Behind the Scenes: 12 Historical Figures in Wolf Hall

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Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. </div> <div class="label mt-20 mb-10">Select Citation Style</div> <select class="js-citation-format-select form-select"> <option selected value="mla">MLA</option> <option value="apa">APA</option> <option value="chicago">Chicago Manual of Style</option> </select> <div class="citation font-serif border rounded p-15 mt-20" data-authors="Kuiper, Kathleen" data-authors-initial="Kuiper, K." data-title="Behind the Scenes: 12 Historical Figures in Wolf Hall" data-published-date="20 Apr. 2015" data-url="https://www.britannica.com/list/behind-the-scenes-12-historical-figures-in-wolf-hall" > <div class="citation-text"></div> </div> <button class="js-copy-citation-button mt-20 btn btn-xs btn-outline-blue border shadow-sm pr-10" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="file_copy"></em> <span class="js-citation-status-text">Copy Citation</span> </button> </div> </div> </div> <div> <button class="js-share-modal-button js-modal gtm-topic-tool btn btn-xs btn-outline-blue border shadow-sm pr-10" data-modal=".md-share-modal"> <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="share"></em> Share </button> <div class="md-share-modal size-lg d-none qa-share-modal"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif d-flex align-items-center pb-15 border-bottom"> <em class="material-icons text-blue mr-10" data-icon="share"></em> Share </div> <div class="label my-20">Share to social media</div> <div class="md-social-toolbar-circle d-flex align-items-start inverted" data-value="share" title="Behind the Scenes: 12 Historical Figures in Wolf Hall" data-url="https://www.britannica.com/list/behind-the-scenes-12-historical-figures-in-wolf-hall" > <a class="social-icon facebook justify-content-center d-flex align-items-center align-self-center" data-provider="facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/BRITANNICA/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>Facebook</span></a> <a class="social-icon x justify-content-center d-flex align-items-center align-self-center" data-provider="x" href="https://x.com/britannica" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>X</span></a> </div> <div class="label pt-20 mt-20 mb-5 border-top">URL</div> <a class="font-serif text-truncate d-inline-block" href="https://www.britannica.com/list/behind-the-scenes-12-historical-figures-in-wolf-hall">https://www.britannica.com/list/behind-the-scenes-12-historical-figures-in-wolf-hall</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-byline module-spacing font-14"> <div class="font-serif font-12"> <span class="written-by text-gray-700"> Written by </span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 qa-editor-popup gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/editor/Kathleen-Kuiper/6741" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Kathleen Kuiper</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Kathleen Kuiper was Senior Editor, Arts & Culture, Encyclopædia Britannica until 2016. She also edited <em>Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature.</em></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Kathleen Kuiper</span></div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 qa-editor-popup font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div></div> </div> <article class="topic-content content"><div class="topic-paragraph font-serif md-list-intro pt-15 pb-20"><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/91/182391-131-6334E18C/Mark-Rylance-Thomas-Cromwell-Wolf-Hall.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*0"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/91/182391-131-6334E18C/Mark-Rylance-Thomas-Cromwell-Wolf-Hall.jpg?w=1000" alt="Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall a 2015 BBC TV Mini Series. drama, television, England in the 1520s, Henry VIII" data-width="900" data-height="675" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">BBC</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">“Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived” is how some of us remember in order the fates of the six wives of Henry VIII. Henry’s lifetime affords one of the most compelling and world-altering narratives in European history. Showtime gave us the sex and gore—and some great costumes and settings—as well as some entertaining riffs on historical facts with <em>The Tudors</em> (2007–10). One blogger from <em>The Guardian</em> called it “buttock acting.” Now behold <em>Wolf Hall</em>, the PBS adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s prizewinning examinations of the selfsame era, <em>Wolf Hall</em> (2009) and <em>Bring Up the Bodies</em> (2012). Mantel’s stories are told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, one of the era’s major players. The adaptation is restrained, nuanced, and brilliantly set forth and the filming outstanding. Using natural lighting, the cinematographer presents frame after gorgeous frame evoking the glory of Renaissance painting. Just for the record, let’s examine some of the actual people and events related to that period. </p><span class="MOD"></span></div><ul class="md-list-order-reverse md-mendel-list" style="counter-reset: item 13"><li><h2>Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/58/112158-050-F3ED1C41/Thomas-Cromwell-engraving-painting-Hans-Holbein-the-1537.