We have numerous portraits of Anne, all depicting a very different woman. Hers was a tall stature, with a slender neck and dark auburn hair and eyes, described as ‘black and beautiful’.
Mantel has reimagined Anne Boleyn, which has caused considerable controversy. Mantel’s Anne is a calculating being, with a ‘cold slick brain’ at work. Her eyes are not beautiful – ‘they are hungry’. Throughout the series, Cromwell never warms to Anne; he thinks he understands her, but then she seems to confuse him. There is distrust and distance between them. The real Anne is difficult to fathom – she was said to be tempestuous, intelligent, politically astute, beguiling and rash, but she was also generous, devout and loyal, and it is hard not to empathize with her. We have reinvented her over the centuries, and still continue to discover the real Anne, but Mantel has enhanced her more negative traits. Of course, Anne enters Cromwell’s life in Wolf Hall at a time when his beloved master is suffering banishment, humiliation and the destruction of his entire career, and Anne is one of the provocateurs: Cromwell, though he might not admit it, cannot be dispassionate about the downfall of his great friend, Wolsey. It was for all to see, Henry’s passionate yet irrational pursuit of Anne, his intent to woo her while still married. Unsurprisingly, she rejected his advances, he would have to marry her if he wanted to have her. In the series, Cromwell sees only calculation, Anne selling herself by the inch, but the real Anne had every right to demand more from Henry – she was the daughter of a well-respected man of court, she came from a good family, she was worth something. The fictional Anne captures the feeling perfectly: ‘I was always desired. But now I am valued. And that is a different thing, I find.’
FEAST DAYS AND HOLY DAYS
Henry’s matrimonial drama captivated the country – Henry had a queen, and a queen-in-waiting, and what must have felt like two rival courts. For the sake of appearances, Henry returned to his wife for important holidays, lest foreign eyes viewed his desire to divorce Katherine as anything other than a matter of conscience. Tudor lives were marked by holy days, saints’ days and feasts – in particular Christmas, Lady Day (25 March), Midsummer Day (24 June), Michaelmas (29 September) and Hallowtide. In the series, Mantel marks her story with these events, as they marked their calendars, and they serve as signposts, guiding us through each year.
H
ALLOWTIDE
Hallowtide consisted of three feast days: All Hallows’ Eve on 31 October; All Hallows’ Day on 1 November; and All Souls’ Day on 2 November. It was believed to be the time when the physical and supernatural worlds were at their closest, and people would pray for the souls of their departed loved ones, attempting to shorten their time in purgatory. Soul cakes were baked by the wealthy on All Hallows’ Eve and were left with glasses of wine, ale or milk for spirits to enjoy. On All Souls’ Day, soul cakes were given to the poor, mainly children, who went ‘souling’ where they begged door-to-door for treats. In return for these treats, children would pray for the souls of the dead.
The year Cromwell’s wife and daughters die of the sweating sickness, Mantel’s Cromwell keeps vigil for the dead at Wolsey’s beloved Esher Palace, sitting awake, haunted by family members just beyond his reach. And the Hallowtide season again causes him to reflect that his loved ones are ‘dead to the autumn aroma of pine resin and apple candles, of soul cakes baking’. It is a time of reflection, as the barrier between this world and the next weakens, and Mantel’s Cromwell feels the faint touches of his daughter’s hands on the pages of his book.
TUDOR CHRISTMAS
While our modern Christmas celebration is heavily influenced by the Victorian traditions, we do still retain some traditions that the Tudors would have recognized. It began with Advent, a time of fasting, which lasted four weeks prior to Christmas. In Wolf Hall Cromwell prepares for the feast, storing expensive ingredients that hint at the wealth found within his household:
Advent: first the fast and then the feast. In the store rooms, raisins, almonds, nutmegs, mace, cloves, liquorice, figs and ginger.
Christmas Eve was the last night of fasting – traditionally, families brought home large logs, which were then decorated with ribbons and placed upon the hearth, burning throughout the 12 days of Christmas.
Christmas Day began before dawn with Mass, with each member of the congregation holding a lit taper. More masses would be held a little later in the day. In preparation for the highly anticipated feast to come, plum porridge would be served, thought to line the stomach prior to the main meal of the day. Not to be confused with its later incarnation as a plum pudding, this was a thick broth of mutton or beef, which was boiled along with plums, spices, dried
