Keegan Theatre On-line

Robert Bolt (1924-1995) was a highly successful British playwright and screenwriter. His first successful play was The Flowering Cherry, first produced in London in 1958. His screenwriting credits include Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, A Man for All Seasons, Ryan’s Daughter and The Mission (he received Academy Awards for Doctor Zhivago and A Man for All Seasons). He taught English for many years at the prestigious Millfield private school in Somerset. He was married twice to the actress Sarah Miles.

Bolt developed an obsession with Thomas More while he was still in grammar school, which eventually led to the writing of A Man for All Seasons, his third play, in 1960. He made use of transcripts from More’s trial and his published letters to create dialogue. Bolt was not a religious person in a traditional sense, so that his interest in More stemmed from his view of him as a “hero of selfhood.” Bolt elaborates this notion in his thoughtful preface to the play, describing More’s reaction to the forces around him. More was a man completely engaged with his society and in the good graces of the king until asked to make a statement which violated that selfhood.

Bolt went on to write other works which placed characters in conflict with their social order, including Lawrence of Arabia. And Bolt found himself in such a conflict when he was arrested and imprisoned for protesting against nuclear proliferation. He refused to sign a document declaring that he would refrain from future involvement in similar activities. He is regarded as an extremely skilled interpreter of history, as a scholar and dramatist, as well as a master of cinematic dialogue.

Bolt explains in his preface that the period of history in which the play is set is well known, and it is certainly well documented. He goes on to describe the circumstances in 16^th century England which set the drama in motion.

In 1509, with the special dispensation of Pope Julius II, King Henry VIII married his brother Arthur’s widow, Catherine of Aragon. After more than twenty years of a relatively happy marriage, the couple had little success in producing an heir, their only living child being the Princess Mary. After becoming infatuated with Anne Boleyn, he tried to obtain another dispensation to achieve another annulment. This request and its refusal became a matter of national and international intrigue which resulted in the establishment of the English Church and deep division and conflict in the country which lasted for many decades. Thomas More’s role in the incident is the subject of the play. Following are topics which help put the drama in context and provide general background for the piece.

The Renaissance in Europe between mid-15^th to mid-16^th century was a time of rapid and widespread change, which signaled the transformation from the medieval to the modern. During this time Europeans read the first books printed in the West, created a new kind of warfare, witnessed the establishment of the middle class, learned of fantastic voyages to the New World, made break-through discoveries in science, and began to develop a new way of learning known as humanism.

Another key development was the growth of the sovereign state and the absolute power of monarchs. Before 1453, European states were more feudal than sovereign, and after 1559, they were more sovereign than feudal. Feudal states are those in which the prerogatives of the state (taxation, waging war, etc.) were privately owned and were hereditary among nobles. At the beginning of the 13^th century, kings were regaining power and by the 16^th century, they were practically above the law. The growing sense of nationalism emerged from the desire of each country to enforce its own sovereignty. Throughout this period a series of wars were fought with complex shifts in alliances, partly for economic reasons, but primarily based on this need to establish supremacy.

Henry VIII became King of England in 1509. His father, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor dynasty, had been the victor in the Battle of Bosworth, which had ended the so-called War of the Roses. These were a series of wars waged from 1455-1485, between the houses of Lancaster and York, both of whom claimed descent from the Plantagenet royal house. Henry of Lancaster further assured a new dynasty by marrying Elizabeth of York.

Key players in the delicate struggle for sovereignty in 16^th century Europe were France and Spain, which included the rest of Holy Roman Empire. Henry VIII was different from his father in that he was interested in interested in forming alliances, waging war, and other otherwise gaining an international presence for England.

The New Learning, as humanism was called, was an important aspect of the Renaissance. The values inherent to this way of thinking helped to refashion entirely the intellectual and cultural life of Northern Europe. Beginning in 14^th century Florence with the writer Petrarch, the movement took some time to reach England. Up until then most learning had been under the purview of the Church, but the invention of printing and the spread of literacy caused new ideas to be more wide-spread. The primary focus of humanist study was Classical literature, with a revival of study of ancient languages and writing, including the original texts of the Scriptures.

These new ideas existed side by side with medieval scholasticism, which regarded works of Aquinas and Church Fathers as the authority for all knowledge. But this new beginning of critical inquiry presented a challenge. Humanism became more and more associated with anticlericalism and religious reform, and, by 1530, it became harder for humanists to reconcile orthodox ways of thinking with these new ideas. They were at odds among themselves about whom they supported.

Education was central to humanist program. The New Learning was creating a new ruling class trained to govern. The nobility were experiencing an economic decline and needed to learn other skills. This was a new concept of “ the gentleman.”