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*110373"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/58/112158-050-F3ED1C41/Thomas-Cromwell-engraving-painting-Hans-Holbein-the-1537.jpg?w=1000" alt="Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1537. Cromwell was King Henry VIII of England's chief minister." data-width="1309" data-height="1600" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/58/112158-050-F3ED1C41/Thomas-Cromwell-engraving-painting-Hans-Holbein-the-1537.jpg" data-href="*110373">Thomas Cromwell</a><span>Thomas Cromwell, engraving after a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1537. </span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">The Print Collector—Hulton Archive/Getty Images</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">Cromwell’s origins were humble, a circumstance that set many of the aristocrats against him from the outset. His rise began with his service to Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, who could not get Pope Clement VII to annul Henry’s first marriage. Cromwell lost his wife and daughters probably to “sweating sickness,” an epidemic disease of unknown cause that struck England six times—once in 1485 and five times in the 16th century. After distancing himself a bit from Wolsey, Cromwell entered Parliament, eventually (about 1532) working his way to the top, becoming second in power only to the king. He oversaw the vesting of monastic properties in the crown. In a fatal slipup he insisted that Henry make a political marriage to Anne of Cleves. Henry did. With clear evidence of the king’s extreme dissatisfaction with his new wife, Cromwell’s enemies pounced. In June 1540 Cromwell was arrested on charges of heresy and treason, and on July 28 he was executed, incompetently, as a heretic and traitor.</p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-1"></span></li><li><h2>Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, archbishop of York</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/21/8721-050-E082195F/Thomas-Cardinal-Wolsey-detail-painting-Sampson-Strong.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*15270"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/21/8721-050-E082195F/Thomas-Cardinal-Wolsey-detail-painting-Sampson-Strong.jpg?w=1000" alt="Wolsey, detail of a painting by Sampson Strong, 1526; in Christ Church, Oxford." data-width="1253" data-height="1600" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/21/8721-050-E082195F/Thomas-Cardinal-Wolsey-detail-painting-Sampson-Strong.jpg" data-href="*15270">Thomas Cardinal Wolsey</a><span>Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, detail of a painting by Sampson Strong, 1526; in Christ Church, Oxford, England.</span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">Courtesy of the Governing Body of Christ Church, Oxford</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">In <em>Wolf Hall</em> the cardinal is seen nearing the end of his ascendancy (1515–29) in Henry VIII’s court, and for him, too, the viewer feels some sympathy. The real Wolsey was a worldly man of great power (both secular and ecclesiastical). With it he amassed wealth second only to that of the king. However, he also made many enemies. Among other things, the lowborn churchman raised taxes to finance England’s campaign against France, and he suppressed 29 monasteries to get the money to found what is now Christ Church, Oxford. He was ultimately stripped of all his offices and preferments except York, for which he left London in 1530. But the immediate cause of his downfall was his inability to help Henry get what he wanted: out of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. </p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-2"></span></li><li><h2>Stephen Gardiner</h2><div><p class="topic-paragraph">After serving as secretary to Cardinal Wolsey (1525–29) and as the cardinal’s ambassador to Pope Clement VII in regard to Henry VIII’s desire for annulment of his first marriage, Gardiner was made Henry’s principal secretary in 1529 and bishop of Winchester in 1531. He failed to gain the king’s trust, however, and was bested by Thomas Cranmer for the position of archbishop of Canterbury. Cromwell in 1532 eased Gardiner out of his secretaryship as well. Thus, Cromwell joined Cranmer on Gardiner’s enemies list. The king kept Gardiner on his royal council to counteract some of the Protestant sympathizers there, but he would not allow the bishop to bring Cranmer to trial on charges of heresy. Gardiner, together with Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Suffolk, helped bring about Cromwell’s downfall. Gardiner would have his full revenge with the accession (after the six-year reign of Edward VI) of the very Catholic Mary I, when he was restored to his see and made lord chancellor of the realm.</p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-3"></span></li><li><h2>Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/73/173873-050-CCA882AD/Thomas-Howard-etching-portrait-Norfolk-Lucas-Emil.