Thomas Cromwell: The Real Wolf Hall (Very Short History Book 7) by Tristan Clark

Author:Tristan Clark
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2015-06-20T23:00:00+00:00

6. The Succession

Anne’s trial and execution were carried out with the help of Catherine’s friends in court. These friends believed that Mary, Catherine’s daughter, would now become a legitimate heir of King Henry VIII, but Henry was not prepared for this to happen.

Once Catherine had died, there was a lot of support for Mary to be legitimatized. Even Henry’s new wife, Jane Seymour, felt that Mary should be made legitimate. There was also some expectation that with the obstacle of Henry’s divorce out of the way, he would now reconcile with the papacy. But Henry wasn’t prepared to do this—Henry liked being the Supreme Head of the Church.

Mary wrote to Cromwell looking for his help in her relationship with her father. Cromwell wrote back stating that she would need to be completely obedient to the king for this to happen. Mary responded to both Cromwell and to Henry that she was more than willing to be obedient, but stated she had also committed her soul to God. This of course did not address the issues of Mary accepting Henry as the head of the church or agreeing that Henry’s marriage to Catherine was unlawful.

Henry was not prepared to accept Mary unless she capitulated completely and recognized him as the head of the church. Although negotiations appeared to take place concerning Mary’s legitimacy, nothing came from it and there was some concern that Henry might have Mary tried and executed for treason.

Mary wrote another letter to Henry, which she copied to Cromwell, asking that she only be asked to submit to the king as far as her conscience would allow. Henry was not impressed with the letter and sent a delegation to ask her two questions: would she accept his supremacy over the church, and would she accept that the marriage between Henry and her mother was invalid. Mary refused to accept either position and it was decided that she could be tried for high treason, which was something that both Cromwell and the Imperial Ambassador Chapuys had tried to avoid.

Cromwell convinced Chapuys that Mary faced certain death unless she surrendered and accepted Henry’s conditions. Chapuys convinced Mary to submit and seemed to have argued that because of the extreme pressure she was under (possible execution as well the imprisonment of a number of her friends), God would not find fault in her submission. Mary finally agreed to Henry’s conditions and signed a document attesting to this. She also wrote a letter placing her life in Henry’s hands. Henry was relieved by Mary’s capitulation and she was welcomed back into the fold.

Mary’s surrender benefited Cromwell because it took away any pressure he might have felt towards the friends of Catherine of Aragon for helping him get rid of Anne. Since Mary accepted all of Henry’s conditions, there was no problem with accepting Mary back into the succession.

Since Henry was no longer married to Anne, the Succession Act that had been negotiated previously with parliament needed to be re-negotiated. Once again, Cromwell

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