The early humanists in England included Thomas More who was a leader. Not all of these men were part of the royal court, but they had an international reputation and were respected everywhere. They were all highly educated and eloquent and believed that every man had a duty to master all his God-given talents, both intellectual and physical. Their studies were called liberal arts as they were believed to make men free and to realize his highest potential.

Abuses in the Christian church can be identified from the earliest times, but by the beginning of the 16^th century the profound corruption of the church, from popes down to parish priests, was a source of alarm to many, and there was a strong need for reform – from within and without the Catholic Church. The growing independent-mindedness on the part of some humanists contributed to the sense that the church no longer held a monopoly on the thinking of scholars and teachers. The age of the individual conscience was being born.

This gradual shift represented an enormous change in the medieval Christian order, which was understood to be ordained and supported by the Will of God. All the social orders from kings and popes to peasants had their respective place in that medieval political, economic, social, cultural, religious and spiritual order – each person being placed into that order by the logic of his birth.

Within this climate of unease and transition, one of the chief catalysts for change was the German monk Martin Luther (1483-1546). Luther’s own spiritual struggle came to a head in 1517 when a papal representative came to his city of Wittenberg to raise money for the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Luther was appalled by the offer of indulgences to finance the project (indulgences being the remission of sins or reduction of time in Purgatory in exchange for money). His response was to write a series of statements criticizing ninety-five beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church which he posted on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral.

Luther wanted a more personal kind of faith in which a man could pray directly to God rather than through intercessors. He only acknowledged two of the seven Sacraments: baptism and the Eucharist. Faith alone rather than ritual and ceremonial was the foundation of Luther’s philosophy. The influential Dutchman Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas More felt that the Reformation should be carried out by popes and princes from within the church. Luther wanted a popular revolution, carried out by princes.

Kings could not afford to let heresies such as Luther’s take root because they encouraged social divisions, sedition and even revolution. Religious doctrine was a matter for those best qualified to understand and interpret it, not the ordinary person.

England was a personal monarchy in Tudor times. Men and women were subjects not citizens, and the “state” really meant the “crown.” The seat of government was Westminster Palace (where the king had lived which later became houses of Parliament) – but actually the power was centered around the court, where the king was. The departments of State included: Exchequer, under the rule of Lord Treasurer; Chancery, under Lord Chancellor, also Keeper of the Great Seal of England; Courts of Common Pleas; King’s Bench. The sole function of these officers was to carry out the wishes of the King. There was no security of tenure. Parliament was also at Westminster. At this time this was primarily a debating and advisory body, summoned at pleasure of the King, to enact taxation legislation or to deal with a specific matter (such as the King’s marriage annulment). There were a number of departments in the central government assigned to specific issues, staffed mostly under a system of patronage.

The real power of the realm centered on this body. It had been called the King’s council, under Henry VII. This was essentially a cabinet of experts, from 20-70, all personally chosen by the monarch. Attendance at any meetings of the Council varied and important decisions were actually made by only two or three trusty advisors. Henry VIII himself preferred to discuss affairs privately with individual members, but all the work of the Council was done in the King’s name and its influence increased during Henry’s reign. The foremost members were Lord Treasurer, Lord Chancellor, Lord Chamberlain, Lord Steward, and Lord High Admiral. Next in importance were Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Archbishop of Canterbury.

There was also the Court of Star Chambers, through which Council exercised legal powers. The Privy Council members included aristocrats, clerics, household officers, and professional lawyers. There was a strong ecclesiastical presence on the Council until late in Henry’s reign. These were typical career churchmen who had neglected their ecclesiastical duties in order to further their political ambitions (Wolsey being the prime example).

By the 16^th century a complex system of law existed in England and there were several different courts which handled specific types of cases. People at all levels went to the courts frequently, for both civil and ecclesiastical issues. One important body, the Court of Chancery had evolved from the practice of litigants, who were disappointed with the inflexible court of common law, to turn to the king and his council with petitions for justice. These were referred to the Lord Chancellor who had begun to build up a series of equitable remedies and operational policies. He had wide powers to do justice as he saw fit.

Lawyers were in great demand. There were no specific qualifications for the profession; some were trained by apprenticeship. Many sons of the landed gentry became lawyers and many came to one of the so-called Inns of Court, of which there were four.

Punishments for crimes remained harsh throughout the 16^th century. Treasonous charges became numerous under Henry VIII for a variety of reasons, especially at the end of his reign. The Tower of London was where traitors were traditionally held. They were often given allowances for food, wood, books, etc. Some were even allowed to walk outside the grounds or were granted conjugal visits.

