it was so reckless that cost him his own life. He had conspired with the pope and some foreign ambassadors, most prominently the one from the Holy Roman Empire, a man called Eustace Chapuys, in an attempt to force the king to reconcile with Queen Catherine. It was a desperate effort that had it succeeded, it would have restored him to full power once more.

His secret dealings were quickly discovered by the king’s spies, and he was charged with treason and ordered to travel to London to await his sentence. He never reached the capital, though. The cardinal was growing frail, and his ageing did not help. Thus Cardinal Thomas Wolsey perished, and there never was a happier day in the Kingdom of England, for he was a great deceiver and ever so hungry for power.

The king did not lose precious time. Following Wolsey’s death, he confiscated all the cardinal’s possessions, including his manors; the most prominent one, Hampton Court, a magnificent palace that would turn out to be one of the king’s favourites.

King Henry’s attention was then turned elsewhere regarding the annulment of his marriage. He was no doubt driven by his mistress who, I had come to realise, was the most cunning woman in court. Apparently, the Lady Anne who was well-known that she and her family favoured a reformation in the English Church, was feeding the king with anticlerical books that some

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