Recap of Wolf Hall, Episode 6 "Master of Phantoms"

What’s easy to miss in Wolf Hall is that, during his lifetime, Thomas Cromwell was feared. In the television series, based on Hilary Mantel’s two novels, Cromwell has shown himself, up until Episode 6, as both intelligent and cunning, with an easy familiarity with corruption. He has been a crook as well as a lawyer; he knows how to outsmart people. Still, he loves his family, he supports religious reform, he likes to cuddle kittens. This man is a Machiavellian with a heart of gold.


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Recap of Wolf Hall, Episode 5, "Crows"

He asked me if I would look kindly on him, if he were to write me a poem, for instance. I said yes." Henry VIII finally makes it to Wolf Hall, plus the king's famous jousting accident and the Boleyns become "desperate and dangerous."


To read the full recap, go here.

Recap of Wolf Hall, Episode 4, "Devil's Spit"

"Do you think I have promoted you for the charm of your presence?" The harsh and vindictive nature of Henry VIII -- and his wife, Anne Boleyn -- comes into focus in this episode of Wolf Hall. But does the series distort history in describing the nature of Thomas Cromwell?

Read my recap here.

Recap of Wolf Hall, Episode 3, "Anna Regina"

In Episode 3, “Anna Regina,” one queen is exiled and another queen is crowned. Although King Henry VIII is the husband in question, none of this could have happened without the ingenuity of Thomas Cromwell, the protagonist of Wolf Hall. “This is Master Cromwell, he used to be a moneylender, now he writes all the laws,” says an appalled Catherine of Aragon to her daughter, Princess Mary.


To read the rest of my recap, go here.

"Entirely Beloved": My Review of Wolf Hall, Episode 2

The second episode of Wolf Hall, the Tudor drama on Masterpiece Theatre, aired tonight. Medievalists.net posted my recap of the series on Thomas Cromwell and his rise in the court of Henry VIII.

"In this recap, I will try to unravel some of the complexities of the relationships in the court of Henry VIII, which are shown onWolf Hall without much effort to explain. While such a sophisticated script yields rich rewards, it assumes a certain working knowledge of 16th century power players. The courts of the Tudor monarchs were unlike those of their Plantagenet predecessors. Nor does the 16th century heart of power resemble the regimes of the latter Stuart monarchs and succeeding Hanoverians. There is a highly personal nature to ruling the kingdom—and with that comes deadly risks to those who seek favor and influence..."

To read the full recap, go here.

Recap of Wolf Hall, Episode 1, "Three Card Trick"

"Wolf Hall" has come to Masterpiece Theater, following a much-talked-about run on British television. This is a stellar adaptation of the historical novel by Hilary Mantel that delves into the darkest side of Tudor England.

I think the series is brilliant, with performances by Mark Rylance, Jonathan Pryce, Claire Foy and Damien Lewis that can be studied for a thousand nuances.

When the show ran in the UK, there were some complaints about the time jumps and flashback, especially in Episode 1: "Three Card Trick."

In my recap, posted on medievalists.net, I explain the timeline and supply some historical tidbits at the end too.

For the recap, go here.