In France and Spain the monarchy was more closely allied with the church than in England. And although the break with Rome was precipitated by Henry’s desire for a legitimate heir, the seeds of religious reform had been sewn on English soil as early as the 14^th century by one John Wycliff who advocated independence of belief. Henry had always been a faithful son of the church, quite orthodox in fact, and was a fierce opponent of the heresies of Lutheranism. After the establishment of the Church of England, the church services were still essentially the same with much of the Catholic ritual intact. But Henry was anticlerical, and like many of his countrymen, experiencing growing antipapal sentiments as well. By 1521, Henry was beginning to take away privileges of ecclesiastical autonomy, and by 1536, he began the nation-wide dissolution of the monasteries.

In 1529 Henry VIII convened Parliament for a session which lasted until 1536 and became known as the Reformation Parliament. During that time a series of legislation was enacted which officially brought about reformation in England

1533: Act of Restraint of Appeals – this stressed the sovereign authority of the English state. It not only created an autonomous Church of England with the monarch as its governor, but effectively prohibited the hearing of the King’s nullity suit by the pope and barred Catherine from appealing to the Vatican against any decision that an ecclesiastical court in England might take.

1534: Act of Succession – which conferred the right of royal succession upon the Princess Elizabeth (daughter of Anne Boleyn) and disinherited “Lady” Mary (daughter of Catherine). The act required that everyone swear an oath of agreement to it. It was later repealed.

Most of the characters in the play are based on real people. In his portrayal of them, Bolt has not strayed far from history but has embellished the facts and the relationships among them for the purpose of the drama.

He says that that the sixteenth century is the century of the Common Man, like all other centuries. This refers to the fact that the “common man,” the people living out their daily unrecorded lives amid the great events of history and the machinations of politics are always there. The claim about the sixteenth century could also refer to the beginnings of independent thinking among humanist scholars which signaled the end of the old world order. Bolt’s final paragraph in his preface gets at what he was attempting to portray by including this character – “that which is common to us all” – but goes on to say that he was taken instead to be the commoner, The Man on the Street. Both make sense for the play and the different roles this character assumes. He is also a so-called “alienation device,” further explained in Bolt’s preface to refer to a dramatic strategy employed by Berthold Brecht. Here a character addresses the audience, drawing all of us into the moral dilemmas of the story.

The Common Man assumes a number of roles during the play, including More’s steward Matthew, the boatman, the innkeeper, the jailer, the jury foreman and the executioner. In most cases, he represents someone who is just “doing his job,” without necessarily considering the consequences or importance of his actions.

More was born in London, the son of Sir John More, a successful lawyer and judge in the king’s court bench. He distinguished himself as a scholar of Latin and logic at Oxford and then attended Lincoln’s Inn, one of the Inns of Court, where lawyers were educated. He became a barrister in 1501 and, to his father’s dismay, spent about four years in the London Charterhouse, and seriously considered abandoning his legal career to become a Franciscan monk. It is suggested that he did not think he could keep a vow of celibacy so he did not follow this plan, but he spent the rest of his life observing many ascetical practices, including wearing a hair shirt and engaging in self-flagellation.

In 1505, More married Jane Colt, 17 years old at the time. He supposedly had been in love with her younger sister, but married Jane to spare her the possible disgrace of having her younger sister marry first. He was interested in women being educated, but she was unresponsive at his attempts to teach her. She bore him four children – Margaret, John, Elizabeth and Cecily – and died in 1511 at the age of 22. Very soon after that he married Alice Middleton, a wealthy widow. Some write that he married her only to have someone to raise his children, and some say he came to love her. In the household were Alice’s daughter by her previous marriage and two other adopted children. They lived in London until they moved to Chelsea in 1525

More’s views on women were complex. On the one hand, he felt strongly that they should be educated in the New Learning, but he also likely held the prevailing Christian notion that they were perpetrators of original sin and also that the purpose of any learning they acquired should be to bring credit to their fathers and husbands. It is well known that he had an especially close relationship with his oldest daughter Margaret, the only one of his children who appears in the play.

More was a central figure in the humanist movement and his London home was a meeting place for scholars, including Erasmus, Thomas Linacre, John Colet and others. He gained an international reputation as an articulate, clever and practical thinker – a key factor in his friendship with King Henry VIII.

More’s political career began when he was elected to Parliament in 1504, when Henry VII was still king. He held a number of important offices once Henry VIII became king, including Under Treasurer of the Exchequer, Speaker of the House of Commons, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In 1529, he was appointed Lord Chancellor, after the disgrace and demise of Cardinal Wolsey.

