And he is the central character of what Mantel has promised will be a trilogy. The one who brought this about is Henry’s right-hand man, Master Secretary Thomas Cromwell. She wouldn’t go quietly, and these trials are the result. The King, wishing to marry his third wife Jane Seymour, wanted Anne removed. Of course, technically, none of these six accused is condemned. This calls to mind the term formerly used in American prisons, “Dead man walking,” which was shouted to alert guards and inmates that a condemned man was being taken down a hallway. The order goes to the Tower, “Bring up the bodies.” Deliver, that is, the accused men, by name Weston, Brereton, Smeaton and Norris, to Westminster Hall for trial. (The Queen herself as well as her brother George will also stand trial on the same charges.) The title for Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies comes from a phrase used very late in the novel.įour courtiers to Henry VIII and his consort Anne Boleyn are being held in the Tower of London, awaiting trial for treason for having sex with the Queen and wishing the King dead.
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