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*187084"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/73/173873-050-CCA882AD/Thomas-Howard-etching-portrait-Norfolk-Lucas-Emil.jpg?w=1000" alt="Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1473-1554) illustration by Hans Holbein after Lucas Emil Vorsterman, 1624-1630; in the Wellcome Library, London. Earl of Surrey. Earl Marshal. English noble under Henry VIII" data-width="1156" data-height="1600" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/73/173873-050-CCA882AD/Thomas-Howard-etching-portrait-Norfolk-Lucas-Emil.jpg" data-href="*187084">Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of</a><span>Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk, etching by Lucas Emil Vorsterman after a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, <em>c.</em> 1624–30; in the Wellcome Library, London.</span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">Wellcome Library, London (20415i)</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">Thomas Howard was the brother-in-law of Henry’s father, Henry VII. He headed the faction of nobles opposed to Cardinal Wolsey, and he supported the marriage of his niece Anne Boleyn to the king. By the time of Anne’s fall in 1536, Norfolk’s relationship with the king had already been weakened by Cromwell. When Anne was brought to trial, it was Norfolk who had to preside at her trial and execution. A religious conservative, he became a leading opponent of both Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Cromwell. After Cromwell’s execution, Norfolk gained power and himself became the second most powerful Englishman. But Henry’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard, was also Norfolk’s niece and, alas, was also beheaded. Four years later Norfolk was accused of being an accessory to treason and was condemned to die, but Henry himself died before the sentence could be carried out.</p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-4"></span></li><li><h2>Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/11/12611-050-98560CE7/Thomas-Cranmer-detail-oil-painting-Gerlach-Flicke.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*9697"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/11/12611-050-98560CE7/Thomas-Cranmer-detail-oil-painting-Gerlach-Flicke.jpg?w=1000" alt="Thomas Cranmer, oil painting by G. Fliccius, 1546; in the National Portrait Gallery, London" data-width="1248" data-height="1600" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/11/12611-050-98560CE7/Thomas-Cranmer-detail-oil-painting-Gerlach-Flicke.jpg" data-href="*9697">Thomas Cranmer</a><span>Thomas Cranmer, detail of an oil painting by Gerlach Flicke, 1545; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.</span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">By a chance visit he made to Essex (in order to escape contact with the “sweating sickness”), Cranmer was introduced to Stephen Gardiner and ultimately to the king. Henry, who wanted all hands on deck to achieve divorce from Catherine, commissioned Cranmer—by then a noted theologian interested in the issues raised by Martin Luther—to use Scripture, the words of the Church Fathers, and anything else he could marshal to make a cogent argument for Henry’s position. In 1532 he was sent as Henry’s ambassador to Germany and instructed to make contact with the Lutheran princes. That mission changed his way of thinking. That same year, Gardiner being out of favor, Cranmer was appointed archbishop of Canterbury. The following year he declared the king’s first marriage void from the beginning and his marriage to Anne Boleyn valid. Cranmer pretty much acted as the king wished him to regarding the various queens. Cranmer freed Henry from Anne Boleyn in 1536, from Anne of Cleves in 1540, and from Catherine Howard in 1542. As the archbishop turned ever more steadily toward a belief in Protestantism, Cranmer’s enemies attempted to unseat him in Henry’s graces, but they were not successful. Henry died protecting him and enjoying his counsel. </p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-5"></span></li><li><h2>Thomas More</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/19/8619-050-717CD1B8/Thomas-More-detail-oil-panel-Hans-Holbein-1527.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*15586"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/19/8619-050-717CD1B8/Thomas-More-detail-oil-panel-Hans-Holbein-1527.jpg?w=1000" alt="Sir Thomas More, oil on panel by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1527." data-width="1185" data-height="1600" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/19/8619-050-717CD1B8/Thomas-More-detail-oil-panel-Hans-Holbein-1527.jpg" data-href="*15586">Hans Holbein the Younger: <em>Sir Thomas More</em></a><span><em>Sir Thomas More</em>, oil on panel by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1527; in the Frick Collection, New York City.</span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">Photos.com/Getty Images</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">Trained as a lawyer and highly self-educated as well, More had already published his <em>History of King Richard III</em>—in both Latin and English, the source used by Shakespeare for his play—and his groundbreaking <em>Utopia</em> and had performed a number of distinguished acts of public service by 1517, when he was called into the king’s service. He became the king’s “intellectual courtier,” secretary, and confidant, and he gained much power. In 1527 the king argued his case to More about annulment, but More could not agree. That disagreement was not a big deal until More was appointed to replace Wolsey as lord chancellor. More indicted Wolsey in his opening of Parliament in 1529, but he did not sign the letter pressuring Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage. More tried to resign when the clergy accepted the king as their supreme head. Further, he did not attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn as queen. With his refusal to deny papal supremacy under oath, he sealed his fate. He was tried in 1535 and found guilty of charges by a group that included Anne Boleyn’s father, brother, and uncle. His sentence—to be drawn, hanged, and quartered, was too much even for Henry, who changed it to beheading. For another take on More, see Robert Bolt’s <em>A Man for All Seasons</em>.