The law suited More’s temperament. He was a fine actor and orator and was able to see many sides of an argument. His belief and faith in the law was based on his sense of it as a model of divine authority. As one biographer puts it: “He knew that human justice was only the faintest reflection of divine law, but it became for him the principle and model of conduct upon the earth.”

Some scholars raise the question of why More was chosen to be Lord Chancellor when he was already known to be in opposition to the King regarding his marriage annulment. To some extent, this was a credit to Henry, who valued More’s reputation as a diplomat and statesman and probably felt he could rely on his loyalty and good judgment. The other question is why More accepted the appointment, and this may be harder to answer. He did feel a great loyalty to his King and country and in many ways, being offered the post must have fulfilled a life’s ambition. But it did not sit well in that political climate, and he resigned in 1532, the day after the King demanded “submission of the clergy,” which called for royal consent to ecclesiastical law, severely compromising the autonomy of the church. This was the beginning of his downfall. In 1534 he was arrested and placed in the Tower of London for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy and was condemned to be executed in 1535 based on the perfidious evidence of Sir Richard Rich.

More was a prolific writer. His first works were Latin epigrams and poems written according to the popular conventions of the time. He also translated into Latin three stories by 1^st century Greek writer Lucian, among other things. He wrote a number of other works, his most famous being Utopia (1516). This is his description of the ideal state, in which there is religious toleration, humane laws, no poverty and crime, no distinction between town and country; no money; no blood sports or gambling. This state had achieved the end of war, where the wealthy helped poor, and everyone had a broad view of the universe. In this work More depicted the ideal Tudor gentleman and courtier, but in many ways was deeply critical of the political system of monarchy and the nobles of the court.

More’s views on religion were enormously complex. He was indeed a devout Catholic and was violently opposed to Lutheranism, which to him represented anarchy. While he was Lord Chancellor, he was a vigorous persecutor of heretics – the least honorable part of his legacy. In 1528, he wrote Dialogue Concerning Heresies, the purpose and theme of which was to celebrate the common culture which was felt to be under threat. He appealed to his audience to consider the way of life to be lost if Christendom fell into schism. But his most scathing piece of writing was his response to Luther’s attack on the King’s book about the seven sacraments. It is full of rage and scatological symbols of fear and disorder.

For More, the Catholic Church was the visible embodiment of God’s law, with its own immutable hierarchy and imposing places of worship. This was a proven tradition of faith reaching back for 1500 years, with the authority of the apostles and church fathers who had been guided by the Holy Spirit. The teachings of this faith were made manifest by papal decree.

More’s issue is essentially that of authority, even more than faith. He embodied the old order of hierarchy and authority at the very moment when it began to collapse all around him, and it is for this that he died.

In the play he is portrayed as highly principled man whose actions and words are dictated by his own strong moral compass. In reality, More’s legacy is mixed, especially in regard to his treatment of heretics (Lutherans) and maybe also his wife. Bolt does present some of that ambiguity in the drama, which gives the character more dimension and subtlety than a mere saint would project.

Rich was born in London; his great-grandfather was a wealthy textile merchant and sheriff of the city. He met Thomas More while at the Middle Temple, one of the Inns of Court, where he became quite a skillful lawyer himself. He and More were in the same parish and their families were closely associated. Soon after his studies, Rich received a number of political appointments, and was knighted in 1533, when he came under the supervision of Cromwell. Because Rich and More were both lawyers, that professional connection played a significant part in their conversation in the cell of the Tower.

Rich proceeded to have a long career in which he would do all that was required of him by the authorities at every turn in royal policy. He provided Cromwell what he needed against More in 1535; he and an associate gave evidence against Cromwell when Cromwell was executed in 1540; and he provided evidence against this same associate when his associate fell. He actually became Lord Chancellor in 1547, the year of Henry’s death. He persecuted Catholics under Edward VI, Protestants under Mary; and Catholics again under Elizabeth I. He died a respected Justice of the Peace and landowner in Essex.

More than anyone else in the play, Rich represents the willingness to sacrifice personal integrity for wealth and status. His progress through the drama is to corruption and the suppression of his conscience.

Norfolk’s father had been the Lord Treasurer under both Henrys. The family was quite prominent, including the fact that Anne Boleyn was his niece. (Another niece, Catherine Howard, was Henry VIII’s fifth wife.) He was a skillful general who distinguished himself in battle – not one of the scholars in More’s circle. When More was chosen as Lord Chancellor, Norfolk was Lord High Treasurer and Earl Marshall. He was one of those who presided at More’s trial, and in the accounts seems to have been a serious adversary.

