Yup. I really enjoyed Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy. A big part of it is how Thomas Cromwell tied himself to a monster to achieve certain aims (wealth, power, freedom of profession and an English gospel) and became monstrous himself. The first novel in particular is full of dramatic irony between how he sees himself (kind to women and small dogs and completely against torture - bit of dramatic license there from Mantel) and how others saw him (sinister head of a security state, torturer, and using women’s lives and bodies as stepping stones to power, as they all did to be fair. There were no good guys here).
The bargain of despotism that Edward II falls to, at least in Marlowe’s retelling is played out here. When I read Marlowe’s Edward II it was quite a shock that they just got the fact of him being gay out there in Act 1 Scene 1 matter of factly and the queen complained about not getting any. But the grievances that the nobility had were the ennobleation of a commoner - just as they had with Cromwell. All had of course come from somewhere and picked the right side at some point or another, some quite a long time before, some not so much. And they all made up their pasts. Cromwell was just an easy target.
It’s also incredibly difficult not to read about that time and England’s break with the continent without thinking about parallels with Brexit. Specifically the king’s “great matter” - a trivial matter about wanting to get out of a marriage to ride someone else, get an heir, and pretend to himself that god loved him. This could have been achieved by negotiation. The problems were that there were two competing powers on the continent and he failed to unequivocally get the support of one or the other, both of them had reasons to not support and to support him. So there was a sunk incompetence in England’s agenda abroad which, as a state with competing factions within, was exploited (to no advantage, but to much instability) by both main continental powers. Cromwell sought to exploit this “great matter” to allow freedom of conscience and profession (and I believe, per Diarmuid McCullough, that they make a good case for this but it’s beyond my puny powers), but Henry’s idea was rather that Papacy was an affront to his god given status (fought for with rebellion not so long before) as King of England to… well be Pope to his people. And take the revenues from religious orders which were going abroad which he desperately needed to fund his profligate lifestyle and, more importantly, bribe and enrich his supporters in order to stay in power.
It’s hard not to think that Brexit lacks a statesman of the brilliance and doggedness of Cromwell, someone with a forensic eye for the details of an agreement and a prodigious talent for hard work.
If Dom sees himself that way, I’d be happy for him to end with his head in a handbasket too!
