Privy Seal · Chapter
VI explained
Cromwell weighs Katharine Howard as both a threat and a safeguard, dependent on the Duke of Cleves' allegiance.
What happens
Cromwell weighs Katharine Howard as both a threat and a safeguard, dependent on the Duke of Cleves' allegiance. He rebukes Wriothesley for provoking her, then Katharine privately offers Cromwell a pact: if he will turn toward Rome and help her guide the King, she will protect him from the traitors around him. Cromwell refuses to surrender his vision of a supreme English state free from papal interference, and Katharine laments the suffering his rule has caused.
Themes in this chapter
Power and Corruption
Cromwell's absolute control over the state and his willingness to crush any opposition, even former allies, to maintain order under the King.
Faith and Morality
Katharine's appeal to Cromwell to consider the suffering of the people and to re-submit the realm to God, contrasted with Cromwell's vision of a secular, all-powerful monarchy.
Betrayal and Intrigue
Throckmorton's hidden conspiracy against Cromwell, using Katharine as a shield, while Katharine herself struggles with the knowledge of Throckmorton's treachery.
Characters to notice
- Thomas Cromwell
Meditates on Katharine as half foe, half friend; berates Wriothesley; rejects Katharine's offer of alliance, insisting on a King supreme over Pope and Church.
- Katharine Howard
Confronts Cromwell with a plea to turn from his policies and embrace Rome; offers him a place beside her if he will help re-humble the King before God.
- Sir Throckmorton
Applauds Katharine's spirit and sees her as a shield for his own conspiracy against Cromwell; holds Udal's news of Cleves' envoy in reserve.
- Wriothesley
Rebuked by Cromwell for speaking 'stiff-necked folly' to Katharine and for boasting of Protestant swords.
- Cranmer
Exchanges glances with Cromwell; questions whether Rome would accept him, given his unsanctioned archbishopric.
- Lascelles
Moves to speak with Throckmorton and Wriothesley during Katharine's private conversation with Cromwell.
- Magister Udal
Brought by Throckmorton below stairs with news of the envoy from Cleves to France and copies of the envoy's letters.
Key passages
“God help you!”
Cromwell dismisses Katharine's simple faith with a sarcastic blessing.
Reflects Cromwell's view of Katharine's naivety and his own pragmatic, cynical worldview.
“I tell thee, silly knave, that I be friend only to them that love the order and peace I have made, under the King's Highness, in this realm.”
Cromwell warns Wriothesley that his loyalty is to the King's order, not to any religious faction.
Demonstrates Cromwell's ruthless pragmatism and his readiness to turn on Protestants if the King's policy shifts.
“Come over to us. 'Tis such great pity else—'tis such pity else.”
Katharine pleads with Cromwell to join her cause, lamenting the waste of his abilities if he remains an enemy.
Highlights Katharine's earnest desire to reconcile with Cromwell for the sake of the realm and her faith.
“God is very far away.”
Cromwell dismisses the relevance of divine authority in statecraft.
Captures the central ideological conflict between Cromwell's secular vision and Katharine's religious devotion.