It is unclear from biographies of More whether Norfolk was really a good friend, and, indeed, it is unclear why he would appear to have such a jovial relationship with Alice More. It may be that he sympathized with her not being interested in book learning, as he himself was likely not.

It is the case that he did know some Latin, as all Tudor gentlemen must have done, as there is a famous quote attributed to him. He is said to have warned More: Indignation principis mors est (the anger of a prince is death).

Lady Alice was the widow of John Middleton, a wealthy silk merchant. She was a member of the Arden family and was related to the great-grandfather of Henry VII. Her family owned a manner and estates in Essex, and they were neighbors of the Colts. Her quip about not being a “city wife” refers to her having lived on these estates, rather than in London. It is likely that More knew her long before he decided to marry her and even before he knew his first wife. She was of a grander family than Jane Colt, and she was of independent means.

Alice was eight years More’s senior, already 40 to his 32 when they married. She is said to have been a plain-spoken and somewhat imperious woman who played musical instruments and enjoyed a theological argument. She was actually able to read. She was forceful, witty, practical and efficient. Although there are many stories about how More made fun of her looks and talkative nature (speaking in Latin, which she did not understand), in the company of his friends, there are as many stories that they made each other laugh and that, in some ways, he was in awe of her. And it is important to note that she remained faithful to More until the bitter end, suffering the consequences of that alliance.

Margaret was More’s oldest and best-loved child. She became a renowned Latin scholar in her own right, her father being responsible for her strong humanist education. When More was confined to the Tower, they exchanged many letters – indeed most of his correspondence went to her rather than to his wife, Alice. She was even imprisoned herself for a short time because she planned to have her father’s works published. She married William Roper in 1521.

There is also the grim story of how she retrieved her father’s head from the pike upon which it was impaled after his execution and kept it hidden until her own death in 1544. Unfortunately she did not live to see the day when her father was once more respected.

Wolsey was the son of an Ipswich grazier (one who cares for cattle) and wool merchant – not a butcher, as some sources (and the play) state. He was an outstanding scholar who was ordained a priest in 1498. He became personal chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time and then to Henry VII. Henry VII distrusted the nobility and tended to give positions to those of humble birth. Henry VIII recognized Wolsey’s worth and gave him various secular appointments. He also had a number of church posts, including Bishop of Lincoln and Archbishop of York. In 1515, Pope Leo X made him a Cardinal, and in that same year, Henry made him Lord Chancellor.

Henry VIII was more interested in obtaining an international position of power than his father was and took advantage of Wolsey’s administrative skills and ambitions by sending him on diplomatic missions throughout the 1520s. He soon became the controlling figure in all matters of state. He had many enemies, partly because of his non-aristocratic origins, who resented his influence. In spite of the fact that he worked very hard to obtain the King’s marriage annulment, there was a power struggle between him and Anne Boleyn, who had acquired a significant political following. It is also the case that Queen Catherine blamed him, rather than Henry, for the whole affair.

His eventual fall from favor was due largely to the lack of success in achieving papal agreement to the annulment. His enemies found an obscure 14^th century law with which to charge him, he was stripped of his office and his property, and accused of a number of other crimes. On his way to face those charges, he died of pulmonary pneumonia.

Wolsey is not well regarded historically because of his corrupt ambition. It is said he wanted to be pope, but this claim is unsubstantiated. He represents the epitome of clerical misconduct at the time of the Protestant Reformation. He did not try to reform the church from within, but rather participated in all that was fraudulent – absenteeism, simony, lust, and displays of wealth. It seems clear that he used his position for his own ends.

Cromwell’s father is variously described as a blacksmith (farrier), clothworker, or alehouse keeper. He was born in Putney and in spite of these humble beginnings, led an adventurous life. He traveled through Europe, and over the course of several years held a variety of positions in several countries. He managed to obtain a good education. He was fluent in Latin, French and Italian and became a lawyer. He was indeed an admirer of Machiavelli, as revealed in the play. In 1514, his ambition brought him into the service of Wolsey, with whom he shared a number of traits and circumstances, including a rapid fall from favor. He was appointed to several different positions after Wolsey’s demise and became the King’s chief minister in 1532.

Cromwell had a genius for administration and finance. He was pragmatic, knowledgeable, hardheaded, and often ruthless. A contemporary wrote: “Many of those who trusted Cromwell lived to regret it.” But he has been described as the greatest statesman England has ever seen, and during his time of power, the course of English history was permanently changed. He is largely responsible for masterminding the English Reformation.

He was a friend of Norfolk (who later became a bitter enemy) and others in aristocratic circles, associations which he cultivated. In spite of being cold and calculating, he is also said to have had a hearty manner and was easy with people. He had one wife who died; he never remarried but had a series of mistresses.

