Reformation from Above and BelowĪs many historians have observed, the church in England was reformed from both ‘above’ and ‘below.’ Reformation from above was achieved through the political struggle of the English nation forging its identity and establishing its sovereignty apart from Rome and Papal control. Having reinvented himself as a successful lawyer, Cromwell rose to prominence first as the Catholic Archbishop Wolsey’s right-hand man, and then ‘second in charge’ after Henry in the work of separating the English church and state from the ‘Holy Roman Empire.’ Cromwell finally fell out of favor with his sovereign, and was executed by order of the king he had so faithfully served.Ĥth Estate.
The son of a blacksmith, he escaped a violent upbringing working in turns as an itinerant labourer, a servant in the homes of the wealthy, and a professional soldier in France. Mantel retells this period of history through the voice of Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540). Tyndale knew God’s word and carried a light to guide us through the marsh of interpretation, so we would not be lost as Tyndale himself put it -like a traveler tricked by Robin Goodfellow, and left stripped and shoeless in the wastes. His crime was to give his King and the English speaking peoples their first Bible translated from the original languages into their mother tongue.
The Mirror and the Light covers the period 1536-1540 which includes the birth of Edward (who would become the first truly Protestant monarch King Edward VI), and the martyrdoms of several first generation English reformers including William Tyndale. Part historical novel, part rigorously researched historical biography, Mantel’s work gives a fast-paced account of the political intrigue and power plays that ensued in the time of the English Reformation during the reign of Henry VIII. Coming in at just shy of 900 pages, it is without exaggeration a genuine ‘page turner,’ and has been engrossing lockdown reading. The Mirror and the Light is the third and final volume of Hilary Mantel’s monumental Wolf Hall trilogy.
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