</p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-6"></span></li><li><h2>Charles Brandon, 1st duke of Suffolk</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/72/135572-050-511CE046/Charles-Brandon-engraving-Suffolk.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*137638"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/72/135572-050-511CE046/Charles-Brandon-engraving-Suffolk.jpg?w=1000" alt="Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, undated engraving." data-width="1282" data-height="1600" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/72/135572-050-511CE046/Charles-Brandon-engraving-Suffolk.jpg" data-href="*137638">Suffolk, Charles Brandon, 1st duke of</a><span>Charles Brandon, 1st duke of Suffolk, undated engraving.</span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">Photos.com/Jupiterimages</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">A minor figure, but a player nonetheless, was Charles Brandon. Though he had fought well in the 1513 campaign against France, he proved to lack leadership qualities. Sent to France to arrange a marriage of Henry’s sister Mary with Francis I of France, Suffolk married her himself, a treasonous act. It was none other than Wolsey who calmed Henry’s anger and eased Suffolk’s way back into Henry’s good graces. Nevertheless, Suffolk helped engineer Wolsey’s overthrow.</p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-7"></span></li><li><h2>Catherine of Aragon (1)</h2><div><p class="topic-paragraph">Between 1510 and 1518, Henry’s first wife bore six of Henry’s children, including two males, but all except her daughter Mary (queen of England 1553–58) were stillborn or died in early infancy. She was in many ways Henry’s intellectual equal, and their marriage seemed a good one. However, Henry became obsessed with the notion that he must have a male heir, rejected Catherine, and sought an annulment. Henry ultimately had the archbishop of Canterbury pronounce his marriage to her null and void. Somewhat surprisingly, though she publicly denied his position about the illegitimacy of their marriage, she managed to die a natural death. Much loved by the English people, the real Catherine was merely forced to retire from public life. And to endure the events that followed. </p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-8"></span></li><li><h2>Anne Boleyn (2)</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/40/13440-004-9AA60998/Anne-Boleyn-Hans-Holbein-the-Younger-British.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*21695"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/40/13440-004-9AA60998/Anne-Boleyn-Hans-Holbein-the-Younger-British.jpg?w=1000" alt="Anne Boleyn, drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1534-35; in The British Museum" data-width="223" data-height="300" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/40/13440-004-9AA60998/Anne-Boleyn-Hans-Holbein-the-Younger-British.jpg" data-href="*21695">Anne Boleyn</a><span>Anne Boleyn, drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1534–35; in the British Museum, London.</span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">The second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn had supplanted a popular queen. That fact and her arrogant behavior made her unpopular at court. She was unable to produce the male heir that Henry sought. She bore a female child—the future Elizabeth I—and then a stillborn male. Though Henry (through Wolsey) had stopped her marriage to Harry Percy and had fought against papal authority for nine years to marry her, he soon tired of her. After three years of marriage, she was discarded and beheaded, charged with adultery and incest, both charges considered unlikely by historians. She was the apparent victim of a temporary court faction supported by Thomas Cromwell.</p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-9"></span></li><li><h2>Jane Seymour (3)</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/05/10705-004-A36721CD/Jane-Seymour-portrait-Hans-Holbein-the-Younger.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*12047"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/05/10705-004-A36721CD/Jane-Seymour-portrait-Hans-Holbein-the-Younger.jpg?w=1000" alt="Jane Seymour, portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1536; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna" data-width="195" data-height="300" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/05/10705-004-A36721CD/Jane-Seymour-portrait-Hans-Holbein-the-Younger.jpg" data-href="*12047">Jane Seymour</a><span>Jane Seymour, portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1536; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.