Cromwell made an easy friendship with the Boleyns, who recognized his power and with whom they shared religious views. He hung on after Anne herself was executed, through another wife and then lost favor over the matter of the fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. He was executed under trumped up charges of religious heresy. Henry despaired of his loss.

Chapuys was the Imperial ambassador to England from 1529-1545. His was born in Savoy, a state of Italy and educated in Turin. His first language was likely French or Italian, not Spanish. He held a number of diplomatic posts before he entered the service of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1527. He also had a legal background, which is likely the reason he was chosen to go to England as a defender of Queen Catherine’s interest, as Charles was Catherine’s nephew.

Chapuys was an important chronicler of the court of Henry VIII. He wrote numerous reports to the emperor which have become valuable sources for historians. He discussed everyone, including Thomas More, who is described as “a good servant of the queen.” He himself was the Queen’s advocate, of course, but it seems as though he was also a friend to everyone, including Erasmus. Apparently the King also liked him and deliberately fed him information for his reports. Needless to say, the Boleyns did not like him.

Both of Roper’s parents belonged to distinguished legal families. He was educated at one of the universities and obtained a legal post in his father’s office. At the age of twenty-three he was taken into the More household and married Margaret More in 1521. At one point he became enamored of Lutheranism, a very sore point for More. He professed his heresy so openly that he was even summoned before Wolsey. He returned to Catholicism more ardently than before.

Henry was a true Renaissance prince at the beginning of his reign. He was extremely well-read in many topics, particularly theology and the classics. He loved discourse and debate. He was educated by the humanist William Blount and was an enthusiastic advocate of the New Learning. It was fitting for such a king to be surrounded by men of learning, who would by their very presence at his court draw attention to his own erudition and thereby add luster to his fame. Henry was also a fine musician and hearty sportsman.

Henry was also a collector of books and a writer. There had been various royal authors throughout the history of Western Europe, but Henry was the first to be able to take advantage of the flood tide of printing which began at the end of the 15^th century. His orthodox Christianity generated a horrified reaction to Lutheranism and Luther’s heretical attacks against the Church. Partly because he was hoping to receive a special title from the pope (Leo X at the time), which both Emperor Charles V and King Frances I (of France) had received, he decided to write a treatise against Luther. He enlisted the help from several including More, who advised him on a number of points. The resulting Assertio Septem Sacramentorum adversus Martinus Lutherus (A Defense of the Seven Sacraments against Martin Luther) was published and widely disseminated in 1521. It was dedicated to Leo X who conferred on him the title of Defender of the Faith.

Up until the 1520s, Henry was happy in his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He had always had mistresses, and had born a son, who became the Duke of Richmond. But his growing concern over the lack of a legitimate male heir began a long disintegration of his magnificent and generous nature. He developed into a despotic and dangerous autocrat. No English king before him had been as concerned about public image (which Cromwell was helping to promote), and he could not deal with opposition from anyone.

Cranmer was educated at Cambridge and became a priest after the death of his first wife. A plague forced him to move to Essex where he came under the attention of Henry VIII, who found him a willing advocate for his annulment case. He was sent to Rome as part of the embassy in 1530 and then became the English ambassador to Charles V. Henry brought him back to England and appointed him the Archbishop of Canterbury because he needed an ally to consecrate his marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Cranmer had spent some time in Germany (where he picked up another wife) and became interested in Lutheranism. After the demise of Anne Boleyn, he was able to retain the King’s good favor and to push through some ecclesiastical reforms which led to the formal creation of the Church of England. He was said to be a simple, charitable man with a high regard for the truth, a reformist who was loyal to the king.

In the play she is given the name Catherine Anger and she serves as a plot device for Cromwell to attempt to pin a charge of bribery on More. She also appears to rail against him on his way to the scaffold. More’s earliest biographers describe this scene, recording some of the remarks of those who taunted or questioned him. None of these can be verified, but they serve to demonstrate the noise and tumult accompanying More on this short pilgrimage. One called out that he had been unjust to her when he was Lord Chancellor. The woman in the play is a composite of these people – she is another Common Person.

Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) – most famous for his political treatise The Prince, which advocated a common-sense approach to government which put political expediency above ethical and moral issues. Richard Rich’s reference to Machiavelli is a warning about the lengths to which he and Cromwell will go in order to succeed later in the play. It is interesting to note that Machiavelli did not himself actually subscribe to the principles in The Prince, but wrote the book to try to gain favor (and a position) with the ruling Medici family in Florence.

