Wolf Hall Companion

wealth, from the majestic state apartments that he built for the king, its lavishly furnished rooms and the hundreds of European tapestries that adorned its many, many walls (and were changed every week) to its beautifully manicured gardens. Ambassadors who were housed there wrote of Hampton Court in the most glowing terms, and his palace was the envy of Europe. Likely inspired by the Bishop of Urbino, Paolo Cortesi, who wrote De Cardinalatu, which was more or a less a manual on how to be a cardinal, Wolsey envisioned a palace built in the Renaissance style and spent a decade designing and building an estate unlike any other in England, desired by the king himself who stayed there on several occasions. Wolsey would only enjoy his palace for a few years, gifting it to the king, fully furnished, in 1528, in the hope of saving himself from Henry’s wrath.

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INDSOR

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ASTLE

Built by the Normans in the 11th century, Windsor Castle was one of Henry’s most important residences and one the court frequently visited. Originally a fortress, in the 13th century it was transformed into a sumptuous royal palace, and according to Hall’s Chronicle (1548), Henry VIII spent a great deal of his youth there ‘exercising himself daily in shooting, singing, dancing, wrestling, casting of the bar, playing at the recorders, flute, virginals, in setting of songs and making of ballads’. Windsor was also the spiritual home of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III in 1348, and regarded as the oldest and most prestigious order of chivalry. Henry VIII’s grandfather, the Yorkist king Edward IV, had been spurred into competition by the – not quite as ancient, but certainly more glorious – Order of the Golden Fleece, founded by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430. Under Edward, St George’s Chapel at Windsor was redeveloped and the Tudors continued what Edward had begun. It was there that Henry chose to be buried, with his favourite wife Jane Seymour. Although the magnificent tomb he envisaged was never completed, a ledger stone in the Quire marks the site of his burial.

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HITEHALL

In 1240, Walter de Grey, the Archbishop of York, purchased a beautiful estate in London, and subsequently named it York Place. It was close enough to the Palace of Westminster and could accommodate the royal court, and several monarchs stayed there throughout the centuries.

York Place was rebuilt during the 15th century and Cardinal Wolsey added it to his property portfolio when he was made Archbishop of York. As with Hampton Court, Wolsey expanded and improved the estate to such an extent that it rivalled the royal residences and indeed at one point it had more rooms than the Vatican in Rome. Like a jealous child, Henry loved relieving Wolsey of his most beautiful estates, and took over the magnificent property in 1530, intent on making it one of his main royal residences and to replace Westminster, which was being rebuilt following a devastating fire in 1512. The name was changed from York Place to Whitehall in 1532, a nod to the white stone that had been used to build it.

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LACENTIA

The Palace of Placentia, sometimes simply known as Greenwich, first appears in records in 1417 as an estate given to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester by his brother, Henry V, which he remodelled and named Bella Court. Upon his death in 1447, the estate was renamed the Palace of Placentia or ‘pleasant place’ by Henry VI’s Queen, Margaret of Anjou, and was brought into the crown’s control. Under Henry VII, the palace was revamped and enlarged. It would also be the birthplace of several monarchs, including Henry VIII and his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Henry VIII loved the palace so much that it became his primary royal palace, and he celebrated almost every Christmas there.

FAMILIES OF COURT

The old king grew narrow as he aged ... there was no nobleman he did not hold by a debt or bond, and he said frankly that if he could not be loved he would be feared.

(Wolf Hall)

Today there is a more nuanced view of Tudor politics, that it was less about institutions such as the nobility, Privy Council, the Exchequer and the representation of roles such as Chief Minister and so on, rather it was more to do with the interaction between those institutions and the people, the social networks, clients and patrons, all of which was manifest in the court and its infinite matrix of relationships. Henry’s ministers and advisers, including Cromwell, may have wanted to modernize the running of the financial and administrative institutions of the country but, ultimately, they had to bend to the royal will and the king’s predilections, and make the best of whatever direction that might take them. The court was a place where, as scholars have noted, ‘a name dropped could mean much, and a career could be built through second, third, or fourth-hand access to those in power’. Henry VII rewarded those who fought with him at the Battle of Bosworth, and punished those who chose the wrong side. The nobility also had to contend with a shift in the balance of power: from Henry VII’s reign onwards, new men from the ranks of the gentry, the mercantile and the law – those who had little, if any, family fortune or influence but displayed skill, loyalty and ability, those who benefitted from their education and those who brought with them ‘a galaxy of talents’.

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HE

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RANDONS

Originally hailing from the Norfolk coast, the Brandon family emerged from obscurity in the 15th century when William Brandon entered into the service of John de Mowbray, who held the premier dukedom of Norfolk. This connection would propel William’s career as he rose in de Mowbray’s esteem, with William becoming a senior member of the Duke’s council. Throughout the tumultuous years of civil war known as the Wars of the Roses, the Brandons remained loyal Yorkists and were rewarded for their fealty, with William