Wolf Hall Companion

overstepped their boundaries with the king, much to Wolsey’s chagrin. As Henry aged, he continued to appoint young men who made him feel as though he, too, was still a young man. But being close to the centre of power was a double-edged sword. Some of Henry’s Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber enjoyed hugely successful careers, others faced the axeman, and even worse.

W

ILLIAM

C

OMPTON

Despite being what historian Polydore Vergil described as the ‘primus minister in regis cubiculo’ – premier member of the Privy Chamber and Groom of the Stool – William Compton does not appear in Mantel’s series. Compton was a ward of Henry VII and grew up alongside the young Prince Henry. Understandably, they forged an enduring relationship, as he became Henry’s most trusted companion. Compton was not unlike the young king – blond, tall and slender. Considered to be handsome and athletic, Compton was as physically active as his young king, and dedicated to leisurely pursuits. Yet the amount of power Compton wielded once Henry VIII ascended the throne was unprecedented. Henry gifted him several highly lucrative positions, including Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Sheriff of Worcestershire and Sheriff of Somerset, and Compton would manage more royal estates than any other courtier.

Crucially, his appointment as Groom of the Stool made him the closest companion Henry had in his inner chambers. Compton made use of this position – he was something of a gatekeeper and would act as intermediary if the royal signature was required; even Wolsey had to go via Compton. But for courtiers he was a founder of fortunes, and any courtier who sought favour or position at court approached Compton first. It is impossible to know how Compton’s career or friendship with Henry would have fared under the pressure of his courtship with Anne. In 1528, Compton was among thousands, including Anne Boleyn and her father Thomas, to catch the sweating sickness – they recovered, but Compton did not survive. While mourned, his death opened up a prime position in the Privy Chamber but also allowed other young men to enjoy Henry’s favour and patronage.

H

ENRY

N

ORRIS

Henry Norris, born in 1482, was nine years older than the king, and one of the oldest men in Henry’s inner circle. He began his career as a page and worked his way up, landing a position as a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in 1517, a place from where he would enjoy Henry’s favour and thereby accrue land and offices. Henry Norris was a popular man at court, renowned for his jousting abilities and athleticism, which is likely why Henry chose him for the highly coveted position of Groom of the Stool in 1526. In the series, Norris is a hard man to read, and Cromwell distrusts his easy-going charm. We first come across him in Wolf Hall, riding hard to overtake the disgraced Cardinal in order to deliver a message from Henry. Norris gives Wolsey the king’s ring, causing Wolsey to jump from off his mule and into the mud, crying, Cromwell notes. It is a sight Cromwell will not forget, his master in the mud, with a man he feels is false and disingenuous.

Historically, Norris had a reputation at court for being a man of integrity and chivalry – we see this when Henry VIII deliberately humiliated Wolsey after the disastrous Legatine trial by having no room reserved for him when he and Cardinal Campeggio visited the King, and it was Norris who quietly offered Wolsey his own room. Norris belonged to a personal echelon of court, which not even Cromwell could penetrate; it was a battle for influence.

We see this in Bring Up the Bodies, when the king is escorting Imperial ambassador Chapuys into his chambers, and Cromwell seeks to follow:

But here is Norris blocking his path. In his Moorish drapery, his face blacked, he is playful, smiling, but still vigilant.

To the historical and fictional Cromwell, Norris was a charming man who needed to be removed from Henry’s sphere of influence.

A

NTHONY

D

ENNY

Anthony Denny, an ally of Cromwell’s (and enemy of Stephen Gardiner’s), does not appear in Mantel’s series, but he was one of the more educated and well-to-do young men of the Privy Chamber. Denny was one of the king’s closest confidants, and while he was not appointed to the Privy Chamber until quite late in his career – 1539 – he was granted lucrative positions, including Keeper of the Privy Purse, and would serve as Henry’s last Groom of the Stool. Denny was an experienced diplomat as well as an accomplished soldier, and joined Henry on his military campaigns to France in the 1540s.

It was to Denny that Henry confessed he was not attracted to the wife Cromwell had procured for him – Anne of Cleves. It was also Denny who helped finalize Henry’s will in 1547, and bravely told the king he should prepare for death.

F

RANCIS

B

RYAN

A half-cousin of both Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, Francis Bryan, known as the ‘Vicar of Hell’ for his lack of scruples, was one of the chief men of Henry’s Privy Chamber. Bryan enjoyed several influential posts, including Esquire of the Body, but he was notorious for his rowdy behaviour and for overstepping his friendship with the king, and Wolsey had him removed twice from the Privy Chamber in what was known as ‘the expulsion of the minions’, once in 1529 and again in 1526. That year, Bryan lost an eye in a jousting accident and wore an eye patch, which may have been why he was allowed back into the inner sanctum of the Privy Chamber. We see Bryan and Cromwell working together throughout Bring Up the Bodies to bring Anne down. But the alliance, as we see in The Mirror and the Light, is short-lived as Mantel’s Cromwell is not overly fond of Bryan: ‘Sir Francis is intermittently pious, as conspicuous sinners tend to be.’

Mantel describes Byran as an undiplomatic diplomat; certainly Bryan’s reputation preceded him. Appointed as an ambassador to France, he was