Court of Requests – one of the many courts in England established over time to handle different types of cases. This one had been set up in the previous century to hand civil matters for poor suitors and evolved into a formal court by 1485.

Earl Marshall – an officer of the Privy Council who marshals and orders all great ceremonials, takes cognizance of matters relating to honor, arms, and pedigree, and directs the proclamation of peace and war. It was an hereditary office, which came to the family of the dukes of Norfolk.

butcher’s son – Wolsey’s father was actually a grazier and wool merchant. But it is significant that Cromwell and Wolsey were both of humble origin, partly due to Henry VII’s distrust of the nobility.

Hounslow – principal town of the London Borough of Hounslow in West London. The origin of the name Hounslow is disputed, with some claiming it derives from the Anglo-Saxon “Honeslaw” meaning an area of land suitable for hunting, whilst others claim it comes from an a mound or hill associated with Hundi, a pagan Anglo-Saxon.

Lorenzo Cardinal Campeggio (1471/2-1539) - the papal envoy who represented pope at Treaty of London 1518. He was kept waiting in Calais for a long time, probably because Wolsey was asserting himself. Wolsey must have understood his importance as he appointed him Bishop of Salisbury in 1524 as a means of securing Campeggio’s role as papal curia for England. He was still around and powerful in 1529 and must have remembered the insult from 1518 because he refused to agree to the annulment when he came to England in 1528 to try to bring about a reconciliation. The pope had given him the authority to do so. Wolsey was unable to work with him..

Inns of Court – legal societies which were universities of a sort, originally the hostels in which lawyers had stayed while they pleaded at nearby courts of Westminster. By More’s time they were well establish as training centers in English common law. There were four: Lincoln’s Inn, Gray’s Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple.

Antichrist – one who appears to be like God (or God himself), but is really under the powers of Satan. There are many biblical references to the Antichrist and their was a real fear about this figure, especially in the Middle Ages.

Great Harry – English carrack or “great ship,” formally named Henri Grâce à Dieu (Henry Grace of God), originally built 1512-1514, ordered by Henry in response to a Scottish ship of similar proportions. She was 165 feet long, weighing 1000-1500 tons. After the succession of Edward VI, she was renamed for him.

Leviticus and Deuteronomy – Pope Julius II gave the dispensation for Henry to marry his brother Arthur’s widow, which Henry now felt he wished to reverse, partly as a matter of conscience, but mostly to get a legitimate heir. The reference to Deuteronomy is from Chapter 25, verse 5: “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.”

“King of Spain’s knife to his throat” – this refers to the fact that Emperor Charles V, who was the nephew of Queen Catherine, was holding Pope Clement VII hostage for a number of reasons, including that he wanted to make sure he made no decisions against his aunt.

“strikingly corrupt old person” – it can generally be said that most popes of the 15^th and 16^th centuries (not exclusively) were corrupt by anyone’s religious standards. In many ways, these were not only spiritual leaders but also feudal lords with lands and castles, as well as mistresses and much wealth. Clement VII was a member of the prominent Florentine Medici family, which had its own share of corruption.

“bishops in Convocation” – refers to the meeting ordered by Henry in which many privileges were taken away from the clergy. They had no choice really but to agree to his edict. It was after this event that More resigned his office of Lord Chancellor.

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam(1466 -1536) – Dutch humanist and theologian, who came to England around 1511, invited by a Sir William Blount (Henry’s tutor), and became a prominent figure in More’s circle. Among many other things, he wrote the antipapal work In Praise of Folly. He did remain a Roman Catholic all his life.

Socrates (470-399 B.C.E.) – thought to be the founder of Western philosophy, he was portrayed by Plato as a man of reason with a divine voice in his head. It is ironic that Socrates was also executed as an enemy of the state, who claimed he could have avoided being killed if he had gone home “to mind his own business.”

Yorkshire and Northumberland – England was certainly divided in terms of their opinion about the King’s wish for annulment as well as their religious leanings. Always concerned with his public image and in search of traitors, the King did send emissaries around to various parts of the country.

Apostolic Succession of the Pope – belief that St. Peter was the first pope as appointed by Christ himself, and that all other popes and even bishops are figuratively descended from the Apostles, and it is the basis for their authority.

Bishop John Fisher of Rochester (1469?-1535) – a closer ally of the Queen than More, he was more outspoken in his opposition to the annulment. Also in More’s circle of humanists, he was executed in the same year.