</span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">Courtesy of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">Henry married Jane Seymour a mere 11 days after Anne Boleyn’s beheading. Seymour’s refusal to become the king’s mistress, though she was willing to be his wife, may in fact have hastened Anne’s death. She was instrumental in restoring Mary (Catherine of Aragon’s daughter, the future Mary I) to the king’s good graces. In any case, Jane succeeded where Henry’s other wives had failed. She bore a son, Edward (the future Edward VI), but 12 days after his birth and only 17 months after her marriage she died.</p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-10"></span></li><li><h2>Anne of Cleves (4)</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/46/1246-050-239CFEF9/Anne-of-Cleves-portrait-Hans-Holbein-the.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*11654"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/46/1246-050-239CFEF9/Anne-of-Cleves-portrait-Hans-Holbein-the.jpg?w=1000" alt=""Anne of Cleves," portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539; in the Musee du Louvre, Paris" data-width="768" data-height="1030" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/46/1246-050-239CFEF9/Anne-of-Cleves-portrait-Hans-Holbein-the.jpg" data-href="*11654">Hans Holbein the Younger: <em>Anne of Cleves</em></a><span>Hans Holbein the Younger: <em>Anne of Cleves</em>, oil painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539; in the Louvre Museum, Paris.</span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">© Giraudon/Art Resource, New York</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">Henry’s marriage to Anne of Cleves was strictly a political one, born of the fear that France and the Holy Roman Empire—the two major Roman Catholic powers—were on the verge of uniting to attack England. Cromwell arranged the marriage to Anne because her brother was a leader of the Protestants of western Germany. On January 6, 1540, Henry and Anne were married. Henry’s disappointment with his new wife was immediate, and, when the expected Catholic alliance failed to materialize, the marriage was annulled. On July 28, 1540, the date of Henry’s marriage to Catherine Howard (like Anne Boleyn, also a niece of Thomas Howard and also later beheaded), Cromwell—who had been arrested and condemned without a hearing—met his fate at the hands of the executioner. </p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-11"></span></li><li><h2>Clement VII</h2><div><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/38/12838-004-B7E8C47E/Clement-VII-detail-portrait-Sebastiano-del-Piombo.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*9489"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/38/12838-004-B7E8C47E/Clement-VII-detail-portrait-Sebastiano-del-Piombo.jpg?w=1000" alt="Clement VII, detail from a portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo; in the Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples" data-width="239" data-height="300" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif "><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" target="_blank" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/38/12838-004-B7E8C47E/Clement-VII-detail-portrait-Sebastiano-del-Piombo.jpg" data-href="*9489">Clement VII</a><span>Clement VII, detail from a portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo; in the National Museum and Galleries of Capodimonte, Naples.</span></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">Alinari/Art Resource, New York</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">Clement VII, the pope who ironically helped accelerate the Protestant Reformation, was born Giulio de’ Medici. As his birth name indicates, he was a Renaissance prince, reared by his uncle Lorenzo the Magnificent. He was unable to influence the battle between Francis I of France and Charles V for domination of Europe, and so his loyalties vacillated between them. He could not initiate reform measures in the church, and the longer he waited, the stronger the Protestant revolt grew. When Henry VIII split from Rome over Clement’s refusal to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon—Clement ultimately (in 1533) declared the marriage to be valid—the die was cast.</p><span class="MOD"></span></div><span class="LIST-ITEM-12"></span></li></ul><span class="AM-END-OF-ARTICLE am-inline"></span></article> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="cm-rightrail d-none d-md-block ad-rail"></aside> </div> </div> </div> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col"> <div class="md-loading hidden display-4 font-weight-normal"></div> <div class="text-center my-20 mb-100"> <button class="md-infinite-load-next btn btn-blue" data-value="next-page">Load More</button> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-da-320 hidden-xs"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"List","templateName":null,"pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":11,"pageId":4175,"pageLength":null,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.9"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/list-page.js?v=3.133.9' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"List","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":null,"gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Behind the Scenes: 12 Historical Figures in Wolf Hall | Britannica