Maid of Kent – a young woman named Elizabeth Barton, a poor uneducated servant girl from the town of Aldington in the county of Kent. In the summer of 1533 she fell ill with fever and delirium. She made prophecies and developed a following. At one point she said she saw a little devil whispering evil advice to Anne Boleyn, that she saw fiends snatching at the soul of Cardinal Wolsey after his death, and that the spirits told her that King Henry would not live more than seven months after his marriage to Anne Boleyn and that she had been shown the place in hell where the king would go when he had died a villain’s death. She appeared before Cromwell and was condemned. More able to prove he had only advised her against making such pronouncements.

upper and nether millstones – the lower or nether millstone is firmly fixed and very hard; the upper stone revolves around it on a shaft and the corn is ground by the motion of the upper stone around the lower one. Norfolk is clearly in a compromising position.

Magna Carta – document which King John I was forced by his nobles to sign in 1215, which recognized their rights. It is the foundation of the English constitution and England as a Constitutional Monarchy.

This began possibly partly a result of his bad conscience – Pope Julius II had granted the dispensation in 1509, overriding the Leviticus passage forbidding marriage to brother’s widow. There was also a question of whether the marriage had been consummated or not. The church strongly against divorce, so the only way to end a marriage, especially a royal one, was through papal-sanctioned annulment. In Deuteronomy Moses is quoted as urging one of followers to marry his brother’s widow – thus the ambiguity.

Campeggio came to negotiate in 1528 and found that reconciliation not possible. He first suggested that Katherine go into a convent, which she refused to do. Campeggio said that the original dispensation was sound, and even offered another dispensation for Princess Mary to marry her illegitimate half brother, the Duke of Richmond.

In maintaining his silence, More felt he was safe under the law. His contemporaries may have felt he was acting obsessively or irrationally, but he believed himself to be acting legally. Likely the jury was not impressed by his legalistic hair-splitting. More had not publicly opposed Henry’s marriage, but had refused to swear the oath. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment for refusing to swear that oath, but he was sentence to death for refusing to recognize that the king was Supreme Head of the Church of England.” That was the key issue by 1535. When asked directly whether he would obey the king as Supreme Head, whether he would accept marriage or whether he believed himself obliged to answer first question: he said “I can make no answer.”

The testimony of Richard Rich is well-documented in several accounts of the trial. It is interesting to note that it was customary 16^th century legal practice to use the phrase “put the case” to describe a hypothetical situation, calling for wisdom and subtlety of orator. In More’s cell, Rich tricked him by means of this type of discourse and it is possible that More did not imagine that this conversation would be taken to express own convictions – that is, if it actually took place.

More’s political and social decline is paralleled by the rise in power and wealth of Richard Rich. Bolt demonstrates the way in which corruption plays a role in the story, Rich first lamenting the loss of his innocence, but soon giving way to temptation. His position at the end of the play is set against More’s steadfast sense of self, and makes clear the irreparable damage that Rich has done to his personal integrity.

Thomas More was known for his wit as well as his saintliness. Bolt makes good use of this attribute, both as a way of satirizing the corruption of the court and as a means for More to make light of his situation. His wit is a key aspect of his humanity. He insists at one point that man is born to serve God “wittily.” Other characters have exchanges of dialogue which illustrate the moral ambiguities around them.

More maintains throughout that if he does not speak his views about the king’s annulment or the break from Rome, that he cannot be prosecuted, under the law of the land. He further affirms that his silence connotes approval rather than disapproval. Words or the lack thereof are of the utmost importance to More. To make an oath is not the enactment of an empty ritual, but a way of making a covenant between yourself and your god. More had no choice but to be in a place of silence, in terms of his relationship with the King, his personal safety, and also because of his temperament. He was always listening to the voice within.

Bolt indicates in his preface to the play his intentional use of symbolism around water, boats and dry land. The drama is indeed rife with this imagery, but it is never intrusive or contrived. Water can be said to symbolize some uncertainty or a sense of the unknowable. It is also a means of travel which helps to convey the journey which the drives the story. The dry land represents what society and the law should be – a bulwark against the moral mysteries of the cosmos

The Italian silver cup which More gives to Rich in the first scene was received as a bribe. It signifies the beginning of Rich’s corruption as well as More’s attempt to lead Rich in another direction. More’s high principles and moral steadiness do not permit him to keep it. When the matter of the cup is raised again in the second act, his integrity is made clear again. He cannot be corrupted or swayed by the riches of society.

4. Discuss the following speech made by Matthew, the steward: “My Master Thomas would give anything to anyone. Some say that’s good and some say that’s bad, but I say he can’t help it – and that’s bad…because some day someone’s going to ask him for something that he wants to keep; and he’ll be out of practice.”

5. Discuss the following speech in light of 20^th or 21^st century politics: “Well…I believe, when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties…they lead their country by a short route to chaos.”


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